AGM

Meeting

Date: May 20, 2020

Time: 7pm

Location: Teams Virtual Meeting

Recording Secretary: Dawn Price

Call to order: 7:03pm

Determine Quorum: 20

Additions to the Agenda (New Business):

Agenda Item

1.   President Report:

A.     This year we had: 3 Initiation, 3 Novice, 3 Atom, 2 Pee Wee, 1 Bantam, 2 Midget Teams

Review of the email sent by the President to all members of the association on May 6, 2020 through email and Facebook                                                                                    A letter from Barrhead Minor Hockey,

Hello all, and we hope you and your families are all doing well in these challenging times.

We are issuing this letter as part of our annual AGM. Due to the challenging circumstances we are all facing we are unable to hold our AGM in our normal fashion. This year the AGM will be broke into two parts.

1) This email

2) A virtual meeting held through the Microsoft Teams app that families can call into to listen to the financial update, participate in any voting that is required to fill the open positions on the board, and ask any questions you may have.

Probably the biggest question on everyone's mind is: What is going to happen next year? Unfortunately no one knows the answer to that question at this time. What I can tell you is that BMHA, NAI, and Hockey Alberta have all been working towards plans to get back to hockey once we have the go ahead. Hockey Alberta has been holding  series of meetings over the last week discuss changes for next year. Probably the most notable changes are as follows:

1)  U15 Non-Checking Body Contact only (See attached Hockey Alberta Bulletin) along with a Non-Checking Hockey FAQ

2) Alberta One Tiering Model and Grid Information (See attached Bulletin)

The 2019/2020 year was a very challenging year for Barrhead Minor Hockey. While it was challenging I do feel it turned out to be a really good year, other then the abrupt ending. I would like to thank everyone in the organization for their contribution. This includes the many hours put in by the coaches, managers, trainers and the Board members and last but not least the parents who contribute their time, effort and money to support our young athletes.

We are often inundated with stories about what is wrong with minor hockey and it is important to listen to the criticisms as every hockey organization should strive to improve. Improving, however, does mean change and people by nature are resistant to change. Some changes work and others don’t and it’s important for an organization to remain sufficiently agile to recognize what works and what doesn’t and to respond appropriately. In my opinion the biggest mistake that an organization can make is to be complacent and not recognize the need for improvement and change.

During the last 2 years and in particular, during the last year, there have been a number of changes within the organization some being at the initiative of your Board and other being in reaction to changes beyond the Board’s control. These changes include the following:

1.    The change from full Ice to 1/2 Ice hockey for the Novice (U9) - While this was a very challenging change to undertake and be part of the transition, I do feel the overall skill of our players and enjoyment for the game remains in tact. Each Novice game I attended I saw joy on the children's face and seen consistent improvement of all the players on the ice, which is the key to Minor hockey.

2.    The second change I would like to discuss, was the addition of the Barrhead Bombers to the Barrhead Ice surface. While in the early stages of their arrival it posed challenges around Ice time, scheduling and the loss of our Steeler dressing room, the end result was a more utilized arena, and another source of entertainment for the citizens of Barrhead. It took BMHA and the Town of Barrhead some time to figure out the scheduling conflicts but where able to pull together and ensure Ice was available when needed. This did result in BMHA utilizing ice surfaces in surrounding communities more then years in the past but was extremely well received by communities like Rich Valley.   

3.     This year we started the first phase of our Coach mentor ship program. While we do not have a fully functioning program in place as of yet, we have established some basis as to continue to build the program. It is important for us a board to ensure we are here to support our coaches and continue to ensure they are successful in achieving their individual coaching goals while the athletes  continue to grow in both skill and personality.

4.    The change of Hockey Canada's naming convention from Initiation to U7, Novice to U9, Atom to U11, PeeWee to U13, Bantam to U15, Midget to U18

5.    And of course having to deal with COVID-19 which has abruptly ended our year, forced us to handle our Awards and AGM in a different matter, and of course left us with the uncertainty of what's to come next year.

Throughout the year our teams had a fair amount of success. The strength of the program should not be looked at in terms of championships but it is an indication of how players are being developed. I would like to congratulate all of our teams on playing a great year, and recognize the significant effort that was put forth by 2 of our teams to make it Provincials just to have it cancelled.

In my view the members of the Board this year were extremely hard working dealing with what has been a very challenging year. Some put in a substantial amount of hours while others put in a ridiculous amount of hours. The Board meetings could be long (typically ran from 7pm to 10pm) and as much time as was required was used to fully debate the difficult issues. Everyone on the Board without exception weighed in on issues and expressed their own opinions.

There are things that can be done better as there always are. I would recommend to the next Board that they consider what it takes to be a board member, you need to remember the items / issues you fight for this year will be the successes and growth of the Association in the years to come. There are just not enough bodies and enough person hours available to do everything in one term. A small look forward to next year and items to consider are:

1.    We have fully documented our Try Out procedure and will be distributing documentation around the process and execution of try outs for more clairity around the tryout process.

2.    We will not see a change in our 2020/2021 fees. What we will see is the a 10% discount for all members of the association who register before June 30, 2020. We will also be extending the payment plan into December in a effort to try and provide some relief due to the financial difficulties that will be faced by members in the upcoming year. Our goal is to have every child who wants to play Minor Hockey be able to play. Families in need of Financial assistance in order to participate in the 2020/2021 season are encouraged to reach out the President of Barrhead Minor hockey to discuss their situation and see if the board is able to help. While we may not be able to help everyone we will try our best to support our membership in these challenging times.     

3.     Due to the financial burdens that are going to be placed on Business's and members of Barrhead and Barrhead County we have decided to cancel the Gala for the 2020/2021 season. While the Gala is a huge fundraiser for the association and a wonderful night out, we could not hold this event without our sponsors. Considering the  stress business's and families will be under this year we feel it would be best to look into other methods of fundraising. You will see the $50.00 per family for Gala tickets, will be put under the fundraising fee for this year while we look into other options. Without continued Fundraising efforts we cannot maintain our Ice Fees on a go forward basis.

4.    We have a small change over in the board this year. Consisting of 2 executive position, the registrar role, and 3 delegate positions. This aligns our board for hopefully a year of growth as we will have less members learning their positions. Current members with positions that expire this year but are allowing their name to stand are Shaun Couiyk (VP of Hockey Operations) Heath Klein (Director of Systems Development). I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mat, Audrey, Kim, and Colette for their tireless efforts on the board in the past years (or seven in Colette's case) you all will be greatly missed and I would love to have you apart of the board in any position you would like (even if it is BMHA liaison Colette). Each of you have brought so much to the board over the years and you experience and knowledge will be missed by all.

One of my goals this year as President of the Board was to have better communication with the membership, and in that regard I think I get a failing grade. Again one of my recommendations to the Board for next year is to post information of interest to the membership quickly on the website. It will be up to the membership at that point to actually read the information. With less people having access to the Barrhead Leader we will focus communication through our website, social media sites, and mass emails from the board to the membership. In terms of maintaining better communications it may also be feasible to, with the use of technology, poll members for their opinions on major issues which would be a step in the right direction on continual improvement.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my long winded email. Please make every effort to attend the dial in meeting on Wednesday May 20, 2020 at 7:00pm  by following the link provided below. During this meeting we will finalize any voting for positions if needed, review the financial reports for the year and have a question and answer period. If you have any questions or concerns please direct them to myself. I will answer where I can and call upon other Board members to assist where applicable.

Please submit nominations to president@barrheadminorhockey.com for the below positions available on the board this year. I have attached a PDF version of the roles and responsibilities for each position above. IF there are multiple nominations for positions we will hold a virtual voting, if their is only one nomination per position those individuals will assume the role they were voted into.

Positions that need to be filled:

Vice President of Hockey Operations

Registrar

NAI Representative

Director of Systems Development

Delegate

Delegate

Thank You all and take care

Tyler Fitzpatrick

President, Barrhead Minor Hockey

Link for Meeting

Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

+1 587-747-4659   Canada, Calgary (Toll)

(888) 994-5924   Canada (Toll-free)

Conference ID: 475 445 813#

B.                                                                                           

C.    Report Adopted by: Megan Adams                                         

2.   Treasure’s Report: 

Presented by Brenda Visser:      Please email treasurer@barrheadminorhockey.com for more information                                                                                  

Report Adopted by:  Jeremy Ochremchuk

3.    Online Registrations:

A. Registration will be from May 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020

B. Money back if you child doesn’t want to play (or is unable to play)

C. All members will receive a 10% discount on registration this year if Paid by June 30, 2020

D. All members will be able to extend payment until the end of 2020 (December 31) vs years in the past where all payments had to be finalized before the season started

E. There is a $250 late fee per child if registration hasn’t been submitted by July 30, 2020 for returning players

4.   Ice Users Meeting:

A.     We have estimated numbers for the town to allot Ice time, however the sooner you register the sooner we are able to secure Ice time which is a challenge with the addition of other users

B.     Rusty Blade September 1^st to 3^rd

C.    Tryouts September 11^th to 13^th.  Tryouts will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday this year.

6.    Nominations:

A.     VP of Hockey Operations (Shawn Couiyk)

B.     Registrar: Kim Luciuk

C.    Delegate: Hanna Friesen

D.    Delegate: Tyler Batdorf

E.     Delegate: Mark Bain

7.    Open Discussion:

A.     Clock and Music system.  Shallon has said that stereo system is set for 2022 upgrade but has been approved from town for 2021.  The clock isn’t in the budget at the moment.  Talk to Shallon or the town councilors to see if there is more to be done about it. 

B.     Bantam Players Ice time-  Ice time is too late.  Is there any way we can move it up an hour?  We can look into this when we do the ice scheduling.  Possibly look into an out of town practice for earlier in the evening. 

Notes: Thank you to all members for bearing with us through these challenging times

Next Meeting:  May 27, 2020

Location: Ag Barn

Adjournment: 7:45 pm

Title/Role

Name

In Attendance

President

Tyler Fitzpatrick

X

VP of Operations

Shawn Couiyk

X

VP of P & P & Discipline

JC Lane

X

Registrar

Audrey Visser

X

Treasurer

Brenda Visser

X

Secretary

Dawn Price

X

Systems Management

Heath Klein

X

Equipment Delegate

Jeremy Ochremchuk

X

Initiation

Colette Weeks

X

Novice

Ashley Shrode

X

Atom

Dan Wierenga

X

Peewee

Mat Symon

X

Bantam

Rob Bowick

X

Midget

Kassidy Hiemstra

X

NAI

Kim Luciuk

X

BMHA Parents (Guest)

17 Guests