Hockey is back!
The Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey Association (SCMHA) kicked off its 2014/15 season in a big way with a Hockey Day full of activities last Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre.
As spirited games of ball hockey were played outside, parents swapped gear and manned the outdoor barbecue, while coaches and players from all of the association’s divisions took to the ice inside for practice and skill development.
“We like to start the year with general opening day where we can go through all the safety and equipment checks, get all the kids organized. They have all been on the ice for the past few weeks, but it’s a nice way to get everyone together,” said new association president Aaron Hamilton.
“The executive has a chance to talk to all the parents about safety and what we expect from them throughout the year — how to help them to teach their kids to have fun playing hockey. It’s a great sport, and we all want them to excel, but we have to remember it’s a game and we have to have fun, too.”
Last year was a huge season for the association with very successful hosted tournaments and success from every division. That success was recognized later in the day with a special banner raising ceremony where all the four championship banners won from last year were raised to the rafters of the Gibsons Arena.
Hamilton said the goal this year is to continue that success and equal or beat the number of championships.
“We’d love to achieve at a minimum what we did last year,” he said. “We have a great coaching staff selected for this year with all of our teams from C teams to Rep, and we hope to bring home just as many banners as we did last year.
Hamilton said numbers are down just a bit in the older divisions, but the tyke and novice divisions are up and that’s a great thing to see growth at a young age.
“Getting the kids excited about the game and having fun at a young age is key because if you do that, you will have them hooked for life,” Hamilton said. “That’s the whole point of this association is to teach these kids the game that we all grew up on and love and hope they end up with the same experience.”
Hamilton said from the executive right on down, everyone is excited for the new season.
“So far I have heard nothing but positive things. The kids are very pumped up in their new divisions, their new age groups, and looking forward to a good year,” he said.
Hamilton has a few new faces joining him on the association board. He said he is looking forward to the challenge.
“Sean [Gray] did a fantastic job and the past executive, Ward Ellis-Winters left as well, and we now have Sue Wilson as vice president. So far things are going smoothly,” Hamilton said. “It’s quite an eye-opener for me how much it takes to put an organization like this together, but so far we have been lucky. Lisa Stiver is our ways and means director now as Brenda Rowe has stepped down. Lisa is hoping to achieve at least what Brenda did. She has big shoes to fill — Brenda was fantastic. We’re just looking forward to a great season and hopefully we can bring home some more banners.”
Off the ice, the association’s first big fundraiser is its inaugural golf tournament this Saturday, Sept. 13, at the Sunshine Coast Golf and Country Club. See more details at the association’s website at http://site1677.goalline.ca.
Two home tournaments are slated for November and January and following this month’s tiering and seeding rounds, regular season play will start for the association in early to mid-October.
