Bowling Green Youth Hockey Association

     The Bowling Green Bantam Ice Cats hockey team recently traveled to Forest, Ontario Canada to participate in the International Silver Stick Finals. Silver Sticks was started in 1958 and its philosophy is to develop citizenship and international goodwill through hockey. That first tournament in1958 pitted PeeWee and Bantam teams from Potsdam, New York and South Carleton, Ontario against each other.
     Silver Sticks has grown to 47 regional sites across North America. Teams from states like Colorado, Florida, New Jersey and Alabama advance to the finals at one of 9 sites across Canada. Many of the finals locales are small towns where hockey maintains its grassroots feeling. You will find motels(not hotels), small pubs, probably a Tim Horton’s and some of the nicest people you will ever meet in places like Forest, Aurora, Cold Creek and Whitby.
     The Ice Cats were an at-large team from the Ft. Wayne Regional. They advanced to the semi-finals where they dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to a team from Ilderton, Ontario. While the outcome was disappointing the memories made from developing friendships and visiting places that only a sport like hockey can take you will last a lifetime.