This week乌鸦传媒檚 severe winter storm left dozens of people stranded overnight on the Coquihalla, including a bunch of young athletes on their way to kelowna.
Several teams were on their way to the 2017 Kelowna Ringette Sweetheart Tournament when mother nature had another plan.
乌鸦传媒淚t was terrible. I was up until 2:30 in the morning fielding telephone calls and text messages from people that were stuck 30 kilometres outside of Merritt, who ended up having to spend the night. Some in their vehicles, a few on team buses, it was crazy,乌鸦传媒� explained tournament organizer Tina Pomponio.
乌鸦传媒淎 lot of the teams made it through, but there were a lot that got stuck in between intermittent closures. We had several teams that left the coast at 11 a.m. yesterday and arrived at 1 p.m. today.乌鸦传媒�
At one point, Pomponio thought she might have to call off parts of tournament, but everyone came together to make the weekend happen.
乌鸦传媒淲e started this morning, games were played, we had a few hiccups due to intermittent highway closures, but out of the 90 teams just three teams cancelled,乌鸦传媒� said Pomponio.
乌鸦传媒淭he teams are all showing up now and we are getting back on track.乌鸦传媒�
Pomponio says she was worried about their safety and concerned kids of all ages were forced to spend the night on a very cold highway. However, despite the headache for parents, she乌鸦传媒檚 told many made the most of it.
乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 think it was that bad from the kid乌鸦传媒檚 perspective,乌鸦传媒� said Pomponio. 乌鸦传媒淲hen they乌鸦传媒檙e an adult, this is one of the things you乌鸦传媒檙e going to look back on and you乌鸦传媒檙e going to remember it. Yes, as precarious the roads were, they can say they spent the night on the highway. They will remember it forever.
乌鸦传媒淥ne of the teams walked away from the highway and played in the snow. They made the best of it.乌鸦传媒�
The Kelowna Ringette Sweetheart Tournament runs until Sunday throughout the Central Okanagan.
乌鸦传媒淭his year we have 90 teams, eight more than last year. It is the largest amount of teams we乌鸦传媒檝e had. It is a huge tournament,乌鸦传媒漞xplained Pomponio.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 all going, it乌鸦传媒檚 all rolling, there are smiling faces.乌鸦传媒�
