Sports

Orangeville Tigers Sweetheart Tournament brings 135 teams to town

January 29, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

It was a big hockey week in Orangeville as the 46th annual Orangeville Tigers Sweetheart Tournament took over local arenas and ice surfaces in neighbouring towns to accommodate all the games.

In total, 22 ice surfaces were used across 15 rinks in the region. This included rinks in Orangeville, Shelburne, Dundalk, Honeywood, Schomberg, Grand Valley, Bolton, Brampton, Caledon East, and Hillsburgh.

Girls’ hockey teams arrived from across Ontario, Quebec, and Michigan for this prestigious tournament – one of the largest tournaments in the country.

A total of 135 teams competed in 18 divisions, ranging from U9 to Senior Women’s.

The tournament featured a special skills competition where players could demonstrate their ability on the ice and go one-on-one to see who could come out on top.

“This is the biggest tournament year that I’ve ever experienced,” said Tournament Director Anna-Michelle Smith. “We have 135 teams from Ontario, Quebec and the United States. The American team is from Michigan. We’re using ice surfaces from all over, from Brampton up to Honeywood, as well as  Dundalk, and Grand Valley – pretty much everywhere that’s within around a half-hour from Orangeville.”

The tournament is for Rep-level teams, so there is strong competition on the ice.

Putting the tournament together is a big undertaking for organizers. This year, the tournament coincided with high school exams, so they had to schedule all high school-age Friday games later in the day so students could complete their exams before getting out on the ice.

“Our senior division is only playing at Honeywood, Dundalk, and Shelburne,” Anna-Michelle explained. “For the women, they all tend to book a B&B to stay at so we put them all on the ice in that area. We also have our skills competition on Saturday afternoon. We have a shoot-out and a relay.”

With several thousand people arriving for the tournament, the event is a real boost for the local economy. Local hotels and restaurants benefit from the influx of visitors to the town.

“A lot of our local restaurants help us out with things like Player of the Game Awards and things like that,” Anna-Michelle said.

Girls’ hockey is continuously growing across the province as more girls take up the sport at a young age.

Next up for the Tigers is the Winter Classic house league tournament, featuring an expected 60 teams on the ice from Friday, Jan. 30 to Sunday, Feb. 1.

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