Kids from all over the world will be invading Oakdale ... find out why

Twenty hockey players from Tartan Area Youth Hockey Association  are involved in the 2011 Friendship Hockey International Peewee Tournament.  This event is will be held in Hudson, Wisconsin June 15 to 25th.   During this event, there will be teams staying with host families in St. Paul, Oakdale, Woodbury and Hudson, WI.  These players will be emerging to Minnesota from Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark and our neighbors, Wisconsin....that is another country, right? These players will be involved in a fun, culture exchange of seeing the sights in the Twin Cities as well as playing hockey against all of these other teams.  The Hudson arena will turn into a cultural campus.  All games will be played in Hudson.  This is a no-checking tournament and the winner of the tournament  is based on the least amount of penalties.  Each team is guaranteed 7-10 games.  The idea is to have a two-day break inbetween games so that the players will be able to participate in sightseeing and local activities.  At the start  of each game, the players will exchange a token of friendship.  The token is typically a pin, tshirt, hat or something indicative of the teams' country. During this tournament there are opening and closing ceremonies, similar to the Olympics.  Players will even carry their country's flag and team banner to represent where they are from! The players and parents from Tartan are very excited to be involved this event.   We are doing fundraisers to raise money for jerseys, ice time and various other expenses!  In May, we did an all-you-can-eat pizza event at Dukes.  Mike, general manager donated all of the pizza and pop for us.   It was a great event and among raffles, twins tickets and baskets sold everyone had a great time!  We raised over $3,000. Stay tuned for photos and our next fundraising event.