(Windsor) Following a successful 2012 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge in Windsor and neighbouring communities, the Windsor Spitfires, after much consideration, have graciously declined the opportunity to bid to host next year’s 2013 tournament. An amazing effort was put forth by all Host Committee members and volunteers during the preparation and execution stages of last year’s tournament. We saw an entire region come together in a short period of time and have built lasting relationships with neighbouring communities/facilities in Amherstburg, Essex, LaSalle and Tecumseh.
“It truly opened our eyes as to what this region can do in terms of sports tourism,” said Spitfires Business Manager Steve Horne. “The volunteers that put countless hours into this past event should be proud of themselves as they helped this event leave a lasting impression on the entire hockey community. There are some new and exciting components that we can now consider including in future bids.”
“It was felt that with the road we have coming ahead with the 2012-13 Spitfires season and our potential bid for the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup that our entire energies would not be able to be made available to host this event in a manner that Hockey Canada and our organization has come to expect,” said Spitfires President and Head Coach Bob Boughner. “We would be pleased to assist any future host committee’s in any manner we can as there were some great lessons we learned over the process. Our organization looks forward to crossing paths with Hockey Canada in the future and supports their programs and events 100%.”
