USA Hockey Magazine

TOURNAMENT "It's really your family, Part 2," Maraffa said. "It's your hockey family that carries you through holiday travel and weekend travel from September through May these days. It may be difficult for your family at home to understand the kids' hockey journey, but it's been a great experience for myself, my wife and the kids because we've built some great relationships with the travel team and the parents. It's been a lot of fun." James Zitmanis, who schedules tournaments throughout the year as director of Weekend Hockey, can sense an elevated energy level at the holiday events. The kids get excited because they're out of school, the parents are off work, and the extended time encourages teams from greater distances to travel to events. "The longer weekends mean you can bring in teams from out of state or out of country that you're not going to see during the rest of the year," said Zitmanis, whose organization hosts USA Hockey-sanctioned tournaments over most of the winter holiday weekends. "The last thing you want to do is go to a tournament and have to play a team from your league back home. You want to see teams you've never seen before, because it gives you a chance to measure yourself against teams from other parts of the country. You get to see different styles of hockey and you get to see where you need to grow as a team." Weekend Hockey 's Martin Luther King Weekend tournament, for example, includes t e a m s f r o m B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , A l b e r t a , Manitoba, California, Texas, Idaho, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, to name a few. "We'll have teams call us and ask who's all coming before they decide to sign up," Zitmanis said. "When they hear that kind of diversity, they'll say, 'OK, we're in.' You kind of get tired of playing the same teams all the time." The Wishbone Invitational Tournament o f f e r s t r a v e l h o c k e y p r o g r a m s i n t h e Chicagoland area the best of both worlds during a five-day period over the week of Thanksgiving. Players not only have the opportunity to play a holiday tournament, but they also compete within distances close enough to enjoy family Thanksgiving tradi- tions at home. Most of the school districts in the area begin their holiday breaks on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, giving tournament organizers time to schedule each team as many as four games before a champion- ship contest on the weekend. Arenas in the neighboring Illinois communities of Vernon Hills, Glenview, Northbrook and Winnetka host games in various age divisions. " You really don't mind having to get up on Thanksgiving for an early morning game when you know you get to go home and be with family, enjoy your turkey and reminisce about how much fun it was to have grandma and grandpa in the stands for your game and celebrate the holiday with family," said Cherice Paoli, the learn to play director at Glacier Ice Arena in Vernon Hills who works hand-in-hand with the Chicago Blackhawks' youth hockey development initiatives. " T h e k i d d o s r e a l l y l o o k f o r wa r d t o i t , because Thanksgiving is the first long break they get in the school year. The Mites, espe- cially, get really excited because it's their first tournament of the year. They have so much more energy, because they 're not coming to the rink at 5 p.m. for practice after a long day at school. And the tournament has a traditional feel to it, so it's something to look forward to in suburban Chicago." P Jim Leitner is the sports editor of the Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald. I've learned to embrace the moments, because before you know it … these moments will be over. When the kids move on with their lives, you' ll look back on these days and remember the great times you had." John Manzi, Sr. HOCKEY AND THE HOLIDAYS 32 // NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM

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