(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Ian Gustafson

July 10

Innisfail Eagles annual golf tournament fundraiser right around the corner

Jun 21, 2025 | 8:00 AM

The Innisfail Eagles first annual Blades & Birdies Golf Tournament is just over two weeks away and is filling up fast.

The tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on July 10 at the Innisfail Golf Club and Eagles head coach Ryan Dodd, says they’re 90 per cent full but could always squeeze groups in if need be.

“We’ll have a great turnout from our players this year, which includes guys who were on the team when we won the championship last year,” Dodd said. “There will be a lot of opportunity to interact with those guys and it’ll be lots of fun.”

Registration is $150 per golfer and includes 18 holes, shared cart, and a post-game steak dinner. There will also be on-course contests, prizes, and a silent auction.

The money raised will go towards team operations such as hockey equipment and travel expenses. As the furthest south team in the North Central Senior AA Hockey League (NCHL), it costs a lot of money to travel by bus. Dodd explained a trip to Stony Plain last season cost them $1,800.

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“We’re looking at spending $20,000 on just travel and to run a team in this league we’ll spend close to $100,000 in a year,” he added.

The Eagles used to host an annual golf tournament but after stepping away from it for a few years, they wanted to introduce a new golf tournament. Dodd explained it’s a great way to interact with the community and for the public to get to know the team better.

“Community is everything,” Dodd said. “They’re the ones that have to get out of their house at -30 C and come down to the rink. So many people don’t want to do that and so if they get a personal touch with the players and get to know them they’ll feel more of a bond with them. If you meet them a couple of times you’ll want to start coming to watch them play hockey… Having that hometown feel is something that builds your team from within.”

In the Eagles first season in the NCHL this year, the team posted a 11-4-0-0-1 record, which was good enough for third in the league regular season standings.

They went on to dominate in the playoffs to capture the Vanberg Cup title over the defending champion Lacombe Generals in five games of the best-of-seven-series.

“I thought it was a really good year,” Dodd said. “We capped it off with a championship over Lacombe, who have been the staple of the league for so many years. They are a great organization and when you’ve been in senior hockey for this long, that’s what you idolize yourself as. You want to be that team and I thought our team did a really great job. Our organization has taken a major step forward moving into this year.”

To register for the tournament, visit the Innisfail Eagles website.