HUNTER: Tournament Capital means more than sports
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WE WEREN’T A HUGE SPORTS-CENTRIC FAMILY but most of us played a team sport at some point. I played soccer and volleyball, my sister and I both played softball, one of my brothers played hockey, and at one point my parents played beer-league slo-pitch. I consider this to be the average sport experience for most kids, especially those from income-limited families.
When I moved to Kamloops, the idea of a city branding itself solely around sports and tournament hosting seemed a bit strange – but I put it down to every community having their own claim to fame. I mean, my previous location is the self-described chainsaw sculpture carving capital of the world (a claim it fights a few other small towns for), so a tournament capital wasn’t that weird!
What it took me much longer to see and understand was the more nuanced impact of hosting team sports and tournaments and the ripple effect it has on the community. The recent welcoming home of 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship Team Canada gold-medal winners Caedan Bankier and Logan Stankoven is a recent example of this. The excitement in the community around their success is palpable among both hockey and non-hockey fans.
At any given Kamloops Blazers or TRU WolfPack game you’ll see people from all walks of life, backgrounds, experiences and interests united for the common purpose of supporting sport and their community. As a member of the crowd, there’s a collective sharing of energy and emotion with cheers and jeers following the tides of play.
