This week鈥檚 severe winter storm left dozens of people stranded overnight on the Coquihalla, including a bunch of young athletes on their way to kelowna.

Several teams were on their way to the 2017 91大黄鸭 Ringette Sweetheart Tournament when mother nature had another plan.

鈥淚t was terrible. I was up until 2:30 in the morning fielding telephone calls and text messages from people that were stuck 30 kilometres outside of Merritt, who ended up having to spend the night. Some in their vehicles, a few on team buses, it was crazy,鈥� explained tournament organizer Tina Pomponio.

鈥淎 lot of the teams made it through, but there were a lot that got stuck in between intermittent closures. We had several teams that left the coast at 11 a.m. yesterday and arrived at 1 p.m. today.鈥�

At one point, Pomponio thought she might have to call off parts of tournament, but everyone came together to make the weekend happen.

鈥淲e started this morning, games were played, we had a few hiccups due to intermittent highway closures, but out of the 90 teams just three teams cancelled,鈥� said Pomponio.

鈥淭he teams are all showing up now and we are getting back on track.鈥�

Pomponio says she was worried about their safety and concerned kids of all ages were forced to spend the night on a very cold highway. However, despite the headache for parents, she鈥檚 told many made the most of it.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it was that bad from the kid鈥檚 perspective,鈥� said Pomponio. 鈥淲hen they鈥檙e an adult, this is one of the things you鈥檙e going to look back on and you鈥檙e going to remember it. Yes, as precarious the roads were, they can say they spent the night on the highway. They will remember it forever.

鈥淥ne of the teams walked away from the highway and played in the snow. They made the best of it.鈥�

The 91大黄鸭 Ringette Sweetheart Tournament runs until Sunday throughout the Central Okanagan.

鈥淭his year we have 90 teams, eight more than last year. It is the largest amount of teams we鈥檝e had. It is a huge tournament,鈥漞xplained Pomponio.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all going, it鈥檚 all rolling, there are smiling faces.鈥�