Thompson-Okanagan Lakers take on the Regina Rebels in the Esso Cup preliminary round April 24  at Kal Tire Place. (photo by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

By Pete McIntyre

Revenues stay in community

‘You couldn’t ask for anything better’: Esso Cup will leave a legacy in Greater Vernon

May 1, 2024 | 5:00 AM

The host team was competitive, and the community got behind it.

Those two comments sum up how the Esso Cup went last week in Vernon.

Six teams took part in the Canadian women’s under 18 club hockey championship, a Hockey Canada event, held at Kal Tire Place from April 21-27.

The Regina Rebels took home the gold medal, defeating Ontario’s North York Storm 2-1 in Saturday’s final, broadcast on TSN, while the Edmonton Junior Oilers captured the bronze, edging the host Thompson-Okanagan Lakers 1-0 in overtime.

The Regina Rebels won the 2024 Esso Cup at Kal Tire Place in Vernon April 27. (Hockey Canada photo)

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Kevin Bathurst, co-chair of the local organizing committee, called it a “great event,” even though the host Lakers lost a heartbreaker for third place.

“But overall, from a team perspective, the girls should be extremely proud of how they played and finished. And from an event perspective, I don’t think you could ask for anything better,” Bathurst told Vernon Matters.

He said the support from sponsors, fans and volunteers was exceptional.

“It was a home run, and everybody should be really proud of the week we had.”

Bathurst said ticket sales were “awesome.”

“From a budget perspective, it exceeded our goal. I never thought we would get to a point where we hit some of the numbers we did, and to me it speaks volumes to the levels of support our community has for hockey and female hockey.”

Bathurst said all the net revenue generated by the event will come back to Greater Vernon in the form of a legacy fund, an amount that should be finalized in the next few weeks.

“It’s no different from we had from the BC Winter Games that were hosted here.”

The legacy fund will be split in two directions: one will be for a post secondary scholarship fund for the Lakers which will be dispersed over a number of years to graduating players attending post secondary education.

The other half of the legacy will be for a grass roots development fund to help remove financial barriers for young girls who want to play hockey.

“So, for equipment and registration fees, team fees, that type of thing, to help grow the female game in the region,” Bathurst explained.

Bathurst, who is also the general manager of the Lakers team, said one highlight of the event was seeing hundreds of school kids attend the games last Tuesday and Wednesday, creating a great environment for the teams.

He estimates the biggest crowd was about 1,200 for the Lakers game against Regina on April 24, with about 1,000 on hand for the Lakers semifinal game versus L’Intrépide de l’Outaouais of Quebec.

The Thompson-Okanagan Lakers finished fourth out of the six teams. (Hockey Canada photo)

Bathurst said the bid to host the Hockey Canada event was made by the Lakers, Tourism Vernon and Greater Vernon Minor Hockey, and while they are open to bidding on future events, that may not happen for a while.

“The one thing you have to be conscious of is we are a small community, and sponsor burnout and all that kind of thing for these types of events is a real concern. I think if you do these things on a five-year cycle would probably be a good timeline.”

Bathurst said the Lakers will be back next season.

“We built a dressing room for them in the fall, and this team is here to stay.”

The team’s GM said there will be a “large number” of graduating players and turnover on the Lakers.

“But that’s the cycle of hockey,” Bathurst remarked.