The Kelowna Ball Hockey League (KBHL) has seen explosive growth over the last couple of years and it will be on full display at its youth championships this weekend (July 20-21).
"How do you grow your league from within? You make sure you have a running youth league," explained Whit Penner, VP and KBHL coordinator.
The KBHL started with four men含羞草研究社檚 teams in 2021-22, but after extensive advertising and spreading the word locally, it now has 11 men's teams, two women's squads and this year added 26 youth teams.
含羞草研究社淚t's quite a bit of growth," Penner added. 含羞草研究社淲e did a lot of advertising on Sportsnet and went to a lot of (Kelowna) Rockets games and had conversations with parents and kids.含羞草研究社�
Penner, who has been involved in ball hockey for over 20 years, attributes the sport's popularity as an alternative to other activities such as soccer, lacrosse and ice hockey. He also notes there are approximately 200,000 people in the Central Okanagan.
含羞草研究社淭here is no reason why ball hockey shouldn含羞草研究社檛 be decently sized in this city.含羞草研究社�
Age is no barrier either.
"We have three and four-year-olds out there playing ball hockey and 50-something-year-olds going to national tournaments," Penner said.
While attracting youth to the sport is a main focus, Penner added growing the league as a whole is also key
含羞草研究社淭here is no women含羞草研究社檚 program for ball hockey here. We went from nothing to two teams and we含羞草研究社檙e hoping to jump to four teams.含羞草研究社�
Penner said this weekend's championships will showcase young talent and community spirit. Teams in various divisions ranging from U5 up to U15/18 will be competing.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e doing a presentation like an NHL All-Star Game. It含羞草研究社檚 a great way to end the season with a bang and get people to come down and see what ball hockey is all about.含羞草研究社�
There will be medals for the players and a replica Stanley Cup.
The tournament is on Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 at Memorial Arena (1424 Ellis Street). Games will be played between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
More information about the tournament the KBHL is .
