Youth hockey players to take over S. Tahoe arena for 4 days

The South Tahoe Amateur Hockey Association is in full swing ready to host the 7th annual Lake Tahoe Invitational Hockey Tournament. This youth hockey tournament features 19 teams from all over California playing in three age divisions at the South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena, home of the Tahoe Grizzlies.

Admission to all tournament games is free.

This year the Tahoe Grizzlies are entering four teams for the first time: Mites (ages 8 and below), Squirts (ages 9 and 10), PeeWees (ages 11 and 12) and Bantams (ages 13 and 14).

The action-packed four-day holiday tournament gets under way Jan. 13 at 9am with the last game of the day at 9pm. Games run all day Saturday and Sunday form 6am-9pm. The tournament wraps up Jan. 16 with a division championship game for the Mites, Squirts, PeeWees and Bantams.

Including players and their families, the tournament attracts more than 1,000 people to the area and provides an estimated $200,000 or more in direct economic benefits to the South Lake Tahoe community.

It is the largest fundraiser of the year for Amateur Youth Hockey in the Tahoe basin and surrounding area, and features raffle items and silent auctions to raise much needed funds.

The Tahoe Grizzlies Squirts, PeeWees and Bantam teams are travel hockey teams and resume their regular season schedule the following weekend. In March there are regional playoffs and state playoffs, with league games the weekend following the tournament.