“I expected about six teams at first. We wound up with 12 teams. The idea was to put this tournament together as a community hockey event that can grow in the years to come,” Heiderscheidt said.

Games began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday on four rinks. They continued into the afternoon, which included light to moderately falling snow.

Players from Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, the Twin Cities metro area and South Dakota participated in the 3 on 3 hockey format with six-player teams.

Heiderscheidt’s team, called the Jump Ropes, won the championship, defeating the Farmington Tigers in the finals. Jump Ropes players included Brandon Helget, Alex Stark, Sean Mathiowetz, Lucas Heiderscheidt, plus coach Pristan Pietig in addition to Matt and Tony Fulkerson of Waconia.

Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Classic fans warm themselves near wood fires on Sleepy Eye Lake Saturday.

The Jump Ropes received a $1,000 grand prize. The team plans to spend the prize money going to a Minnesota Wild game together.

“Everybody had a lot of fun. It was a good time, better than I expected. We plan to do even more in the future,” Heiderscheidt said. “I got lots of volunteer help. I’ll be thanking those people a few different ways.”

The Jump Ropes team won the Sleepy Eye Pond Hockey Class Saturday, defeating the Farmington Tigers in the championship. Team members from left, Matt Fulkerson, Brandon Helget, Lucas Heiderscheidt, Alex Stark, Tony Fulkerson and Sean Mathiowetz. In front, coach Tristan Pietig.