By Michael Bennett
Local Journalism Initiative
The Ridgetown Independent
It has taken 71 years, but the East Kent Memorial Arena will finally be home to a high-level hockey team.
The Ridgetown Royals will take the ice this fall in the Ontario Super Hockey League’s Western Conference.
The OSHL is an independent senior men’s hockey league that debuted in 2021-22 as the Western Ontario Super Hockey League and was renamed this past season.
Ridgetown’s Jim Hawthorne, a long-time OHA referee and linesman, is listed as the OSHL commissioner.
The Royals’ home games will be on Saturday nights as the league plays weekend games only. The OSHL plays a 24-game regular season schedule – 12 at home and on the road – followed by playoffs.
Since the East Kent Memorial Arena opened in the fall of 1954, Ridgetown has never been the home of senior, intermediate, or junior hockey. Juvenile is the highest level of hockey played in the arena.
Royals’ president and general manager T.J. Clark said he has been trying to bring a team to Ridgetown for three years. His patience was finally rewarded as the Royals were granted membership.
“Ridgetown has been my only choice,” Clark said about bringing an OSHL team to Chatham-Kent. “Getting ice time is the hardest part for any team, but Saturday nights are dark in the Ridgetown Arena.”
Clark, who lives in Duart, said the Royals will not have to be “shoe-horned in” around teams in Ridgetown.
Clark said he chose the nickname Royals, even though it is the same name as Ridgetown District High School’s athletic teams.
“I like the blue and white scheme, it’s the same name as the high school, so there’s already a connection with the town,” Clark said. “It’s a nice, easy name to go with instead of shoving something else down people’s throats.”
Clark also believes Ridgetown is not too small for senior hockey.
“It’s a bigger town than Alvinston, and the team works very well up there,” Clark said, referring to the Killer Bees, one of the five original WOSHL franchises along with the Tilbury Bluebirds.
However, the Killer Bees and Bluebirds, along with the Strathroy Jets, are leaving the OSHL to play in another independent senior league: the Northern Premier Hockey League’s Metropolitan Division.
The OSHL featured nine teams in 2024-25 as the Stratford Fighting Irish won the championship in a seven-game final against Strathroy. The other teams were the Tillsonburg Thunder, Elora Rocks, Petrolia Squires, Dunnville Aeros and Delhi Flames.
Two local players – Nolan VandenBoorn of Ridgetown and Steve Beenackers of Murikirk – played for the Squires in 2024-25, during which time they finished one-two in team scoring.
Blenheim’s Evan DeBrouwer, was a goaltender for the Jets.
Jamie Schaafsma, a 14-year former pro also from Blenheim, played for the Killer Bees along with several former Maroons, including Grant Spence, whose parents are from Ridgetown. Spence was recently named the Blades’ new head coach.
The Royals’ president said he will also be looking to hire a coaching staff shortly.
Clark said that the East Kent Memorial Arena will not need any major modifications to accommodate an OSHL team.
