The Muskoka Women’s Hockey League (MWHL) is heading to Nashville for a tournament this April, and they’re doing it in style with their own chartered plane.
The league, which plays each Sunday in Baysville, is made up of eight teams and is celebrating its fifth birthday this year. In honour of that, league executives offered teams several options for where to take a special tournament trip. The group decided on Tennessee, so the MWHL will send four teams to Nashville from April 4 to 7. The teams include 44 women between two recreational level teams and two competitive teams.
“We were at an executive meeting and every year we get presents for our league members,” said league executive Kim Knight. “This year, we thought, ‘You know what? It’s five years, we’ve expanded so quickly. We should do something pretty epic.’”
One of the executives, Steph Oates, mentioned chartering a plane to attend a tournament, and while at first they laughed, they decided to do it. The plane will take off from Muskoka Airport and once it does, the players get to enjoy a custom beer. The beer from Sawdust Brewery is similar to their brew called Little Norway, but for this trip, it’s Little Nashville.
Knight said it’s amazing time for the league as they continue to grow and see the progress many of the women have made. The league is hoping after their exciting trip, they’ll be able to offer more teams in the league for next season.
“There was a need for a place for women to play hockey here in Muskoka and we opened it up to all skill levels,” Knight said. “We started with four teams and now we have eight teams. Next year we’re hoping for 10.”
To find out more about the Muskoka Women’s Hockey League, visit their website. To learn more about the tournament, click here.
