There were no surprises at the Westlock and District Minor Hockey Association’s Annual General Meeting April 20, said returning president Dean Fagnan.
“It was a good meeting,” he said. “We talked about what last year brought in terms of the season and we had a good discussion about things we might want to change going forward.”
One of the biggest issues at the meeting was whether or not the association wanted to stay in the 1660 Hockey League.
In the end, Fagnan said there was a solid consensus with the parents and the executives to stay with the 1660 league.
“A large portion of the parents, if not all of them, were happy with the travel and the tiering options in the league,” he said, adding with up to five tiers in age division, there was a good opportunity to find the best fit for the teams’ skill levels.
Having been part of the 1660 league for a year now, the association talked about the pros and cons of the whole experience, he said. The association will take the results of those discussions to the league’s next meeting and work with the league and its member associations to continue to improve the experience for everyone.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was how to better develop the association’s goalies. For the upcoming 2011-2012 season, Fagnan said they are looking into giving their goalies more ice time as goalies, and focusing more coaching attention on them.
For all good things that happened this past season, Fagnan said there were many concerns about how the weather interfered with the scheduling process.
“It was a tough year because we had to cancel games because of the weather,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many games cancelled because of weather.”
These cancellations forced teams to have to play more weekday games, which ate into other teams’ practice times.
On the whole, however, Fagnan said the meeting was a quiet one.
“I’ve been to quite a few AGMs, and this one was pretty quiet, and that’s a good thing,” he said.
The majority of the executive members are still in place, he said, with only four new board members elected to serve their one-year term.
Paul Olsen is the new scheduler, Mandy Pipke is the new equipment manager, Kelti O’Donnell is the new fundraiser and Bob Archer has taken over as the new referee in chief.
The association’s first board meeting is May 9, when the new board members will start their education, Fagnan said. It is also when the board will start talking about its plans for next season.
Fagnan said he plans to meet with Fun Hockey representatives in the near future to try and find a way to work together going forward.
He said that at the five- and six-year-old level, both associations have the same goals, and that it would make more sense for the two to work together to encourage hockey in the community.
“As the kids get more competitive they can take our stream, or if they’re a little less competitive they can go with Fun Hockey,” he said.
