Just want to have fun (and develop)

Times Reporter

 

Strathmore Minor Hockey

With roughly 380 players in their association, President Blair Wilson and the Strathmore Minor Hockey association feel that with the growing interest in hockey in town facilities are the only thing lacking.

“We need a proper dual or triple facility here, with obviously more than just hockey in it,” Wilson said. “All the major towns are putting in these big plexes that have soccer, hockey, football, Tae Kwon Do, curling, running tracks, and gyms. I think that’s what this town needs.”

Wilson believes parents choose Strathmore Minor Hockey for their kids because there are more opportunities to develop here with more teams, and even more teams could be added with another arena. 

Cost is an area of concern for Wilson, who says Strathmore is one of the lowest in Southern Alberta.

“I’m sure that’s what draws a lot of people away from it,” he said. “For other leagues, it’s at least $1,000. To comparable centres, when you go into smaller areas it’s not as much because ice is cheaper. With us, we keep it to a minimum.”

Regardless of cost, parents and Wilson alike want the kids to have fun with the sport.

“You’ve got to enjoy it to do it,” Wilson said. “I just hope they develop the skills to carry on hockey further in their life, be it elite or recreational.”

 

Wheatland AA

Sandy Henry and his three AA Wheatland teams are consistently growing their numbers as well.

“I think we had a few less midgets this year, but we had a few more bantams and peewees. Those numbers have gone up certainly the last two years, we’re pretty happy with that,” President Henry said.

He believes the continuing interest in Wheatland AA hockey is due to the teams’ successes.

“I hate to say it like this, I think that (the success) makes them more popular, or more the place to be. We’ve really tried to keep our fees down to a reasonable level, and hockey’s very expensive. We’re in the ball park where we offer quite a bit for the dollars we’re asking for; some fundraising helps us do that,” Henry said. “Our programs have been real solid, and that makes people trust them. We’ve had good response to that.”

Wheatland AA is more than wins and losses, Henry said. Hockey is about developing – on the ice and off the ice.

“We try to make them accountable, better citizens, with a harder work ethic, and to have more responsibility when they leave us than when they came to us – things they can hopefully use as they move along in the world,” Henry said. “It might be their first exposure to having teammates from other areas of the draw zone that they become friends with too.”

 

Rockyford Minor Hockey

Ice time is readily available for Rockyford Minor Hockey, says President Ian Koester.

“The ice time for us, we’re first serve on it. We got our certain times booked but Strathmore really rents the rest,” he said.

Koester says that numbers are fairly consistent in his area as well, with three decent sized teams in Rockyford.

“Probably consistent from the last couple years. Maybe even up. We just got younger aged teams playing there,” he said. “We have an established association and we try to make everything enjoyable for the season.”

Developing a team mentality and working together is what Koester’s team tend to focus on.

“Just having fun and having friends – the social aspect just as much as the sport and exercise,” he said.

 

Hussar Minor Hockey

Hussar’s two minor hockey teams – atom and novice – are doing things a little differently this season, with 15 kids out of Bassano and the other 15 out of Hussar.

“This year for hockey, we have kind of two half teams out of Hussar. For the past couple of years, we’ve been teaming up with Bassano because both of our towns find that our numbers are dwindling a bit, and we don’t quite have enough to run full teams,” said Barb Slemko, president of Hussar Minor Hockey. “(it’s) probably just fewer young families; we had a few years with a big surge of girls in those age groups. Ringette has really been picking up in Hussar; a lot of our young girls are playing ringette instead of hockey.”

Hussar’s fairly new arena accommodates both ringette and hockey – something Strathmore uses due to their lack of ice.

“We’ve also got really good ice time that we’re able to offer to our teams – and long ice times,” Slemko said, and affordably so. “Fees are significantly lower here than they are in the city.”

Similar to Strathmore, Wheatland, and Rockyford, growing as a player and person is the most important to Slemko – while enjoying time spent on the ice.

“Fun is the main thing. I’m sure there’s lots of hockey parents out there that disagree with me, but that’s our main goal,” she said. “Also, to have equal opportunity to play, and to gain a love of the sport.”