AUBURN — The annual Maine Gladiators Lions Tournament continued its 52-year tradition of youth hockey competition this weekend.
Those younger than 6 and as old as 14 competed in the three-day event, hosted by the Maine Gladiators, at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn and at The Colisée in Lewiston.
The event — reportedly the longest running youth hockey tournament in the country — featured teams from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Jay Dufour, president of the nonprofit youth hockey organization, and Nick Melanson, executive director, said Sunday the tournament is running as strong as ever this year, with 37 teams competing across five age divisions: 6 or younger, 8 or younger, 10 or younger, 12 or younger and 14 or younger.
Members of the 10U Gladiators Black hockey team yell “black on three” between periods Sunday during the 52nd annual Lions Tournament in Auburn. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Dufour and Melanson said they have been involved with the Maine Gladiators for six or seven years and five or six years, respectively. Dufour has been president of the organization for three years, long after having played in the tournament as a boy.
“You get people that have been around the sport a long time and have played this tournament when they were kids,” Dufour said, “and now they’re here with their kids.”
“Just the history of the tournament is a cool thing to be a part of,” Melanson added.
Reece Chapman, 10, began this weekend’s tournament with 89 goals under his belt. His mother, Angie, and father, RJ, along with other family members and friends, were in the stands ringing cowbells and holding signs with variations of “100.”
Reece, in only his third year playing hockey, tried the sport when he was 4 years old, Angie Chapman said, but “wanted nothing to do with it.”
He has come a long way in a short time, which the Chapmans credit to the Gladiators program and Reece’s head coach, Marc Gagne.
“(Reece) has just really taken to it,” Angie Chapman said. “He plays knee hockey every night in his room. He’ll go in the basement, even coming in after practice, to shoot on the net. He is passionate about it, for sure. He is having a blast.”
Gladiator Black goalkeeper Aiylah Record, 10, of South Paris brought a 20-0 record to Sunday’s 52nd annual Lions Tournament in Auburn. “She is 10, but plays like she is 16,” Kealeigh Sullivan, mother of one of Record’s teammates, says. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Nick and Lynne Wearne said they came to see their grandson, Daniel Howe, 13, play for the Gladiators and see his father, assistant coach Jeff Howe.
“Our son played hockey. I played hockey. Now, Daniel has played ice hockey for the past seven to eight years,” Nick Wearne said, adding that the best part about coming to Daniel’s games is “seeing the next generation coming up through the ranks.”
The Maine Gladiators season runs from September to March, ending with championship games in late February or early March.
Monday’s games begin at 10:20 a.m. with the 8U division, followed by 10U at 11:30 a.m., 12U at 1 p.m. and 14U at 2:30 p.m.
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