It was disappointing to see only a handful of people turn out last Wednesday for the presentation at the Barrhead Agrena about the new Western States Hockey League (WSHL) team that may be coming to town.
Now, admittedly, it is early July, and people probably aren’t in a “hockey mindset.” Plus, a lot of residents are undoubtedly on vacation right now, and maybe some folks just weren’t aware what was going on — the whole thing did come together pretty quickly, after all.
But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that lots of people were aware of the meeting and were available to attend but didn’t, simply because they are NOT interested in bringing a Junior ‘A’ hockey team from a U.S.-based hockey league to Barrhead.
If that’s the case, then we strongly encourage residents to get in touch with the town councillors and tell them to hit the brakes on this whole WSHL deal, because this is the type of thing that’s going to need a LOT of buy-in from the community.
At the games, the team will need a whole sleugh of volunteers to serve in various support roles like ticket-sellers, ushers, scorekeepers and announcers. Plus, we’ll actually need fans to actually attend the game.
Away from the hockey rink, there’s going to be a need for local families to act as billets for these players, some of whom are likely going to be coming from out of the country. Plus, local businesses will be leaned on for sponsorships.
And then there’s the question of whether any local hockey players between the ages of 16 and 20 actually want to play on this team. One of the revelations that came from that meeting is that the WSHL is a tuition-based league — the players actually pay a hefty amount to join a team.
In exchange, the players get the experience of playing Junior ‘A’ Hockey for a 52-game season and potentially get noticed by college talent scouts; notably, the league hosts a big showcase every December attended by a fair number of college scouts. (Plus, if you’re from Europe, you get immersed in an English-speaking culture for half a year and get to pick up the language.)
Does this sound appealing to you, the person reading this editorial right now? Do you think this franchise is a good fit for Barrhead? Could you see yourself taking on some kind of volunteer role with this franchise, or just attending games?
We think there’s a good opportunity here if the residents like the idea of this WSHL team setting up shop here. But if they don’t, that’s an entirely different story. This whole thing could turn into a huge debacle if the community isn’t on board.
So if you’re hesitant about this whole thing, then you need to speak up now, before the summer flies by and suddenly there are tryouts being held at the Agrena for this new team.
It will reflect very poorly on the community if we go into October and the stands at the season-opener are completely empty.
