The Bonnyville committee in charge of organizing the 2018 World Jr. A Challenge (WJAC) has approached the City of Cold Lake about their participation in the tournament.
In 2016, when the Town of Bonnyville first hosted the international tournament, Cold Lake held the WJAC Canada West versus United States exhibition game as part of their participation. The endeavour cost the city about $25,000.
Mayor Craig Copeland described the Town of Bonnyville’s opportunity to play host once again as a “pretty huge deal.”
“We had a lot of positive feedback when it came to the 2016 game we had in Cold Lake. We’re just happy to have Bonnyville consider looking at the Energy Centre as a place to host a game and pack a lot of fans in to watch such high-calibre hockey,” he continued.
Rob Hunter, chair of the organizing committee, and Richard Wurst, another committee representative, approached council during their regular meeting on Tuesday, April 10, about hosting another WJAC match-up.
“We’re awfully excited the WJAC is coming back to the area,” Hunter said. “Cold Lake was a big part of our success in 2016, they hosted an exhibition game and was a municipal sponsor of the event as well.”
Because the tournament is coming back to the area, Hunter is hoping Cold Lake will once again jump on-board when it comes to lending them a hand.
“We’re looking for basically the exact same thing. We’re wondering if you would like to host an exhibition game here in Cold Lake,” he added.
Wurst explained the committee would provide Cold Lake with the two competing teams, but the rest is up to the city.
“We love Cold Lake being a partner of ours for the event,” Wurst continued. “We just hope we can arrange the same as last time.”
As part of hosting the game, the city would pay a $25,000 sponsorship fee to the event, while taking in any revenues from the ticket sales.
They would also be in charge of providing game officials and meals for the players.
“We would provide the two teams and transportation to and from the game,” detailed Wurst.
Should the city decide to get on board for 2018, the committee could guarantee one of the exhibition teams playing in Cold Lake would be Canadian. However, who they would face off against is yet to be determined.
Last time they hosted a game, over 1,600 people attended, and according to Wurst, the atmosphere couldn’t be beat.
