INNISFAIL — The president of the Innisfail Minor Hockey Association cannot guarantee there will be a hockey season for hundreds of kids this year due to the uncertainty brought by COVID-19.
“I am trying to be as responsible as I can be with my answers. I can’t say for sure we are playing next year,” said Stephen Bates, the president of the association (IMHA). “I have talked to people at Hockey Alberta and even a month ago some of them were saying, ‘don’t, no. It’s probably not going to happen.
“COVID has been a real kick in the teeth for everybody,” he added. “We receive questions on a daily basis about when we are getting back on the ice, and the reality is that we just don’t know.”
Even still, Bates said the association is moving forward with cautious optimism with a tentative season start date of Sept. 15.
“I just don’t want to be out there with, ‘absolutely we are playing hockey in September. I don’t know,” said Bates. “I am cautiously optimistic that we are playing hockey in September. Come September we are usually on the ice by September 15.”
Big challenges
In the meantime, the challenges for the IMHA, which had up to 280 boys and girls registered to play hockey last year, have increased. The association owes the town $60,000 for ice rentals from last season. Under town policy money owed from the previous season has to be paid prior to booking for the next season.
“If this were a ‘normal’ year we would pay that balance in June (or) July once registration fees have started to come in for the upcoming year,” said Bates in a letter that was presented to town council at its June 9th regular meeting. “However, COVID-19 has made this anything but a ‘normal’ year.”
Bates went on to say in his letter, which was made public at the council meeting, the IMHA might see a drastic drop in registration numbers this season due to the pandemic’s financial impacts on local families. He said the association could see a shortened season or none at all.
Internal problems
Bates told council last month the IMHA had to look squarely at itself for its part in the current crisis.
“Make no mistake, this is IMHA’s own doing,” he said in his letter. “There has been a serious mismanagement of ice rentals, money and overall day to day operations in our office for the past two seasons and we failed to perform the proper checks and balances. We were complacent in believing that things were getting done.”
Council was told the IMHA board has made changes to prevent them from occurring in the future.
Bates said the association is looking for a new executive director, and that the president, treasurer and registrar are fixing financial reporting. They’re also applying new policies for financial reporting to the board. Council was told there would be “drastic” cuts to the association’s budget for the upcoming season, including the salary for the new executive director, which will be cut in half. The association’s power skating program is being eliminated. Spending on jerseys, and other items, will be cut down to essentials.
On the revenue side, the association is doubling its fundraising raffle from last season, from $10,000 to $20,000.
Leniency plea
The letter ended with a request by the IMHA that the town “show leniency” with its ice booking policy, which would defer payment of the $60,000 owed and allow the association to properly schedule league, tournament and playoff games for the upcoming season.
Council agreed last month to allow the IMHA to delay its payment of the $60,000 until the fall.
Road ahead
The association recently held its AGM and “turned over a new board” with assurances that vacant positions will be filled in the near future.
Registrations began June 1, just like it normally does, and with a plan to play hockey by Sept. 15.
Bates noted that plan falls in line with Hockey Alberta’s recent Return to Play Plan.
“That is a bonus for us and positive news that our governing body is actually looking at how we get back on the ice. It is definitely a huge step in the right direction,” said Bates, adding they still don’t know when they can actually get back on the ice. “Right now the plan is based on Stage 2 from the Province of Alberta, and we are hoping that by September we are in Stage 3 and be kind of back to normal, whatever the normal is at that point in time.”
• COVID-19 UPDATE: Follow our COVID-19 special section and interactive map for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
