New Ukrainian team headed to Quebec’s Pee-Wee Tournament

One year after a group of Ukrainian pre-adolescent hockey players became the darling of the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament, a new team of children fleeing the Russian invasion is expected in the provincial capital this week.

In the winter of 2023, the Ukrainian team made international headlines and played to a sold-out Centre Vidéotron.

The young Ukrainians won two games before their tournament came to an end against an American team from Vermont.

Quebec City businessman Sean Bérubé and a group of volunteers are confident that the young players will be excited at the prospect of playing in this hockey tournament.

“The players on this year’s team are going through the same thing as last year’s team, they’re going through the same difficult times,” said Bérubé. “It will be an experience for them whatever happens.

These children live in war and so they’re going to be able to benefit, for a few weeks, from moments of peace.”

For Bérubé, who played minor hockey as a teenager in Ukraine, helping to attract young players to Quebec is a chance to give back.

Last year, he searched all over Europe for players seeking refuge from the war with Russia.

This year, recruitment was easier.

“With the team’s performance last year and the fact that a lot of people in Ukraine were talking about it, it wasn’t very difficult”.

However, most of the team still lives in Ukraine.

The players have boarded buses and have been taken to Romania three times since September for a training camp.

“At the beginning, a lot of families, mothers and children went abroad as refugees and after about a year, they started to come back and even though there is a war in Ukraine, they are learning to live with it,” added Bérubé.

He points out that the players share the same experiences; fathers were sent to the front lines or who died fighting.

“We have players whose fathers are in the army; we have players who had to share their death certificates when I applied for the visa,” said Bérubé.

If all goes well, the Ukrainian team should fly to Quebec City on Friday.

The visa process was more complicated than last year, as the special federal government authorisation granted to Ukrainians for emergency travel expired in July.

Canadian officials based in Romania have said that travel documents will be available by Thursday, explained Bérubé.

The players will be staying with host families and volunteers in Quebec City.

Bérubé said the players living in Quebec are doing very well, and most have learned English and have acclimatised to their adopted country.

The businessman said that the Mission Druzhba foundation has been set up to raise funds and sell shirts to ensure that a Ukrainian team can come every year.

Patrick Dom, general manager of the Quebec City tournament that welcomes teams of players aged 11 and 12, says last year’s Ukrainian team brought “the biggest buzz ever” to the city.

“It’s going to be great this year, but we’re not going to relive last year and that’s normal,” he said. “I think people are going to be extremely supportive of this team again, but I don’t think we’ll see a packed Centre Vidéotron this year, as much as we’d like it to be.”

The 64th edition of the Tournoi International de Hockey Pee-Wee de Québec features 120 teams from 18 countries and runs from Feb. 7 to 18.

The Ukrainian team is scheduled to play its first match on Feb. 11.

This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews.