Coachella Valley pride hockey tournament returns to Berger Foundation Iceplex
The second annual Coachella Valley pride hockey tournament is back here in the desert. It kicked off Thursday afternoon at the Berger Foundation Iceplex, and runs through Sunday.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are partners for the Palm Springs International Pride Hockey Tournament, which was created to make a safe space for all LGBTQ+ players.
14-teams from all over North America are coming together for the four-day tournament. Some of them coming as far as Boston and Toronto.
One fan, traveled all the way from Napa to be here for the second year in a row.
This is my second year attending the tournament, and I absolutely love what they've done. All the teams, all the players, and just hockey as a sport. It's for everybody young and old, gay, straight, it doesn't matter. It's just an amazing sport," said Cody Hart, a fan from Napa.
"We love hockey. So what better way than for, you know, the craziness of the hockey, you know, in the Coachella Valley, adding it to the LGBT community? And now we've got gay hockey, LGBTQ+ hockey. And it's, I mean, if you're up in Toronto or Boston in March, and you get to come to a tournament in Palm Springs, it's pucks in paradise," Paul O'Kane, tournament director and co-founder of the CV Pride Hockey Association.
The tournament and parking are both free to the public and this year’s finals are set for Sunday morning. They will be taking place inside acrisure arena this year.
Click here for more information about the CV Pride Hockey Association.
