The Estevan Minor Hockey Association (EMHA) had their spring annual general meeting on April 22.
A hot topic at the meeting was whether the bantam division should continue to play in the Hockey Regina league hockey or move to the Moose Mountain Minor Hockey League.
The bantam division was currently set as a three-tier program and after a 27-17 vote it was reduced to two-tier program. There will still be a bantam team playing in the Saskatchewan AA Hockey League, but the remaining teams will compete in Moose Mountain league.
According to bantam director Stephen Truman, one of the reasons for setting up the bantams to play in the Moose Mountain Minor League is that it’s a more competitive league compared to Hockey Regina.
Also in recent years, Truman said the tier three team hasn’t been competitive, and by joining the Moose Mountain league it provides competitiveness for the players in the hope of keeping them interested in the game.
“The end goal is to keep as many individuals involved as possible in the game we all love. Potentially sending a tier three team out to fail does not achieve this goal,” Truman said.
Also, one of the reasons for having considered making a change in the bantam program was to help develop players so they can play competitively at a higher level, Truman said.
President Dalton Giblett mentioned that it was only a matter of time until they wouldn’t be playing in the Regina league so that was a factor in making this decision sooner rather than later.
After lots of discussion of whether or not to change the bantam program, a vote was taken and the majority decided for the program to compete in the Moose Mountain league.
In the female league, the peewee and atom teams will not be competing in the Regina league, as they will be competing in the South Saskatchewan Female Hockey League, and that’s where the bantam and midget team play as well.
Another topic that was discussed at the meeting was ways to improve the player development program, and the cross ice hockey program came up.
Cross ice hockey is a practice game routine where there are boards put up across the blue lines, and the ice is divided up in three sections.
The main objective is to get youth more puck touches to help develop their game.
Giblett said the program will be used for the invitational-level players and that it is great way to develop young players.
Also mentioned at the meeting was the $20,000 the EMHA gave to the City of Estevan for a new compressor at the Civic Auditorium. Giblett said that that a new compressor cost $26,000, and since they use the rink a lot, he thought it was right for the association to help with that purchase.
Overall the registration for last season was considered good by the board; there were 423 players enrolled in minor hockey.
