As the final gold medals were awarded to Prince George's U16 B ringette team Sunday at the Coliseum, Janine Gervais was beaming with pride.
The president of the Prince George Ringette Association was thrilled with how the 2014 Provincial A & B Ringette championship, an event her host committee organized, unfolded.
The three-day tournament, spread across the ice at Kin 2, Kin 3 rinks and the Coliseum, served as the official test event for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
"The feedback we received [from the visiting teams] was how friendly Prince George is and how welcoming we all were," Gervais said Monday. "They were surprised how everything was so close together, from the hotel to the rink. We got a ton of great feedback."
The championship featured 23 teams divided into five divisions from U14 to U19. They were the top A and B level qualifying teams from each of the four regional leagues across B.C. - the Lower Mainland, Thompson Okanagan, Northern Ringette and Vancouver Island.
In total, there were 337 athletes, as well as coaches, parents and volunteers in Prince George.
Prince George teams held their own as the U14 B and U16 B squads won gold against their Shuswap rivals from Salmon Arm.
"It was absolutely fantastic, and we were super-excited to see both teams go the distance," said Gervais. "The stands were packed for all the games."
Volunteers were also trained by the host committee as minor officials. Gervais said the referees who came from around the province were impressed with those officials who ran the scoreclocks and kept the gamesheets.
And other than some minor tweaking at the Coliseum, the venue is ready to go for 2015.
There will only be nine teams competing in the ringette tournament in 2015, compared to the 23 squads that were in Prince George last weekend.
The provincial championship was sponsored by the 2015 Canada Winter Games and viasport.
