In January of 2024, the Portman Mite Jamboree was postponed due to warm weather, this year, the day of hockey is back to bringing outdoor play to young skaters.

“And so, this year, other than a recent few days of warm weather and some rain, we’ve really had a great year, especially in comparison to last year. Last year, we had to move the event just to fit it in. This year, we’re on schedule,” said Stolp.

The Portman Jamboree is not just a hockey tournament, but an opportunity for community members to come together, and relationships to be formed.

“It brings a ton of people from the community together and not only from this neighborhood, but all the rink associations across town. And we’ve got teams from Esko and Superior and beyond. So, I mean, it’s fun to bring other people from communities outside of Duluth into the neighborhood and get together,” said Stolp. “You start building these sort of relationships with other communities at this young age. And it’s fun to see them grow up and kind of continue to maintain those relationships they develop starting at age six.”

“Well, we get to hang with our friends, skate, and have fun,” said Liam, with his friend Jackson.

The Portman Mite Jamboree continues on year after year, thanks to the hard work of that community support.

“Just the effort that goes into keeping not only portman, but all of these neighborhood rinks across the city up and running for, of course, the kids that play on the teams. But it’s not limited to them. There’s kids and adults from all the neighborhoods that have no association to, you know, DAHA or youth hockey. But they’re coming out here and getting to enjoy the benefits of the hard work that goes into making the ice and keeping the concessions up and the warming house and all the things and amenities available for everybody,” said Stolp.

The jamboree runs from Friday, January 3^rd through Sunday, January 5^th at the Portman Outdoor Ice rinks in Duluth.