Granite City Pond Hockey Tournament to Move to Sartell

SARTELL -- The Granite City Pond Hockey tournament will take place in a new location this year.

Blackberry Ridge Golf Course in Sartell has been named the host site for the annual event.

Nikki Sweeter is the Executive Director of the Sartell Hospitality and Visitors Service. She says the golf course was first approached about the idea after organizers saw a skating rink on the driving range.

Gary Hines approached Blackberry and asked if they would consider hosting the event. So they did some measuring to see if they could get three rinks on the driving range and once they could Hines was like let's do it.

Sweeter says the golf course plans to flood the driving range to set up the rinks, with the boards being donated by the Minnesota Youth Foundation. They are a non-profit that raises funds to support local youth sports.

She says they are excited to host the tournament and showcase Sartell.

Sartell has grown into a huge hockey community and we think our community will be great supporters of this event. Bringing in people from across the state to see what Sartell has to offer is just a huge opportunity for us.

The Granite City Pond Hockey Championships have been played on Lake George in St. Cloud for the past several years.

The tournament is scheduled for February 1st through the 3rd.