18th annual Stick It to Cancer Women’s Hockey Tournament coming April 15-17 at Schwan Super Rink
BLAINE, Minn. (April 12, 2016) – The Schwan Super Rink at the National Sports Center will host the 18th annual Stick It to Cancer Girls and Women’s Hockey Tournament this coming Friday-Sunday, April 15-17. The tournament’s mission is to raise funds to help combat breast cancer, with proceeds to be donated to the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.
In 2015, the tournament donated a total of $51,500 to the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.
The tournament will feature a total of 56 girls’ and women’s hockey teams from around the Midwest. Most of the teams are from Minnesota, but out-of-state teams from Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota and Nebraska will also be represented.
Tournament hours are Friday, April 15, from 5-10 p.m., Saturday, April 16, from 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday, April 17, from 8:10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Games will be played continuously, with championship games scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The tournament is open to the public, and admission is free.
Here is a link to the game schedule: http://www.nscsports.org/page/show/1591152-stick-it-to-cancer-schedule-and-results.
A popular, and emotional, addition to this year’s tournament was the naming of competition divisions after family members and friends of players who had lost their battle with breast cancer.
There is a spirited rivalry among teams to raise money above and beyond their tournament registration fee. Last year’s fund raising championship went to the perennial champions, the Olson Fish Company Elks, from Elk River, Minn.
“A lot of kids on our team, and parents too, have been connected with people who have gone through breast cancer,” says Chris Dorff, president of Olson Fish Company and a coach in the tournament. “We always try to challenge them, and the kids always rise to the occasion.”
This year, the Olson Fish Company Elks will enter two teams, both playing in the Lori Dorff High School Girls Division.
The Stick-It to Cancer Festival is notable because teams provide volunteers to staff the box during games, and officials donate their pay back to the tournament to increase the charity donation.
About the National Sports Center:
The National Sports Center (NSC) is a 600-acre multi-sport facility located in Blaine, Minnesota. The campus includes the Schwan Super Rink, an eight-sheet ice arena that is the world’s largest ice facility, a soccer stadium that is the home Field for the Minnesota United FC professional team, the Gradient Financial Center meeting and convention building, the 18-hole Victory Links course, an indoor Sports Hall, 150 bed residence hall and 54 soccer fields. The facility hosts nearly 300 events annually, and welcomes 4 million visitors annually, making it the most-visited sports facility in Minnesota. The NSC generates over $47 million in annual out-of-state economic impact each year.
