A new year means the International Silver Stick hockey finals are just on the horizon.
Hundreds of teams, and their families, will make their way to Sarnia-Lambton for the competitions, starting this week.
Over 200 teams are coming from all across the United States and Canada.
Tourism Sarnia-Lambton (TSL) Executive Director Mark Perrin said these events, combined with the regional events held late last year, bring in about $6 million for the local economy.
"Most teams stay an average of three nights at a local hotel and then they obviously eat out and do shopping and different activities," said Perrin. "It's a significant amount of money. Hockey parents know how much it is to play the sport and travel to these tournaments and what goes into it. That $6 million for the local economy is huge."
Perrin said the feedback from visitors has been extremely positive.
"This year, we've heard a lot of really great things about the tournaments, and the amount of volunteers that come out and help put them on," said Perrin. "It been outstanding this year. This is kind of the first full-fledged Silver Stick again since we had the pandemic the past several years. To have everything back to normal and operating strong is obviously significant for the economy."
Perrin said TSL has been making sure that all of the visitors have the best experience possible.
"We've worked with a lot of local partners to create packages that have some extra activities that teams can do, whether it's in Sarnia, Lambton Shores or Mooretown," he said. "There are some different things that are unique to each municipality, whether it's going out to eat or doing activities like laser tag or bowling. Just giving them a little taste of Sarnia-Lambton is significant, and we're seeing a lot of people exploring outside their hotel rooms and that's great."
The action kicks off January 4, with the U21 boys events in Mooretown.
The Forest finals are set for January 5 to 7, and January 19 to 21, and feature players ranging in age from 10 to 18.
The Sarnia girls finals are scheduled for January 5 to 7, while the boys will take to the ice from January 12 to 14 at rinks across the city.
A list of local tournaments and divisions is posted below.
For a full schedule, go to www.silverstick.org.
