At Monday night’s AGM at the
Cobden arena, we had our largest turnout in several years. We want to thank everyone who attended, those
who let their name stand for a nomination and voting, and to our dedicated
volunteers.
Acting President Brent Gould
expressed his thanks to all the coaches, managers, trainers, game officials,
and those who jumped in as needed throughout the past season. He shared that Hockey Canada has completed their Pathways for U13 and U15, and they are now in the approval stages for a fall 2023 start. One change is that all playoffs (competitive and house league) will be a round-robin format, with everyone playing until mid-March and then finals in late March, instead of teams potentially being eliminated from playoffs by mid-February. The U18 Pathway will then be completed for Fall 2024.
Executive members also shared some
highlights on the year. These include:
· * Registration numbers
for our youngest players were their highest in several years, with 48 U7 skaters! We also had 41 in U9, 31 in U11, 32 in U13,
30 in U15 plus 8 joined us from another association, and we had 16 U18 players
to make up our competitive team. We did
not have enough interest in a U18 House League team, so players were welcomed
to join a team in Eganville.
· * The $8000 donation from
employee crowdfunding at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, after a Muskrat parent
nominated us, was an exciting way to wrap up the season. This donation was put towards proper half-ice
boards for cross-ice play for our U7 and U9 teams, and the boards were
delivered to the Cobden arena last week.
· * We have been offered a
larger storage space at the Cobden arena, as another user-group is moving to
the Renfrew arena. It is in the process
of being cleaned up, and then we will be purchasing supplies for shelving and
proper hanging space for the team jerseys.
· * Our biggest fundraising
venture each season is to supply volunteers to work a two-hour shift at Delta Bingo
& Gaming in Pembroke. On one Sunday
afternoon a month, volunteers act as greeters and assist in checking winning
cards. Unfortunately, we had to decline
quite a few shifts this year, which resulted in lost revenue. We will continue to work on volunteer
recruitment over the summer, as Bingo shifts run year-round.
· * Only one Disciplinary
Committee Hearing was required.
· * Last summer, MMHA (and
every association in District 5) moved to a new website, hosted by Sportsheadz,
a Kingston-based company. This change
also affected our scheduling processes and reporting procedures for our team
managers. While there have been some
growing pains, it has some great features and now that we have learned how to
use most functions, we are looking forward to the second year with it. This also means that we will be able to write
a new team managers handbook this summer.
· *We were successful in
recruiting new, young game officials for this past season, but are now seeking
more adults to consider becoming a game official, even on a very casual
basis.
Brian Summers led the review of our
MMHA Constitution and Policies & Procedures this season. The Executive assisted with some updates, and
the draft was shared with membership on our website in early April. During the AGM, a motion was made, and
carried, to approve the merger of the Policies & Procedures into the
Constitution document, which removes duplication, conflicting information in
some areas, and makes finding information easier for the membership. Additional motions were made for each change. Details will be in the minutes and in the
final Constitution, posted on our website once edits are complete.
Thank you to outgoing volunteers
Brent Gould and Amy Saar for your time and efforts over the past several years!
We are pleased to welcome our
incoming MMHA Volunteer Executive for 2023-2024, who were elected on Monday or
are returning this year to complete the second year of their term:
Amy MacKenzie, President
Stefanie Coughlin, Vice President
Derrick England, Competitive
Convenor
Katie St.Pierre, House League
Convenor
Brian Summers, Treasurer
Kristine Burchat, Registrar
Brett Coughlin, Risk Management
Coordinator
Emily Hoelke, U7 Program Coordinator
Tim Lynch, Development Coordinator/Coach
Mentor
Brandon Burchat, Ice Allocator
Josh Sutcliffe, Equipment Manager
Angela Brownlee, Tournament
Coordinator
The position of Secretary (which
includes webmaster responsibilities) has not been filled. If you are interested or have questions about
this role, please email Amy at [email protected]
to inquire.
The District 5 AGM will be held on
Wednesday, May 31st at 630 pm, venue TBA but likely in Cobden. We will share details on our website and Facebook
page once that is confirmed. Also watch for
our Early-Bird Registration opening for players in June, for the 2023-2024
season.
Thank you all for your support!
Muskrat Minor Hockey Association