According to MN Hockey, a jamboree is an “event where players have an enjoyable and learning experience in a noncompetitive environment.” To quote Coach Gus Engstrom, Silver Bay Mites coach, from an earlier article this season, “The jamborees are what gets the kids hooked on hockey.”
Last week, the Northshore Journal reported on the Two Harbors Mite 2 hockey teams that competed in the Twig Outdoor Holiday Classic Tradition Jamboree. Each team engaged in three games out in the elements and the weather plummeted to -18 degrees. Yet they were undeterred.
Over the January 19th weekend, it was the Two Harbors Mite 1 teams’ turn. Some of the youngest players of the
Two Harbors Youth Hockey Association took the ice at the Twig Outdoor Hockey Classic Tradition Jamboree.
The two teams each played three games throughout the weekend. Games for Mites are at half-ice.
“The weather was quite cold again for an outdoor jamboree,” Kiera Wilson, Mite team manager, wrote in. “But the players did absolutely amazing! They skated hard and braved the cold temps/strong wind.”
Please allow me to lazily reference myself from the previous article about the Mite 2 teams, “sometimes, the most memorable moments happen in the coldest of settings.” Earlier in the week, Twig had closed the rinks due to frigid temperatures. For the budding hockey players to show up ready to go despite the cold is a testament to their excitement and dedication for the game. And it certainly speaks to the spirit of a hockey Jamboree.
