Despite being nearly faced with the difficult decision to dissolve, the Sundre Minor Hockey Association is here to stay for another season.
More than two dozen people attended an emergency meeting held Wednesday, May 22 at the Sundre Community Centre in a last bid effort to find volunteer board members after none were nominated during the organization’s annual general meeting in April. As a result, the process succeeded in securing all of the necessary positions.
Dallas Rosevear, league director and past president, chaired the meeting and said he was pleased to announce that several people had stepped forward to nominate themselves.
“I don’t want to see the association dissolve,” Rosevear said during the meeting, expressing a desire to see the association “get back on track.”
But while a few people had expressed interest in several positions, no one had been nominated for the presidency.
“Without a president, we dissolve. I really don’t want to see that,” said Rosevear, adding he had been asked to assume the organization’s reins and upon reflection, was willing to put his name forward, even if that meant he could no longer coach.
“I am willing to put the work in,” he said.
However, those who attended largely seemed to agree that Rosevear’s contribution to minor hockey as a coach was too valuable for him to step away from the role, which plays a key part in player development.
Following further discussion about the president’s responsibilities, Wade Church agreed to let his name stand, and was elected by acclamation along with a round of supportive applause after Rosevear withdrew his name.
Church said during a followup phone interview the next day that he wanted to help make sure kids would continue to have the opportunity to play hockey in the community.
As a fan of Canada’s quintessential winter pastime, he added the sport offers players a chance to mature into more responsible individuals by teaching them to work in a team environment and taking direction from coaches while developing their skills and learning about sportsmanship.
Chelsea Thiessen, who had been nominated as vice-president and was willing to let her name stand, was also appointed by acclamation.
Elected to the role of secretary was Jen Phillips, who was one of two people who had been nominated, while Bev Lunde was appointed as treasurer by acclamation.
Stacey Johnson has taken on the role of registrar, Corey Burwell is now the coordinator of coaching and managers, Michele Blackhurst is the fundraising coordinator, Jim Harper has taken on the new role of safety coordinator, Stacey Gillan, who with a professional background in managing inventory was elected to be equipment coordinator, and Rosevear remaining as league director.
Several, non-voting advisory positions were also settled, with Perry Smeets stepping up to fill in as referee-in-chief when Paul Isaac is away, Nathan McCullough staying on as Central Alberta Hockey League governor, Karen Rosevear acting as the AGLC coordinator, and Jody Layden selected to act as ice allocator.
A few other points of discussion that were brought up during the emergency meeting included concerns about handling complaints from people who become confrontational in, for example, a place of business, the importance of ramping up fundraising efforts, fee increases that better reflect costs, and impending registration deadlines for the next season.
Although the early bird deadline is June 1 with the regular deadline in mid-August, Rosevear said players could still be registered afterwards, but with an additional late fee.
While he had hoped for a larger turnout at the meeting considering how close the association came to dissolving, Rosevear was nevertheless “super happy” to see people stepping up to assume all of the board’s vacancies.
“We got some really good members. Some positive people stepped up,” he said, expressing confidence in the new president.
“Wade Church is going to do really well.”
The previous board had put in a lot of work revising the association’s handbook and bylaws, which Rosevear said would facilitate the process moving forward.
“I’m really happy; it’s one of the better boards we’ve had for a long time, I think. It will give us a good new foundation to build on.”
