Testimonials

Is our tournament right for your team? You be the judge...

Following is a collection of testimonials we received since HOCKtoberfest 2008, our first ever annual event!... And it only promises to be even bigger and better in the years to come!

Hocktoberfest was fun & well organized!

It was great to play new opponents ... especially those from the States!

I loved the webpage ... and the whole scary good hockey theme!

We hope to return next year!

Thanks so much!

Mastantuono family
 

Hello Melissa and Brad,

We got back home a short while ago and wanted to send a quick note.  Thank you for the first class treatment we received at the Tournament and for all the help and assistance along the way.  We were not quite sure how well the team would play but at the end of the day the girls were competitive and were actually leading 3 of the 4 games at one point.  Everyone had a great time and some girls who only have a background in HS hockey had never had the opportunity to play in a tournament before.  I am glad we stuck it out and had the opportunity.  Hopefully we can continue the interest into the future and make Hocktoberfest an annual event to look forward to for girls who have elected to play high school hockey.

Melissa - it was a pleasure meeting you in person.  Thank you for your assistance in the roster issue today.  This has been a major exercise in "cat hearding" and I have by default become an expert of sorts on MAHA/USA by-laws (not to mention Homeland Security border crossing procedures!!!).

All the best for the rest of the tournament.  I will ask the parents and players for some input and feedback and will share it with you.

Again, thank you.

Glenn King

Michigan Selects
 

Folks:

Just returned from your HOCKtoberfest tournament and really felt it necessary to write you to let you all know what a fantastic job you did hosting this tournament.

I have been coaching minor hockey for about 15 years and it is probably the best tournament I have ever attended.   It was well organized and the meals were an excellent addition for the out of town teams.

Please thank all those who volunteered.

Much appreciated

Thanks

John Lamarre
Stoney Creek Atom Rep
 

Hey Doug,

I was speaking to Carolyn and Paul McMahon and I was telling them how I liked the tournament and they indicated that the organizers of the event appreciated feedback. Kindly pass this along if you don’t mind.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT HOCTOBERFEST.

1. This tournament was very well organized. As I understand, there were 122 teams. The volunteers were helpful and knowledgeable and if I was an out of town team/player/parent, I would have been impressed about how friendly the folks in the orange jerseys were.
2. I really liked how you utilized the smaller communities – Essex/Tecumseh/LaSalle. Good job.
3. We had lunch at the WFCU on Saturday – Tania liked the fact you had entertainment in the lounge – Al Fazio – And the people at other tables also were having a good time.
4. The games were on time, on schedule right down to the awards ceremonies.
5. I like the fact the finals started at 1:15 for the Midget group – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck 5 hours away from home with a final game starting at 4:00 Sunday afternoon.
6. The referees showed up to all of our games.
7. I liked the fact there were businesses selling their merchandise at the WFCU. I bought a Tapetiger.
8. The local radio had a booth. I didn’t see 95.1 The Rock but I likely missed them.
9. Every comment from parents I heard was positive.

My overall assessment regarding this tournament was that it was SUPERIOR!! GREAT JOB!!

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

None – This tournament was as close as perfect as you can get. Again, Thank You!

Nick Lelyk

Hi Catherine,

Though I've never played organized hockey (I'm a soccer and basketball player and wannabe golfer), after listening to your interview tonight and reading over your website I can see that this hockey "experience" is one that needs to be embraced by anyone interested in creating a fun, experiential and constructive atmosphere for female athletes.
I think what you and the rest of the Hocktoberfest team do is so important for young athletes, both male and female, and really applaud what you've been able to accomplish in such a short period of time.
If the spirit and aim of Hocktoberfest can reach female hockey players in such a positive way, I hope this can be translated to other sports and that while wearing my new t-shirt, I'll be able to help spread the word to my fellow Maritimers!
 
 Halifax, Nova Scotia
 
Keep up the great work!

Danielle MacMillan
twitter.com/coachd20

Hi Mike
 
Sorry for not responding earlier...as you were busy and so was I.  I would like to say thank you for sending me this email....I greatly appreciated it!!!
 
By the way FANTASTIC JOB with the website...I can't tell you how many times we checked the website for people at FGA (on my Palm) for scores and NOT ONCE did we check and the score NOT been posted...I know that you were a very busy man!!!  Hats off to you!!!!
 
Have yourself a wonderful day

Debi Curran 
General Manager
Southwest Wildcats Junior Hockey Team

Hi Brad and Cathy,

 I hope that you have both recovered from the tournament and that you have had a chance to enjoy all the great successes from the weekend. 

 I just wanted to thank both of you for putting on such a great event.  I really had a great time working with Team England and  meeting so many of the tournament attendees as a vendor.

Great job with everything and I look forward to being involved again next year.

 Thanks again,
 Kim

Hi Brad -

What can I really say, other than an enormous

THANK YOU.

We were treated like royalty by all of your staff and volunteers. Our team had an awesome time.

We most certainly would be interested in coming back for a repeat in the  future.

I hope you have time for some well deserved rest after all of the hard work you put into this extrememly well organized event.

On behalf of Keith, myself and all of our players a most sincere thank you to everyone involved. The extra work and detail that was taken to make us feel welcome and a part of the event are appreciated. 

 Sandy
Team Canada

Hello guys:

Joe Kolet here from The Motor City Machine girls 16U Midget AA team.  I just wanted to say thank you for such a great tournament.  The arenas were great, the staff and helpers were great, the games were very competitive and run on time.  Most of all I would like to commend you on having such great officiating at these games.  It was truly a pleasure and I even had the opportunity to have some discussion with a few of the officials after our games.  Excellent job on the tournament and definitely mark us down for next year if you plan on having another one.  Also I did not know if it was possible or not but if it is, could we possibly get some contact information on the teams that were in our division???  I would like to schedule some more games with some of those teams and offer them the chance if they are in town to come and play on our ice. 

Thank you again for such a wonderful time.

Our girls will not forget the England team either, that was a very special evening for all of us that were involved.

Sincerely,
Coach Joe Kolet
Motor City Machine Girls 16U

To all the organizers of HOCKtoberfest

Thank you for organizing such an amazing tournament!  I can only imagine the time/effort/challenges involved. We certainly reaped the rewards!

__________________________________________
Chris Thrasher
Manager Lakeshore Lightning
Midget Travel Team
HOCKtoberfest  Champs

Hi Brad,

I Just wanted to thank you for the tournament! We had such a great time and really enjoyed it.

 Jenna Donnelly
Detroit Three Star Truckers

Hi Brad,

Well I guess you can take a deep breath and put your feet up now that the tourney is over. Being the tourney chair in Hamilton in the past I can say first hand that it is not an easy task to run any tournament. Well my friend you have run one of the best events that our team has ever attended.

Your organization has just raised the bar to a new height for all tourneys to come. If I could sum up the tournament in one word it would have to be "SPECIAL" because that is how our players and staff felt while we were there.

The Hamilton Senior A Hawks take our hats off to you and all of your many volunteers that organized and ran this great event.

In closing please let me say that we will be back next season if we can secure a spot which will not be easy now that the word is out how well run this festival was.

We have said a few words about the tourney on our team website so please pass it on.  www.hgha.ca/Rep/SeniorA.htm

Thank you and as always,

Your's in Hockey,
John Kotlan
Hamilton Senior A Hawks

Brad:

Just a short note to thank you for inviting us to the Hoctoberfest Tournament! Our girls and parents had a great time.

I need to ask a small favor.

Could you please fax me our game sheet from the Culver Academy vs. Ohio Flames game on Saturday November 1,2008? I failed to pick it up when I returned the locker room key. I need this so I can finalize our statistics for the weekend.

Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.

 Thank you,
Mike Norton
Assistant Athletic Director/Hockey Coach
Culver Academy
(574) 842-8286 (office)
(574) 842-8092 (fax)
nortonm@culver.org (e-mail)

Just a quick note thanking you for the great tournament over the weekend as it was very well organized and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

You and your volunteers need to be proud of the outcome as I heard many positive comments on the tournament. We have been to many previous tournaments but have never been pampered with fruit at the sign in table, lunch after the game and the Saturday evening function at the Holiday Inn Select was a special touch also. The extra events and merchandise tables allowed those interested an alternative. Our ladies commented routinely on the positive attributes of the weekend. 

Questions were answered by easily finding officials with their bright orange clothing who then communicated to others over the radios to find the answers.

Hats off to you and your core group who must have worked endlessly to pull this off ( I spoke with Kathy on Saturday evening and she looked exhausted).

please forward my thanks to all those involved

Greg Dallyn

Good Afternoon Brad,

 My daughter plays for the Midget SCS Saints coached by Joe Provenzano.

 On behalf of myself, my daughter and the Saints, I just wanted to pass on my thanks for the tremendous job that you and the tournament staff did this past weekend. The tournament was one of the best run tournaments that my daughter has ever participated in. The games were on time and well run, the competition was terrific, and the volunteers couldn’t have been more friendly. Gosh, even the officiating was good.

 Although the team did not fare as well as they would have liked, a good time was had by all. We will certainly look forward to next year and I will recommend it to whichever team my daughter skates with as she has to move up to intermediate.

 Again, thanks to you and all the tournament volunteers.

 Best Regards,
 Dave Redys

Hi Mike
 
Every year is a learning year and you can only get better!!!  Your idea for next year would really set this tournament apart from others.  I can only wish you and your board the best of luck!!
 
As for our team...no complaints...we had a great time and the girls played awesome.  We had a very small issue for the final game but the issue was taken care of quickly with the aid of Joe and Betty (Brad and Brent too).  Had a fantastic time with the Group at FGA...everyone was wonderful (I even learned how to do the clock...by the way it a pressure job....lol)

Take a deep breath everyone it is all over....until you start again for next year!!!
 
THANKS AGAIN FOR A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!!

Debi Curran 
General Manager
Southwest Wildcats Junior Hockey Team

Brad,

Good morning.  We wanted to congratulate you on a great tournament.  We had a good time and played some great hockey.  I wondered if there was a chance I could get the stats from one of our games.  We never got a copy of our game vs St. Clair Shores.  If there is a way to get our goals, assists and penalties it would be appreciated.  Or if you could either email their coach or give me his contact info, maybe that would be easier for you?  Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing you next year!

 Stacey Dobbin

Hi Brad

We had a great time at your tournament

Possibly the best run tournament we have ever been to

You had a terrific crew of volunteers

Keep up the good work for next year and thanx for all your efforts

Rick Gore

King Cavalry

Hi Brad,

Just a quick note to let you now that our coaches and parents and daughters thought it was a great tournament  - this was the consensus even before we won our division.

 Congratulations !

Hope to be back next year - but that will depend on if and where my daughter is playing.

 Best Regards,
Allan Shapiro (manager - Belmont Blazers Bantam A)

Brad,

 Just wanted to say thanks to you, your committee and volunteers for throwing a great tournament.  A lot of nice extras as well as good competition and for the most part played right on time.  I noticed on the results website that you had Barrie down as winning the Midget AA division. The correction should be Belle Tire.  Thanks again for a job well done on your part.

john

Brad,

Great job by your team, the weekend was very well organized and everyone had a great time!

I will see you next year.

David Carr
Kitchener Lady Rangers

I would also like to take this opportunity to say that I thought this was an excellent tournament.  Everyone was extremely helpful, and I think the organization of the tournament was great.  I look forward to coming back to play next year.

Thank You
Patrick Jesue
Head Coach
Honeybaked U16

Thanks again,

Thank you so much for such an amazing time.  Our girls had a wonderful time the entire weekend and we were treated so well by everyone involved.

Thanks again for such a great experience.

Tracy Parnham

Hi Brad,

 I have been meaning to contact you to thank you and all the volunteers who put on a great tournament. Our team had a blast and I plan on promoting your tourny to the rest of our Durham West teams so hopefully they will attend and enjoy the experience like we did this year.

 Thanks again, it was a first class event.

 Rob Bois
Midget A, Coach
Durham West Lightning 

To Brad and the rest of the board, what have you done, well let me tell you, you have created a tournament that has the potential to be a world beater, I may be wrong but I know of no other tournament that brings together so many female teams in one place at the same time, to run a tournament in numerous venues is a huge task, my friends you not only achieved that you achieved so so much more.

This event will grow, with more teams coming from Europe I have no doubt particular at the 17s and below age groups, there are so few opportunities for the 16 year old girls to play against their peers in Europe this event has to be a must for those nations wanting to improve and grow the female game in their own countries.  I cant praise the organisation and passion of the people that ran the event enough you where all outstanding.

As where the management and staff at the Holliday Inn Select that took care of us for the 11 night stay thanks to Kim and her team.

Brad there are too many people to thank from the board to list and I would hate to offend them by missing anyone off the list.

Rest assured that Team England Women and 16's girls will return next year, we all learnt so much not just the players, but the team staff and I as the guy that organised the England end.

For anyone reading this from Europe or anywhere else in the world if you want to take your team to a great female tournament this is the place for you, if anyone is unsure if this event is for them please feel free to email me at geoff.hemmerman@eiha.co.uk and I will happily share our experience with you.

Well done to the whole team and the many volunteers that made it happen.

Kindest Regards
Geoff Hemmerman
EIHA Director
EIHA Womens Chairman