With the Victoria Junior A Grizzlies and the Westshore Wolves off for their winter break, hockey fansB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ heads turn to the Juan de Fuca Midget Grizzlies.
The Midget Tier 1 Grizzlies shake off the turkey and stuffing and headed to Richmond on Dec. 27 for the New YearB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s Richmond International Tournament.
The Grizz hit the ice bright and early Sunday against the Alaska Oilers 18AA, before taking on the Vancouver Thunderbirds, Surrey Midget Tier 1 and Saanich Midget T1 in round-robin play. The tourney wraps up Dec. 31.
Here at home, the Tier 2 and 3 Grizzlies compete in the Midget New YearB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s Classic.
The Juan de Fuca Tier 2s start play Monday (Dec. 28) when they go head-to-head against the Braves Tier 3s at EsquimaltB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s Archie Browning Sports Centre at 9:20 a.m.
Later that day the Grizzlies face Powell River Tier 2 at 5:20 p.m. at the Oak Bay Rec Centre, then they finish off round-robin play Tuesday, taking on Burnaby Tier 3 at 5 p.m. at the Wurtele Arena in the Naden Athletic Centre.
The Tier 3 Grizzlies also start play Dec. 28 when they face Sooke Tier 2 at Archie Browning at 7:20 a.m. Play continues later that day when Juan de Fuca plays Nanaimo Tier 2 at 7 p.m. at Wurtele Arena. On Tuesday (Dec. 29) the Grizzlies wrap up round-robin play against Alberni Valley Tier 3 at 3:15 p.m. at Oak Bay.
The gold medal game for Tier 2 gets underway at 5:10 p.m. at Archie Browning, while the Tier 3 gold medal will be decided at 5:30 p.m. at Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
On the local sports fundraising front, the West Shore-based Victoria Titans U15 field lacrosse Tier 1 team asks West Shore families to contribute bottles to their teamB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s bottle drive. The team is available for bottle pick-up through Saturday, Jan 2. Contact titansbottledrive@yahoo.ca for pick up and more information.
Local lacrosse fans take note: Victoria ShamrocksB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ season tickets are available at 250-478-7625 weekdays or visit 967 Langford Pkwy. Tuesdays, Thursdays or Fridays from 12 to 5 p.m. Those renewing season tickets before Thursday, Dec. 31 will be entered to win your 2016 season tickets.
And for those with FebruaryB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s Americas Rugby Championship on their calendar, you can now sign up for early bird tickets for menB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s sevens games being held at Westhills Stadium, Feb. 6 against Uruguay and Feb. 20 against Brazil. For details visit events.rugbycanada.ca.
Calling all goddesses: Registration is open for all women planning to lace up for the fifth annual Victoria Goddess Run on June 5. This 10K and previously half-marathon (new for 2016 is a 15K distance) includes not only the races, but a full weekend of activities. The early bird registration special price is available until April 15.
Colin Gall is an athlete, avid sports fan and a student at Mount Douglas secondary. Email him with your game schedules to jocktalk@telus.net.