History

The first Play On! tournament was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2003 and featured one hundred and fourteen teams.

Play On! was expanded geographically the following summer and operated nationally across Canada in 2004 and 2005. The program ran in partnership with the NHL and TSN in those years, respectively.

In 2006, and due to organizational complications associated with event planning during NHL labour uncertainty, the program did not operate.

However, in response to the literally hundreds of e-mails received from Canadians from coast to coast to coast, the program returned again to Halifax in 2007. The 2007 Play On! event was 15% larger than any previous Play On! event ever held.

In 2008, CBC Hockey Night in Canada's became Title Sponsor of the national program. During that summer, the program grew to eight Canadian cities, involving over 80,000 participants and spectators.

Building on that success, the event series expanded into four additional cities, involving twelve major events in 2009. The 2009 national program more than doubled in size, involving over 172,000 participants and spectators, and is now the largest participatory sporting festival in Canada of any kind.

CBC Hockey Night in Canada's will remain title sponsor of the Play On! program through until at least 2014.