By ALEXANDER RAPP and RACHEL WACHMAN
Spanning three days, six ice rinks, and eight divisions, the 14th annual 1883 Black Ice Pond Hockey Championship and Winter Festival will bring together hockey players from around the state for a weekend of competition and celebration. If the weather holds up, this will be the first year the tournament has been outside since 2022.
Inaugurated in 2001, the tournament commemorates the first organized ice hockey game in the U.S., held in 1883 at the St. Paul School in Concord. Every year, the event hosts approximately 95 teams and 700 hockey players for one of the biggest hockey happenings of the winter season.
The tournament, based at White Park in Concord, includes games, bonfires, fireworks, music, food trucks, and ice sculptures. This year’s championship will take place Feb. 7-9.
“The true enjoyment of the event being held at White Park makes you realize the fun and why we do this—to see people’s enjoyment, see people’s connection, to have that experience. It’s something you can’t replicate when you try to do it inside,” said Chris Brown, founder and president of the event’s organizing body, 1883 Black Ice Hockey Association.
The nonprofit association seeks to promote pond hockey and other ice skating and recreational activities while also aiming to commemorate the history of hockey in Concord and, through local sponsorships, support community projects, such as rebuilding the skate house at White Park.
“We look forward to it every year,” Brown said. “It’s a level of community that you don’t get a chance to see often. It’s like an Old Home Day, catching up with your neighbors that have been hibernating for the winter here and being able to come out for a nice community event like this. Just the rewards and what we’ve been able to do giving back to the event makes it all worthwhile.”
The weekend will kick off with Youth Hockey Night on Thursday, Feb. 6, followed by three days of hockey games and festivities.
For a full schedule of the tournament’s events, visit blackicepondhockey.com.
Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.
Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com.
