Disappointing attendance
for well-run Junior A Challenge
By Brett Browne
The recent World Junior A Challenge was another triumph for Camrose organization
and know-how it's just too bad there weren't more people there to enjoy
it.
That sums up the way event co-chair Kevin Gurr is feeling about the high profile
international tournament which wrapped up November 9.
"Everybody was just blown away by the organizational level of the tournament,"
he told The Booster last week. "As far as the operation of the tournament,
we couldn't have been more pleased with how it all came together."
Gurr said the professionalism of the volunteers and the way they dealt with people
was second to none. He said officials from Hockey Canada and the Canadian Junior
Hockey League (CJHL) had nothing but good things to say about the Camrose organization
and the way it performed.
The new Edgeworth Centre also passed its first major test with flying colours
and Gurr applauded City of Camrose staff for their efforts throughout the tournament.
"Kudos to the city and their staff for making that facility work the way
it did. We turned it over from a concert to start a tournament in one day and
it looked spectacular from start to finish," he stated.
Organizers were less impressed with the response they got from local hockey fans
who failed to show up in droves. Despite strong pre-tournament sales of full-event
passes, the World Junior A Challenge failed to attract any significant walk-up
traffic and most games were played before sparse crowds.
"We're quite frustrated by the fact that we just couldn't get people in the
seats," lamented Gurr.
Organizers were thrilled to have sold over 1,200 full-tournament passes, but single
game tickets and tickets for the opening ceremonies concert with Tom Cochrane
didn't reach anticipated levels.
Gurr isn't sure why the tournament failed to capture the imagination of the Camrose
community. He says anything from ticket prices to a slower economy could have
contributed to the problem.
"It could be a combination of 20 different things," he said.
"There just didn't seem to be big excitement about it. Maybe international
hockey doesn't excite the Camrose fans as much as it does in other communities."
The unfortunate thing, according to Gurr, is that it might be quite a while before
Camrose fans get a chance to see this calibre of hockey again. Hockey Canada and
the CJHL would be more than pleased to have Camrose host another championship,
according to Gurr but he says local organizers aren't likely to jump on the bandwagon
any time soon.
"As it sits right now, myself and our Camrose Sport Development Society are
going to have to sit back and think whether it's worth putting our time and effort
into an event like this if nobody is going to come out and support it," he
said.
"At the end of the day we made a few dollars for the Sport Development Society,
but we were really hoping to leave a bigger legacy for this non-profit organization
than we did," he concludes.