SADDLE LAKE – People of all ages took a break from regular holiday festivities to lace up their runners and hit the court for Saddle Lake’s co-ed volleyball tournament on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30, held at the Kihew Asinîy Education Centre gymnasium.
Jonathan Cardinal, who set up the tournament and is also a teacher at Kihew Asinîy Education Centre in Saddle Lake, explained that prior to the pandemic, tournaments like this were held regularly.
“Now, we’re lucky to get to have them again,” he added.
Cardinal said 11 teams registered and each paid $400 to enter the tournament. The teams all competed for the top prize of $3,000. The second and third prizes were $2,500 and $2,000 respectively.
According to Cardinal, while tournaments with similar set-ups have been organized in the past, he is hopeful to make this year-end, co-ed volleyball tournament official, every year. The tournament was a way to “just get together,” while also competing for cash prizes as another form of motivation.
Shoshanna Delver-Makokis, another tournament organizer, also noted that similar tournaments have been organized for close to 20 years.
“It’s something that we just enjoy doing,” said Delver-Makokis, agreeing with Cardinal that the tournament is a way for people to come together for a fun competition.
Some of the players who came out, according to Delver-Makokis, also play at the college level and came from reserves outside Saddle Lake, such as teams from as far as Saskatoon, Sask. and Morley, Alta.
Delver-Makokis emphasized that whoever wants to play is welcome to participate, despite their skill level. For example, “We had a few first-time teams come out,” including a team from Cold Lake.
Delver-Makokis thanked everyone who played and is looking forward to more people and more teams participating in the future.
“We really just enjoy playing volleyball with others.”
Top winners of the tournament were Team Smash Bros in first, Team B&B in second and Team Leslie in third.
