OLDS — The number of minor hockey players in Olds is likely to continue growing, especially on the female side, according to Olds Minor Hockey Association past-president Rich McDonald.
McDonald gave that assessment during a season-end interview with the Albertan.
Both McDonald and incoming OMHA president Rob Turville said it’s their impression that the number of kids enrolled in the OMHA increased over the past couple of years, although they had no precise stats at their fingertips to confirm that.
They were confident that number will grow, now that COVID restrictions have been lifted. They’re hopeful that will continue to be the case.
"We did add a U18 female team this year and a U11 female team this year, which I don’t think we had last year or the year before,” McDonald said.
He said indications are that more girls will be enrolling in the lower divisions such as U7 and U9.
"I think that, you know, both male and female programs are continuing to be strong, going forward,” McDonald said. "We’re hopeful that we’ll have another U11 team next year and possibly even a U13 team.
“We won’t know for sure obviously until we see what registration numbers come back at this year, but that’s definitely the goal, is to have a female team representative in each division, as well as strong numbers on the male side as well."
