Royals set to host championship

STELLARTON – A rare event will transform the Stellarton Memorial Rink in March.
The hometown Royals are getting ready to host the provincial Midget C minor hockey champion tournament in March.
Organizers have not yet confirmed when Stellarton last hosted a provincial event, and so far they have traced back more than 40 years to 1979 when its peewee team hosted and won a provincial banner.
“It’s been a long time,” organizing committee chairperson Angela MacIntosh said.
The committee has focused on two reasons for applying to host the Midget C provincials.
For one thing, they have been able to ice a midget team in Stellarton instead of farming out players in past years to New Glasgow and Thorburn when they didn’t have a full roster.
The Royals also appear to be a strong contender to win the division after capturing two tournaments and placing second in another one. They won their own five-team tournament in November and also won their division at the Keith MacLean tournament in Thorburn. They took home silver medals from the recent Christmas tournament in Westville.
“The boys are having a good season and they get along,” MacIntosh said. Among the players on the Royals’ roster is Eric Kim, who’s from South Korea and has lived in Pictou County since Grade 7. He is graduating from Northumberland Regional High School this year and playing his first year of organized hockey with the team.
Fund raising, hospitality, accommodations, promotion, scheduling and a skills camp are among segments the committee needs to organize.