New KIBIHT to be lot like old KIBIHT

From The Daily News of Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 . . .

By TRACY WATSON
Daily News Sports Reporter
Kamloops’ newest minor hockey tournament was announced Friday to a round of applause from some 100 people at the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre — but not without a little bit of the old thrown in for good measure.
The tournament, scheduled for April 8-12, still will be called the Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey Tournament — the same moniker held by the old bantam AAA tournament that pulled up stakes last month for Langley after 40 years here.
And there still are some hard feelings surrounding that exit. Ted Erickson addressed the new KIBIHT executive, comprised of five local referees, wondering why it took a “crisis mode” for the recent outpouring of support for the tournament.
“Where was the help when we needed it?” asked Erickson, a former KIBIHT president (1979-80) who spent 38 years volunteering with the KIBIHT Society. “Where was all this help when KIBIHT was having trouble getting volunteers?”
Mayor Terry Lake took exception to Erickson’s questions.
“The support you see here today was always there for KIBIHT. Councillors and staff bent over backward to keep this tournament,” said Lake, adding that the tournament would have had no problem surviving in its traditional Easter weekend timeslot — the same weekend chosen for the new KIBIHT.
However, the KIBIHT Society wanted to push the tourney back to the end of April, so it could change to an all-star format.
“The crisis was created by the KIBIHT Society,” Lake said.
Erickson argued that it was increasingly difficult to attract quality teams for the Easter timeslot. That was why the society pushed for the date change.
“We worked our buns off to make sure we would have a quality tournament,” Erickson said. “Good luck to you.”
Gerard Hayes, one of the local referees on the new executive, wanted to put all the acrimony behind and push ahead.
However, he appreciated Erickson’s concerns.
“I like Ted because he’s such a volunteer. Volunteers, as you know, become passionate for the cause. Ted is one of the more passionate people I know in Kamloops. I can understand and share his frustration,” said Hayes, a WHL supervisor of officials. “We’ve offered help in the past year. But they wanted to move the tournament to a spring tournament. And, fair enough, maybe there’s room for a spring tournament somewhere. I don’t think that should impact the traditional tournament we’ve always had here, and I think that’s the big defining difference here.
“(An all-star format) leaves out the Kamloops team and the Vernon team and the Kelowna team. Where do they go? I’m proud to be part of the continuing tournament of KIBIHT.”
The KIBIHT committee also includes chairman Willy Saari and executive members Rob Fryer, Shawn McCaskill and Jason Rende — all local officials. They have garnered the support of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, as well as that of the City of Kamloops, the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers and the KIJHL’s Kamloops Storm.
The officials have decided to keep the KIBIHT name because their legal advice has indicated that while the old KIBIHT logo was registered through the B.C. Society Act, the name was not.
Saari said negotiations with a title sponsor are nearing completion. Registration officially opened Friday afternoon — the committee said it already has been in contact with teams from Kelowna, Abbotsford, the Burnaby Winter Club and Notre Dame.
The new KIBIHT will have two sides — a 24-team bantam boys division and an eight-team midget girls division. The reason for the age difference is that those are the age groups most scouted in hockey — the boys for the WHL bantam draft, and the girls for possible scholarships to CIS and NCAA schools.
Jordan Miller, a third-year defenceman with the defending provincial midget AAA champion Kamloops Mystixs, was thrilled that the girls have been included.
“I think it’s huge,” she said. “It’s going to be a great experience for the girls, having a huge tournament like this in our hometown. It’s going to be a good opportunity for us to get noticed by lots more scouts.
“Just another stepping stone for the female leagues. We want to have the same opportunities as the guys’ side.”
Craig Bonner, the Blazers’ general manager, was pleased to see KIBIHT’s return. The Edmonton native played in the tourney in the late 1980s — he recalls losing in a C final — and said the event is invaluable for WHL GMs and scouts.
“When they heard initially that KIBIHT was going to be cancelled, they were quite disappointed because it was always an event that was well attended by all the Western Hockey League teams,” he said. “I’m sure when they hear this news they’ll be excited that it’s back at that time of year.”
The players love it, too, said Austin Goode, a Kamloops Storm forward who played for the Jardine’s Blazers in KIBIHT five years ago.
“I grew up looking forward to playing in the tournament, watching the older guys when I was younger,” Goode said. “It was just something you looked forward to as a player . . . and it was a goal for me to get to it. It was an experience I’ll never forget.”
twatson@kamloopsnews.ca