mikecarella@niagaratournaments.com
Call us @ 716-316-1526
NST BACKGROUND
Thank you for looking at NST for your Tournament needs. We appreciate your consideration, as we know how difficult it can be to pick the right tournament company amid so many new companies flooding the market.
Gene Carella, the founder of NST, began organizing tournaments in 1990 for what was formerly known as the Grand Niagara Cataracts Hockey Association. In 1999, he started Niagara Sport Tournaments to help provide high-quality youth hockey to hundreds of teams in the U.S. and Canada each year.
Gene’s son, Michael, now runs the company. In our 25th year of running youth hockey tournaments, we have the experience to deliver high-quality events with the goal of creating lifelong memories.
As a travel parent and coach we understand what is need for a quality experience. We have been to other tournaments, where you drive 40 minutes to each rink, have a 9 p.m. game followed by a 7 a.m. game the next day. We schedule a game with the idea that teams are here for not just hockey. We partner with many local businesses to provide activities not just for hockey players but for the entire family.
We spend many hours researching our teams to ensure each team is placed in the proper division. Myhockeyranking provides a baseline for team skill levels, but it is not perfect.
There are many different classifications used by amateur hockey teams across the United States and Canada. Divisions can get messy if careful consideration is not taken. We at NST take much time and effort to create well-balanced divisions. Nothing is more disheartening than driving to a tournament to blow out a team or get blown out by a team.
Teams do not want to travel to a tournament just to be placed in the same side of a division as a team from their local league. We take pride in delivering an enjoyable tournament experience for our tournament families. This is evidenced by an incredible return rate in tournament participation by hockey associations.
We accept only 40-60 teams per Tournament and focus on quality over quantity.
We have the luxury of running the facility where most of our games are played. This gives us great flexibility to ensure a quality experience.