Dave Smith welcomes Viktoria Robeznieks of the Grandravine Tornadoes to the Queens Park press briefing.
With the passage of the Special Hockey Day Act, a private members bill put forth by Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, the Ontario Government has proclaimed March 27 as Special Hockey Day in in the province Ontario. Dave Smith has been involved with special hockey for over a decade and was involved with organizing the tournament in Peterborough in 2017. He has been championing their cause ever since and has led him to have the Ontario Legislature declare March 27, 2019 Special Hockey Day to co-incide with the opening of the 25th Anniversary Special Hockey International Tournament being held in Toronto and being hosted by the Grandravine Tornadoes.
The festivities will begin in the morning at Queens Park where all teams attending the tournament will be invited to tour the Ontario Legislature where the government will be in session. All players attending will receive a personalized scroll with their name on it to commemorate Special Hockey Day.
That evening Dave Smith and other Ontario government representatives will be on hand at the Mattamy Athletic Centre to officiate at the opening ceremonies of the SHI tournament.
A media day was held at Queens Park on January 21 to make the announcement.