Hockey Bid Requires Time:

This letter was in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Hockey bid requires time

Published: July 28, 2009

There is no question that Vernon is a hockey town and any chance to celebrate the sport is welcome.
So the prospect of bringing the RBC Royal Bank Cup here in 2011 would have been extremely enticing. After all, anyone who was here when Vernon hosted the 1990 national Junior A tournament knows what a major boost it was for the community. It bolstered civic pride and fuelled greater interest in tourism.
But council was right Monday not to launch a bid for the 2011 event.
As beneficial as the tournament would have been, there just isn’t enough time to put a bid package together before the Aug. 19 deadline. Besides needing a volunteer committee in place to oversee the bid process and organize the event if selected, there is a need for considerable dollars to be guaranteed.
Given the looming deadline, it would have been virtually impossible for Vernon to bring corporate sponsors on board, particularly during the current economic downturn.
But while council was wise not to pursue 2011, it is equally right to look at possibly hosting a major sports event for 2012, whether it’s the Royal Bank Cup or international hockey.
Sports tourism is extremely lucrative as demonstrated in the past by the World Women’s Curling Championship and cross-country skiing at Sovereign Lake. Vernon has demonstrated it can host such events, and residents will sign on as volunteers.
But for a bid package to be successful, planning is required and that takes time. Instead of rushing towards 2011, let’s get our ducks in a row and work towards 2012.