The Yarmouth Victory Realty Bantam AAA Mariners came close to qualifying for bantam AAA provincials but unfortunately posted a 5-3 loss to Acadia in one of the two qualifier games at the conclusion of a tournament they hosted. Yarmouth needed the win to advance to provincials, which are being held March 11-14 in Sydney.
The 2010 Irving Mainland Bantam AAA League Tournament was held at the Mariners Centre Feb. 25-28. At the conclusion of the round robin portion of the tournament, qualifier games were held for provincials. Aside from Acadia moving on to provincials, so too did Truro after defeating Western Valley by a score of 3-2.
The following is of Yarmouth’s games during the round robin portion of the tournament:
Yarmouth 4 – Truro 3
Yarmouth 3 – Western Valley 0
Acadia 4 – Yarmouth 2
Pictou 3 – Yarmouth 2
Yarmouth went into the seven-team league tournament seeded in fifth place.
Aside from successes on the ice as a team, some of the individual bantam AAA players have also seen success.
During a banquet held over the weekend of the provincials qualifier tournament, Ryan Graves was named the top defensemen for the year in bantam AAA league. Earlier in the season he had also been top defensemen in the Sydney Legion Tournament, made up of 16 teams, and also won hardest shot competition with a 92-mph shot in that tournament. He was also named to the tournament all-star team in the Pictou Memorial Tournament, which also had 16 teams.
As well Morgan Messenger played on the Nova Scotia under-14 provincial team last fall and Catherine Tufts played on the female under-14 team last fall at the Atlantic Challenge Cup.
This year’s tournament was the last one of the Irving Mainland Bantam AAA League. Next year the league will no longer exist since Hockey Nova Scotia is moving forward with major bantam teams that will represent zones throughout the province. That means the Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association will no longer have a bantam AAA team.
The highest level of bantam for a Yarmouth team will likely be AA.
