“That’s right in the ballpark,” said John Finley. “That is just visitors and doesn’t include what the locals will do. That’s a very fair estimation.”  

Finley said that based on the tournament’s prediction of 1,500 in 288 teams for the two weekends, coupled with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism’s estimation that athletes and sport event visitors spend anywhere between $150 and $300 per day, the conservative figure which may have dropped into Huntsville coffers due to the event could be around $450,000 or higher.

While the tournament is hosted at Deerhurst Resort, away from the downtown core, Finley said that local merchants will still receive some of the circulating dollars.

“That’s a guarantee because we have services here in town that the players and visitors require, especially when they stay overnight. They require beverages and food and things those participants like to have. You wont find them all attending the upper-scale restaurants they have at the resort. They will want to come in here and get the general feeling of the community. Plus they have to stop for gas and other things they need to play before they go out to Deerhurst.”

Neil Lumsden, the executive director for the third annual championships, said that he wouldn’t be surprised if the tournament’s impact exceeded the $500,000 mark.

“We haven’t done the math on it,” he said talking on his cell phone Tuesday morning. “It is not something we look at, but we hope it helps the local economy. If it is a half-million, it is a half-million that wasn’t in the community before and I think that is great for the region.”

Lumsden said that plans for the 2009 national championships are already underway, adding that the event will again be hosted at Deerhurst Resort. Right now his focus is on organizing the western regional pond hockey championships, which will be played in Winnipeg later this month. The winner of the men’s open championship will receive a bye into the 2009 national tournament.

“We are already starting to think how we are going to tweak (the nationals) next year. All the good feedback will be taken into consideration,” he said.

The results of the first weekend of competition involving the men’s and women’s open tournaments are on the event’s website  (www.canadapondhockey.ca), while the results from the past weekend, including the master’s division, will be posted on the site this week.