The BDO Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) Championships will remain in Penticton, B.C. for three more years.
The CSSHL announced today that after a bidding process between multiple cities, the CSSHL’s Board of Governors voted to keep the event in Penticton for 2021, 2022 and 2023. The winning bid was a partnership between the Okanagan Hockey Group (OHG) and Spectra Venue Management.
“With OHG and Spectra operating the 2021, 2022 and 2023 CSSHL Championships we believe it will push the experience for our 1,500 student athletes to the next level,” said Kevin Goodwin, chief operating officer of the CSSHL. “Our board has been impressed with the professionalism of Spectra and their staff over the last six years and they all know the high standard that OHG operates at. We hope to continue to grow the event, support businesses during the shoulder season and are looking forward to another three years in the city.”
The BDO CSSHL Championships have been held in Penticton annually since 2015 and has had a total economic impact of greater than $12 million for the city of Penticton during the month of March. With over 1,300 student athletes and 250 staff members representing 73 teams, and 3,073 paid spectators (aged 18 & over) in attendance, the 2019 BDO CSSHL Championships alone had a direct economic impact of $2.740 million for the city of Penticton, making it one of the top tourism weeks of the entire year for Penticton.
“Okanagan Hockey Group is very excited to have the CSSHL Championships in Penticton for another three more years,” said Andy Oakes, president of OHG. “We are fortunate to have a partnership with Spectra, a first-class venue management organization to co-host the event. The support from the City of Penticton and Travel Penticton was instrumental in obtaining the bid and we are very grateful for their support over the coming years.
“This event allows us to showcase the Okanagan Valley. We are thankful for the support of the District of Summerland and the Township of Oliver. The CSSHL Championships is one of the top tourism weeks for the City of Penticton and the businesses in Penticton. We feel we are going to be able to enhance the overall student athletes experience with some of the added items that we will be bringing to the event. We want all the student athletes and families leaving the event stating, ‘what an amazing community and what an amazing event and we cannot wait to come back next year.’”
Since 2015, spectators have been able to watch some of top male and female student athletes in Canada hit the ice at the South Okanagan Events Centre, Okanagan Hockey Training Centre, Memorial Arena, Summerland Arena and Oliver Arena including seven members of the Canadian National Women’s Under-18 team: Anne Cherkowski, Courtney Kollman, Stephanie Markowski, Sarah Paul, Danielle Serdachny, Rachel Weiss and Sarah Wozniewicz.
NHLers Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Jake Bean, Beck Malenstyn and Michael Rasmussen, as well as 310 student athletes selected in the Western Hockey League (WHL) Bantam Draft highlight some of the male student athletes that have participated at the event.