Six minor hockey teams will do battle outside this week at the fifth annual B.C. Children鈥檚 Hospital Foundation Winter Classic Charity Jamboree at Apex Mountain Resort.

But there will be much more on the line than the trophy again this year, with all the proceeds of the four-day event going to the foundation.

鈥淓veryone has someone that they know, whether it鈥檚 family, neighbours or just someone in the community, that has sick kids,鈥� said tourney organizer and founder, Yannick Lescarbeau, who has contributed over $77,000 to the foundation in the last four years. 鈥淚 know someone personally that went through it and needed the cure.

鈥淚n essence we are lucky to have healthy kids who are able to play hockey, so it鈥檚 just a way of teaching the healthy kids that you have to give back and you also have to think of the kids who can鈥檛 play.鈥�

Every year since the event started has been better than the last in terms of money raised, last January鈥檚 event brought in over $26,000 and Lescarbeau is expecting the same thing to happen again this time around.

鈥淚t becomes almost a challenge for the kids to raise more and more and what I鈥檝e found over the years is once teams are registered in our tournament, they ask how much was raised last year,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a multi-level kind of exercise, we teach kids to be good citizens and make them work and empower them to go out and raise money and then we donate the money to people who need it.鈥�

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Once again, there are six teams (players aged nine and 10) including two from Penticton and one from 91大黄鸭, competing in the games which got underway Thursday.

Fittingly, like the description of many of the kids they are playing to help, the two divisions, comprised of about 120 players, are named Courage and Bravery.

The other three teams are from Victoria, the North Shore Winter Club and Vancouver.

Growing up in Quebec City, Lescarbeau played most of his hockey on outdoor ice surfaces and when he first organized the event, thought it would be fun for many of the players who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the same thing.

鈥淭here were rinks everywhere, you鈥檇 meet there and you didn鈥檛 know who was going to be there. Sometimes there were kids your age, older kids, younger kids and everyone played together, same game, same goal, same feeling. It was awesome,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淧laying outdoors at Apex with frozen toes and snow on your face doesn鈥檛 get better than that. And to do it for children in needs makes it that much better.鈥�

At last year鈥檚 tournament, the weather ranged from freezing rain, lots of snow and darkness, all of which made the experience 鈥渁wesome鈥� according to Lescarbeau.

Round robin play goes Thursday evening to Saturday morning with playoffs starting after that and wrapping up Sunday.

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