BARRHEAD - A group of parents and concerned citizens hope to persuade Town of Barrhead councillors to take a second look at its agreement with the Barrhead Bombers.
The Bombers are a Tier II junior hockey team currently playing in the Canadian-American Junior Hockey League (CAJHL), a five-team league based primarily in northern Alberta. This is their fourth season in Barrhead after relocating from Long Beach, Calif., from the then Western States Hockey League (WSHL).
Aly Virani, an Edmonton-based property, investment and hospitality entrepreneur and the Barrhead Inn and Suites general manager, took over ownership before the 2021-2022 season.
Midway through the season, Virani and the rest of the WSHL's provincial division split away to create the Canadian-American Junior Hockey League (CAJHL), which shuttered the former league.
In an e-mail from Amanda Batty (and was included in the Jan. 9 council public agenda package), the group asks councillors to reevaluate the agreement it has with the franchise, saying the team "takes away valuable ice time from [Barrhead] taxpayers, as well as, the [town's] largest user, the Barrhead Minor Hockey Association (BMHA)."
As part of the e-mail, Batty sent a copy of a petition with close to 100 signatures collected by the group.
Council passed the letter as information with the rest of the correspondence items, as per administration's recommendation.
In the letter, the group referred to how the municipality reached out to the WSHL asking the league if they would like to expand or relocate one of its teams to Barrhead to bring in additional revenue, especially during 'dark times' when the ice surface wasn't being used to help offset the facility's operating costs.
"[BMHA] families, Fun Hockey, and many other local groups [i.e. ratepayers] contribute a large portion of the ice rental, in addition to the amount contributed through our taxes," the letter states. "Unless the Bombers, which are a business, contribute an equally large sum, we don't feel it is worth having them in Barrhead."
In the agenda package, the parks and recreation department calculated that the Bombers have paid just over $10,700 in ice rental fees from September to December, accounting for 51.75 hours of practice time for $4,100. and 38.75 hours of game time for $6,600.
Coun. Dave Sawatzky and Coun. Ty Assaf noted that the final bill for the Bombers will likely be well over $20,000 for the season.
Assaf agreed, saying that without the revenue from the Bombers, minor hockey and other youth organizations would likely face higher ice rental rates, noting the money has to come from somewhere.
The Bombers usually practice anywhere from two to four times a week from 7 to 8:30 a.m.
The letter goes on to state that the residents have shown that they do not want the Bombers by their poor attendance, adding lower attendance than Fun Hockey and BMHA games.
[Editor's note: the CAJHL does not publish attendance, but anecdotal evidence from Barrhead Leader reporters is that most often, attendance at BMHA and Bombers games are roughly the same.]
"The town's priority should be putting its residents' needs and contributing ratepayers before an outside business," the group stated. "Prioritizing the Bombers, a business, over the people who live, work and pay taxes is not right. We request that council reevaluate their agreement [with the Bombers] and consider what local taxpayers are missing out on while having this business in town."
This is not the first time people from the Barrhead minor hockey community have voiced displeasure with the Bombers, as several people have voiced displeasure with the loss of the Steelers', BMHA's most senior team dressing room, as part of the agreement with the junior franchise.
In late October, the Steelers players asked council for the exclusive use of one of the Agrena's dressing room. At the Nov. 14 council meeting, councillors denied the request, but came up with a compromise of decorating one of the dressing rooms in the Steelers' colours.
