When Kerri Macaluso came up with the idea of hosting a women’s-only hockey tournament 12 years ago, she was hoping there would be a lot of interest.

That first year, 2003, four teams signed up for the April Showers Women’s Adult Classic in Massachusetts.

“We were so excited for four teams because I had never ran a tournament in my life,” said Macaluso, who also runs the New England Women’s Hockey League just northwest of Boston.

By 2014, 36 teams and 516 players participated in the 12th annual April Showers tournament, with games taking place in both Boxborough and Concord, Mass. It’s grown exponentially every year it’s been put on.

“I have always been impressed by sort of the camaraderie the whole tournament has been able inspire, not just within our NEWHL community, but when teams come in they seem to be very engaged with interacting with each other,” said Kelly Ohanian, who has played in the April Showers tournament every year except the first. “It’s really nice to have teams come in and meet new people and be involved.”

Macaluso, 53, had the thought of making it an age-appropriate tournament. She didn’t want to play against young women who were 18 years old, so it started out as an over-30 tournament.

“It was harder to attract women, but once the word got out, people played in the tournament and had a good time,” Macaluso said. “They’re playing against women of their similar age, which makes a difference when you start getting up there.”

However, the tournament added a 21-and-older division last year in part because some of the longtime participants now have daughters who want to play.

April Showers sets itself apart from other tournaments through some of its registration requirements. Teams are asked to send in background information about their teams, including the players’ ages and experience. Macaluso uses that data to make sure the teams will be competing in the appropriate division.

Teams are broken up into four divisions: 21-and-older, C, C/D and D (which has three separate classes — red, white and blue).

“I think [the participants] like to see that we create the divisions so that the games are all even and they’re still competitive,” said Macaluso, who plays with a team in the D division. “There’s a great sense of ‘celebration of women’s hockey’ kind of weekend that they get away, they stay at the hotel where we have a party.”

On Saturday night, after the first two days of round-robin competition are wrapped up, the women are invited to a social gathering — hence the 21-plus-year-old stipulation to play in the tournament. The women are able to mingle with their opponents, enjoy music from a DJ and just unwind. There is also a big raffle held every year. Since the tournament started, it has been able to donate more than $30,000, mainly to organizations relating to women’s causes.

On the final day of the tournament, Sunday, the finals take place for each division.

The April Showers tournament gets a lot of interest from local players but also from skaters throughout the country. Teams from 10 states, including California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Vermont, participated in the tournament in 2014. A number of teams have already pre-registered for the 2015 event, including a veteran group from California and a first-time team from New York.

“It comes together every year to be a tournament that people walk away from on Sunday, win or lose, they feel like they’ve had a great weekend, and for that reason I think there’s been a lot of repeat customers,” said Ohanian, 51, who has played on teams in Division C and C/D in past years. “The teams just keep coming back.”

Macaluso feels there’s a need for more large-scale women’s hockey tournaments throughout the country. She strives to continue to do her part to help women’s hockey grow.

Macaluso is already working hard — along with her army of volunteers — to get the 2015 April Showers Women’s Adult Classic together. The event will be held April 10-12, and interested individuals can find more information at www.newhl.com/tourny.htm.

Macaluso would like to expand the tournament in the future. She’s particularly interested in growing the 21-and-over division since there were only four teams in 2014.

“My goal this year is to have eight teams in that division,” Macaluso said. “The reason being is that it’s fun and we can watch our daughters play and be in the same tournament and have a great girls’ weekend.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.