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From the March 23 Vancouver Courier.
Huge street hockey tournament a go
By Sandra Thomas-Staff writer
Just four weeks after the Molson Indy speeds through town this summer, a two-day street hockey tournament will take place in almost the exact same area, forcing the closure of two kilometres of road.
On Tuesday, city council approved the Aug. 23 and 24 event, which will see several streets closed from 7 p.m. Friday night until 5 p.m. Sunday: Pacific Boulevard, from Abbott to Quebec; Carrall, from Pacific to Keefer; Keefer, from Carrall to Columbia; northbound Quebec, from Terminal to Pacific.
The streets will be divided into 70 makeshift rinks to accommodate up to 5,000 players broken into four-person teams.
Muriel Honey, film and special events coordinator with the city, said street hockey is "huge" in most other Canadian cities and this tournament is being welcomed with open arms in places like Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.
"Some aren't even charging, but we will be asking for full cost recovery for the event."
Those costs include extra policing, traffic control and temporary barriers between the courts and street so stray balls don't fly into traffic.
Vancouver is the final stop for the eight-city event called Play On! The Official Canadian Street Hockey Tournament, sponsored by the Calgary-based sport marketing company William Wilson Group.
Players aged six to 66 will compete in male, female and co-ed divisions in all age categories. While between 3,000 and 5,000 participants will actively take part, another 6,000 to 10,000 spectators are expected. About three per cent of participants are expected to be from out of town and the rest from recreational hockey leagues in the Lower Mainland.
The events start in Halifax May 26 and end with the national championships here.
Honey said one of the concerns is the impact the event will have on residents of the nearby CityGate housing towers on Main and Quebec streets. Those residents have publicly opposed noisy annual events such as the Molson Indy race and summer Snow Jam.
In fact, on Tuesday, council voted to cancel the annual fly past that's traditionally part of the Indy weekend because of complaints from CityGate residents that the planes fly too low and are particularly disturbing after the events of Sept. 11.
But Honey said the street hockey tournament site will be designed so that the stage and music face away from CityGate. "They were bombarded with noise during Snow Jam, but that's been cancelled for next year."
To ensure there's no late night noise, on Saturday the games are scheduled to finish by 8 p.m. and participants are to vacate the grounds shortly after.
A clean-up and equipment service crew will be on-site until about 10:30 p.m. and no music will be played after 8 p.m.
Council had suggested that William Wilson Group find an off-road area to play, but the group says holding the events in the streets is vital.
"Street hockey just isn't the same if it's played in a parking lot," said Heather Stewart, director of operations for the western part of the tournament for William Wilson. "Plus, on the street, there are curbs that help keep the ball in play and that reduces the cost of equipment."
Stewart said the tournament celebrates street hockey as an integral part of Canadian culture.
"You can drive down any residential street in Canada during the summer and there'll be kids playing street hockey," she said. "It's just what Canadian kids do."
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