Quebec Pee-Wee Tournament Creates Women’s Division

We got there. I think we need to stop celebrating girls once every four years when they win a gold medal at the Olympicslaunched the general manager of the tournament, Patrick Dom, on Monday, the day after 15 days of frantic competition at the Videotron Center.

The arrival of Olympic gold medalists Marie-Philip Poulin, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Mélodie Daoust on Saturday to sign autographs was therefore a premise for the announcement that Dom and his team had been planning for a while.

Originally from La Malbaie, Ann-Renée Desbiens was happy to pose with the fans on Saturday afternoon at the Tournoi pee-wee de Québec.

Photo: Jonathan Roy

We are happy. It’s always been said that the tournament is a springboard for different things. There, we want to be a springboard for women’s hockeyexplained the DG, adding that category A, added this year, will go through the wringer.

Of course, that will help women’s hockey, but we’re doing it because the women’s leagues have done the job they had to do. The rest of us, we just give a little pushbelieves for his part the president of the tournament, Michel Plante.

The end of the school division?

It is that the demand for a feminine category was clear for a few years and not only in the province. Already, we know that next year we will have a team from France, a team from Switzerland, teams from the United States, Quebec and the rest of Canada. We will start with a 12-team women’s division, but there would easily be demand to make it a 24-team one.relates Patrick Dom.

The international aspect of the new category was also non-negotiable. It’s because the school division created a few years ago is struggling to attract teams from outside Quebec. So much so that we are now thinking of eliminating it.

It has been said for years RSEQQuebec Student Sports Network that it takes teams from outside. The tournament has an international flavor and for 5-6 years, it’s always the same two teams from outside who are therejustifies the Director General.

Victorious on Sunday, the College Commanders of Lévis could be the last champions of the school division.

Photo: Jonathan Roy

Still, school hockey is popular in Quebec. In the context, the organization of the tournament is still questioning how to proceed next year. We don’t know yet what we’re going to do. Could they play at the Youth Pavilion with a final at the Videotron Centre? We will look into itdetails Patrick Dom.

Mission accomplished for 2022

The general manager and his team will not be taking vacation in the coming weeks. The tournament will return to its usual dates next winter, which means that the organization has 268 days ahead of it.

We delivered the goods because the young people were able to play, but a tournament at 30°C outside, we will never do that again, Michel Plante immediately launched on Monday. The hot weather had an effect on the crowds at the Videotron Center. Some 139,000 spectators attended the 62nd edition of the Tournament, 70,000 less than in 2020.

But after saving the tournament in extremis in 2022 after two years of pitfalls, the organization has nevertheless drawn up a very positive assessment of the last two weeks. Especially since only four cases of COVID-19, among volunteers, were listed among all the participants.

It was a tournament for players and parents and just to have managed to hold it makes it a success. It’s a tournament that is made to be in February, but we haven’t distorted the eventrejoiced Patrick Dom.