The North Central Bulls AA hockey club, which started up last year, is hosting evaluations and tryouts at the Lac La Biche Bold Centre Aug. 24 and 25.
Last year, the Bulls consisted solely of a midget team; bantam and peewee teams are being added this year.
The tryouts begin at 10 a.m. both days. There are two-hour stages for each age division through the morning and afternoon: midgets start at 10 a.m.; at 12:15 p.m., bantam players will try out; and peewee players will try out at 2:30 p.m.
“It’s AA hockey, a little more competitive, and some of those kids who are really good hockey players are really going to enjoy it,” said Brett Gullion, coaching director for the Athabasca Minor Hockey Association, under which the North Central Bulls operate.
Players from Boyle, Plamondon, Athabasca, Lac La Biche and surrounding areas will be able to try out for the regional team.
Terry Lovelace, the principal coordinator of the tryouts, said organizers will be on the lookout for “good mobility, good skating skill, puck-handling skills and knowledge of the game.” He said they will also assess how players deal with different, fast-changing systems of play.
Organizers expect to see at least 40 players per grouping, which was the approximate turnout for the midgets last year.
Only a certain percentage of the lineup is “carded” during the weekend; the rest who are not chosen in the tryouts will be able to participate in an evaluation tournament in September, and the remaining players will be chosen at that time.
The first game of the regular season will be in late September, but practices begin a number of weeks prior, according to Lovelace.
Lovelace said tryout turnouts were lower than hoped for last year because some municipalities’ hockey associations pulled out support for the Bulls. Increased support from the other associations has been worked on for this tryout season.
