After narrowly avoiding the possibility of dissolving this past spring, the Sundre Minor Hockey Association seems poised to bounce back stronger than ever.
“Everything’s shaping up good,” said association president Wade Church, adding that teams have been fielded at every level — initiation, novice, atom, peewee, bantam and two midget squads.
“That’s new this year,” Church said about having two midget teams.
“Just with the amount of kids we have registered, there were too many for one team,” he said.
Since the Sundre Arena does not open until mid-October following Thanksgiving, players in all age levels from atom on up held their first pre-season practices in Caroline over the weekend, he said, adding that all levels will be getting a chance to hit the ice this coming weekend.
Registration will remain ongoing until next month, and Church said anyone interested in signing up a player can visit the association’s website, www.sundreminorhockey.ca, which has all of the required forms available.
Tiering rounds in the Central Alberta Hockey League will also be getting underway some time next month, although specific dates had as of last week not yet been nailed down, he said.
“I’m waiting on the league’s official confirmation,” he said.
However, the midgets already have their annual home tournament fundraiser scheduled, and anyone interested in supporting the teams can save the date for the weekend of Nov. 15-17.
Throughout the course of every season, each team takes turns hosting a home tournament to raise funds, which typically help to cover expenses such as tournament registration fees, he said.
While there aren’t any major projects planned for the upcoming year, Church said the association intends to follow suit with new Hockey Alberta guidelines for the introductory levels of hockey in initiation and novice, which call for shorter games and travelling distances as part of an effort “to keep the kids on their skates as much as possible.”
Additionally, minor hockey could always benefit from having more volunteers, he said.
“There is a need for a couple more local referees and some coaches for the novice and initiation teams,” he said.
There are also opportunities available for junior coaches — either Sundre Minor Hockey Association alumni or current bantam and midget players — to get involved, he said.
“If any older players are looking to try out coaching, we like to start them out at the initiation and novice levels,” he said.
“Bantam and midgets are the perfect age group to get those kids out there to start volunteering if they haven’t already.”
Looking to the season ahead, Church encourages local hockey fans and supporters to keep an eye out for upcoming fundraisers, including a cash raffle as well as a drive in collaboration with V.I.P. Food Services, which is a commercial food supplier that delivers a program to facilitate fundraising efforts. Since other groups in the community have previously coordinated with that organization to sell bacon, he added minor hockey will consider alternate product options.
