The Annual Kitwanga Sports tournament weekend featured several scrub teams battling it out on the mound and dozens of soccer teams from women’s to men’s to youth giving end to end action for sports fans throughout the four-day event.
The men’s soccer top prize of $4,000 went to the Gitanyow Soldiers thanks to a solid effort all weekend.
Second prize, $2,000 went to the Kitwanga Springfield Soccer (KSFS) team.
In women’s soccer, the first prize of $900, went to the Kitwanga Wildcats after they defeated the Gitanyow Angels.
The Kitwanga Cougars finished in third place.
In the scrub match, two teams from Terrace battled it out.
The top-place ranking went to the Terrace Stallions who beat out Rudon who finished the tourney in second place.
The Hazelton team led by Norm Larson struggled this year and while out of the money, Larson said most importantly the team had fun.
The South Hazelton ball park got a major overhaul last Saturday when a handful of South Town residents met for a work bee. The old bleachers came down, the field reclaimed, fences and dugouts fixed and the area outside the ball park was cleaned up.
There’s still work to be done in the next few weeks including rebuilding the bleachers on the south side of the field, painting and field maintenance such as filling holes.
All that is missing is someone with a riding lawn mower willing to cut the grass every few weeks.
There are high hopes softball and scrub are going to be back in the Hazelton’s.
Organizers said last week the first step is to get the field up to par. While several children showed up for ball last Wednesday, the South Hazelton Community Association hope the numbers will increase as other programs, such as dance and the after school program, wind down.
Practices are Monday and Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m. for children 4 − 7 years of age followed by an hour practice for youth between the ages of 8 − 12, and there are mixed scrub practices happening on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
There are plans to hold a few tournaments this year and the SHCA hopes more women sign up so they can organize a women’s team to start practicing in the next few weeks.
Registration forms can still be picked up at several locations including the New Hazelton Bulkley Valley Credit Union, Sedina Sales, Tri Town Lumber and Feed and the District of New Hazelton or by contacting the SHCA at southhazelton.ca@gmail.ca or call 250-842-7077.
The SHCA holds their monthly meeting, June 6th at 6:30 p.m. at the South Hazelton Fire Hall. Anyone interested in booking field time at the ballpark is asked to attend or send a letter of interest to the board.
The SHCA also invites all residents to come out to the meeting and hear what the plans are or voice concerns or other issues they would like discussed.