To say Steve O’Hara’s players are excited for the weekend wouldn’t do it much justice.
That’s because, for the first time since 2011, the Williams Lake Bantam Female Timberwolves will play host to their own home tournament Friday through Sunday.
For O’Hara, the team’s head coach, it’s an opportunity to showcase the team’s skills early on in the season, work on some of the things they’ve been dialing in on in practice, and provide an opportunity for family, friends and the community to come out to support the team at home.
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“Our team is looking really good,” O’Hara said. “Most of our team are second-year players this year, so we’re looking strong and fast. The girls are really into the game. Last year was a good year, but a tough year because we were a majority first-year players. Most are second year now, which gives us a little bit of an edge.”
The Timberwolves will welcome teams from Kamloops, Penticton, Fort St. John, the North West and North East to the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex for the five-team tournament.
The Timberwolves open their tournament Friday night at 6 p.m. taking on the Kamloops Female Bantam Blazers.
From there they face North West at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, followed by a date with the Fort St. John Predators later in the day at 4:30 p.m.
Sunday’s playoff games will depend on Saturday results, however, the tournament final is slated for 1:15 p.m., with preliminary playoff games getting underway at 6 a.m. The bronze-medal match goes at 11:30 a.m.
O’Hara said he’s looking forward to getting into some games, and acknowledged how much female hockey has grown throughout the province and, especially, right here in Williams Lake.
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“Female hockey is certainly on the rise and Williams Lake is certainly doing a good job with it,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to playing more games, the girls are working hard at some new team systems and tactics and we want to get them in practice against some teams. The girls have got a good attitude and compete level, and we’re just excited to get some games here and to get out and start putting this all together.”
For anyone looking to follow along with the T-wolves’ results, a website has been created, and will be updated throughout the weekend with scores, at http://wltimberwolves.weebly.com/.
GREG CODE:
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