When I found out it's because of a tournament being held in Val d'Or I immediately sprung into action to voice my opinion of this decision. On principle I am NOT in agreement with this decision for several reasons:
First of all, this last minute notice within our community to have Halloween changed to tommorow.
The MAJORITY of parents have made plans for this holiday on the 31st. The reasons vary from decorating to preparing costumes for the kids. It's a date on the calendar that kids countdown to just as they would Christmas. Maybe it's just a day for some, but it's a big deal for the kids.
Secondly, the families participating represent the minority of the community yet they can dictate to the majority about when Halloween is celebrated? These families and kids that are participating in this tournament chose to go, the rest of us didn't. A choice, just like the choice of the date for this event. If it was an issue for the participating parents to see thier kid miss Halloween, why didn't they insist on choosing a better date?
Last but not least, I am honestly tired of how the communities are so willing to bend over backwards for another sports tournament. Children miss a lot of school because of tournaments (the majority of tournaments are for the adults and thier games). Now we are switching holidays around for them also?
I have family members and friends that are "Hockey Parents" and they genuinely want thier child to succeed in a sport, but let's be honest here, these tournaments usually benefit the adults more than the kids. It's a chance to go shopping or to go out partying for some. It is a reality of these tournaments and this kind of attitude about tourneys undermine the sports and it's players. Many can deny it all they want, but you just have to attend these events to see it.
There are many places that are known for their devotion to a sport. The key difference is that, it's closely tied to education. You HAVE to have good grades in order to continue on the team. They have one major tournament that attracts scouts for the sport and they display with pride thier players that made it to the big league, or even a prestigious University team.
Sadly our communities don't have this. We already have an issue with student success and it's no big surprise when you have it's leaders promoting this further with a change to a holiday...
Why don't we close the schools each time there is a tourney somewhere while we are at it? I say this with sarcasm (in case you haven't guessed) because I think the priorities are completly skewed in our communities.
I am not against organised sports. I am against the attitudes and behaviour that is tainting what could be a good thing for our communities. We need to prioritize what benefits our kids the most. They need to know they are important. This means tournaments take a back seat to the pleasure your kid may have simply by them donning a costume on and collecting a big bag of candy that will last them well into Novemeber... hopefully.