The Victoria Grizzlies Junior Hockey organization along with two youth Jr. Grizzlies teams and their family members will be heading to Central Europe this August. The teams will be playing hockey and touring in the countries of Germany, Austria and Italy.
The two Jr. Grizzlies teams will consist of a Atom/Pee Wee aged team and a Bantam/Midget aged team. The roster spots are filling up, however there are still a few available spots for both teams.
The Jr. Grizzlies Tour will fly into Munich on August 5th; where they will begin their hockey tour of Central Europe. During the tour each team will participate in two practices and compete in five matches; during their ten days overseas. The games will be versus local teams in Munich Germany, Innsbruck Austria, and Bolzano Italy. As part of the travel, the players and their families will also enjoy daily tours of the those cities. One of the many highlights is a visit to Venice, Italy.
While on tour the families will travel around via luxury motor coach.
The Victoria Grizzlies Head Coach and GM, Craig Didmon, along with Grizzlies VP of Hockey Operations, Lee Richardson, will coach the teams. Both Didmon and Richardson have previously traveled on similar tours throughout Europe and found the experience to be richly rewarding for the players and families alike.
“From past experience I witnessed the players take great pride in representing Canada and really came together as a team pulling for each other. As individuals they learned more about the team game and became better hockey players because of it. I expect the same style of camaraderie, fun, and memorable hockey experience to occur with these two groups,” said Didmon
“The games are very competitive and are played with a lot of emotion, however when the games are over the players get to meet their opponents have an opportunity to dine and socialize with them and trade jerseys. It really is a once in a lifetime experience” added Didmon.
“These experiences are amazing for the families, the players will meet kids from the other side of the world that love the same game as they do. They will get to see new places, play in different arenas in a completely different environment and make new friends” said Richardson.
Richardson also added, “that fundraising is underway to help reduce the costs of the trip”.
Up Island in Parksville the group will be hosting a fundraiser at Arrowsmith Brewery on May 26th fro 1-4pm followed by a Paint Night confirmed for Tuesday May 29 at 7pm, and Bottle Drive on Saturday July 14th.
In Victoria, Bucky’s Taphouse will host a Beer and Burger Night on May 25th and Bottle drive on May 27th with a Car Wash on June 9th.
