Stride Place and hockey arenas in the area are busy at this time of year which means extra visitors to Portage la Prairie. Some visitors will come for the day and go home if they are close enough but many others will stay in the community for the entire weekend.
16 teams are battling it out in the U-13 Portage Cup at Stride Place this weekend just one weekend after 24 teams took part in a U-11 event. In fact most weekends over the next several months have tournaments scheduled for different ages and skill levels and teams come from all across the region. This weekend alone has teams coming from Brandon, Minnedosa, Lac Du Bonnet, Dauphin, Kenora, the Interlake, St. Adolphe and more. For some events, t's not unusual to see teams from as far away as Flin Flon, Thompson, northwestern Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
Down the road in Oakville, the arena is hosting a large U-13 female hockey event on Saturday and Sunday while the Portage Curling Club is hosting their Men's Open.
While much of the action plays out on the ice, the business community also reaps some of the rewards as well. Families need places to stay and eat and when not on the ice, many venture out to explore some of the shops and services the community offers. For businesses that see these extra people, the influx in traffic is much appreciated in what can be a quiet time of year for retail.
Kelly Funk, an owner at Keystone Sports Excellence, says when these events are on, they notice a large increase in shoppers.
"We normally notice a 30 to 40 percent increase on those weekends. Sometimes more. It's really nice. We see an uptick straight across the store. They might come in looking for hockey, and then they realize what we actually have. They take a look at our footwear, our winter clothing, and all of our sporting goods. Last weekend, we even sold a baseball glove. Last weekend with 24 teams, 21 were from out of town. I think we likely saw someone from 18 of them visit our store and for a lot of them, it was their first time."
Visitors to the community also need to eat and while Champs Corner at Stride Place is constantly serving up food and drink all weekend, restaurants outside the arena are also ready to host the families and entire teams. Bryon Hamilton, manager at Boston Pizza Portage appreciates the extra business these events create.
"Absolutely. It's a big business driver for us. All the tournaments on the weekends, we see an influx of teams on those weekends. It's unbelievable. Last weekend we put through 11 or 12 teams and that doesn't even include the individual families and deliveries. It's a huge bump for us. the feedback from these teams is phenomenal. They love the setup here, they love the hotels, they love the city. The feedback we get from the parents is incredible. The proximity to the city and stuff. They love coming here and playing in the tournaments. They love how organized they are and the top-notch facilities.
Deanna Talbot is the director of business development at Southport and comments they too benefit from the events.
"We definitely see the impact on the weekends when our accommodation buildings like the Barker Suites fill up. And also the usage at the Central Plains Rec Plex, some of the teams are using the bowling alley and the amenities that the facility offers. So it's really great to see people from out of town enjoying themselves in our community. We at Southport are so thankful for what these events bring to our community.
While this may be one of the busier weekends of the season, it doesn't stop after this. Another U-13 event with 23 teams is coming up next weekend and several events are scheduled in February, March and April.
Sat, May 18, 9:00 AM
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