First up, the OC Beach Bash, in Ocean City, Maryland. We stayed at the Carousel hotel and the tournament was played on a small rink down in the lobby. It is such a fun tournament and the kids (plus adults) always have such a fun time.
Lauren had 1 goal and it was always so fun to see the kids on the beach in their hockey gear.
Prince William Jamboree
In February, the Piedmont Predators agreed to go to a Jamboree down at the Prince William Ice Rink. It was a 1 tournament, with multiple short games, and a lot of fun. Something suddenly happened to Lauren, because she scored 5 goals during that tournament and was all over the ice. We had not seen her play like that, in a tournament before, and it was a lot of fun.
After the Jamboree, some of the families got together and the coaches decided to try to do some additional tournaments with this team. They were not able to participate in any travel teams, so this was their only chance to get some tournament games under their belt before the next season started. Also, the kids really played well together, the parents got along, and we felt that we could really compete against some older travel teams. And that was when the Virginia Ice Donkeys were born!!
York
The first real competition for the Piedmont Predators was at a tournament in York, Pa. We brought 2 different teams. One filled with first year Mini Mites, and one team filled with the Ice Donkeys. The older kids, mostly 5 and 6 year olds, competed against 7, 8, and even some 9 year olds, who have been playing travel for 1 to 2 years. Our kiddos played awesome. Lauren even had a few goals!!
The Ice Donkeys killed the first few teams and ended up losing in the semi-finals. They were pretty upset, but the parents and coaches were proud, especially considering the goalie for the other team was about my height in skates. ha ha ha
At the beginning of May, the Ice Donkeys were invited to play in a local tournament. They lost to a few local travel teams but everyone had a lot of fun. They even got to play the travel team from our local ice rink, the Predators. These kids are 1-2 years older and we only lost by 2 goals. Not too bad!!
The next day, we got a call from the tournament directors asking if we wanted to play in the final game of a different division (the house teams). We managed to get the whole team together, short notice, and everyone jumped at the chance to play another game. It was good practice for these guys. Especially since they had a big tournament coming up in a few weeks.
We lost, but in a weird turn of events, got the 2nd place finish for a division we never even played in. Some of the team had a good time posing in front of our "runner up" banner, since we did not win a single game that tournament! ha ha ha At least everyone had a good sense of humor about it and all of the kids had a lot of fun. Smiles all around!!
Over Memorial Day weekend, the Ice Donkeys traveled to outside of Philly for another tournament. Once again, they were playing against older travel teams and did a great job.
Lauren even had a penalty shot during one of the games, which was so much fun to watch. No fear in that girl!! The Ice Donkeys played their hearts out and although they didn't win, we are so proud of those kids.
This fall, Lauren, along with all of these kids, will be back on the Piedmont Predators team. They had a lot of fun with the Ice Donkeys and we all hope there will be some more tournaments together. No one is quite ready to say goodbye to the Ice Donkeys!!
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