Brett Thoms
FORT-COULONGE January 12, 2023
A three-on-three hockey tournament was held in Fort-Coulonge last weekend to raise funds for minor hockey.
The tournament, held over three days at the Centre Recreatif de Fort-Coulonge, attracted 11 teams from all over Pontiac and beyond. It was organized as a round-robin, with every team playing three games.
The participating teams were broken down into two divisions based on skill level, with four teams being in the A division and seven teams in the B division, according to Paul Boisvert, one of the organizers of the tournament.
Eric Jolin, another organizer, said the tournament was entirely volunteer-run, including the referees, the bartenders and the scoreboard operators. When asked if there were any prizes for the winning teams, Boisvert joked: “It’s a fundraiser, so they’ll win a case of beer.”
Beer also happened to be the main money maker of the tournament.
“It’s a full weekend of hockey and we basically raised most of our money out of the party upstairs in the hall,” Boisvert said, referring to the bar that was run as a part of the event.
Funds raised will go to lowering the charges for kids participating in minor hockey and supporting the arena.
The event also featured a DJ and a large number of people of all ages came to watch the games and party.
This was the first year a fundraising tournament for L’Association du Hockey Mineur Fort-Coulonge was held, but Jolin said they planned on making it an annual event.
Boisvert, also a referee for many of the games, said the tournament went well.
“A few games got rough, but at the end of the line, it’s all hockey. And people seem to be having fun. So that’s our main goal at the end,” he said. “Everybody’s here to have fun and play hockey.”
