Minor hockey groups exploring amalgamation

Yarmouth County, Clare-Digby associations looking at joining forces; parents will decide

The Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association and the ClareDigby Minor Hockey Association are considering amalgamation.

The people who ultimately will decide whether it happens – minor hockey parents – are being asked to look at a document on amalgamation that each association has posted on its website.

“We want parents to read it,” said Ian White, president of the Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association. “They have to understand it. We’re going to be trying to hold some public meetings at some point amongst our members to get their input.”

Information sessions also are planned for the Clare and Digby areas.

“We’re trying to fine-tune the parameters around amalgamation so that we’ve got as many questions answered as possible before we actually have the meetings,” White said.

Merging the associations is viewed as a way of addressing challenges facing both groups, including:

--Higher-level player development within local associations (players are having to travel outside their association to play at a higher level).

--Increased travel costs and distances at the C level.

--Shrinking population and registration numbers.

With registration declining, the two associations say, “it becomes harder to ice competitive teams at every level. In the older age groups, such as midget, it is increasingly harder to offer hockey because of registration numbers.”

The plan is that by early March, a final document on what the amalgamation of the Yarmouth County and Clare-Digby associations would look like will be given to every minor hockey player. A vote would then be held.

“Both associations believe it is critical that all minor hockey families participate in this process,” the two minor hockey groups say on their websites.

The idea of amalgamation came up in the fall during a travelling road show conducted by Hockey Nova Scotia. Following up on the idea later, the presidents of the Yarmouth County, Clare-Digby and Shelburne County minor hockey associations met in Yarmouth. The Shelburne County association was not interested in amalgamation.

The presidents of the Yarmouth County and Clare-Digby associations went back to their respective groups to discuss the idea of pursuing amalgamation and each association agreed to look into the matter. In late January, a meeting was held in Yarmouth – attended by representatives of the two minor hockey associations and Hockey Nova Scotia – where information was exchanged on various items, including registration fees and numbers, ice costs, fundraising and player evaluation.

“The overall consensus was that our associations can benefit greatly from amalgamation and that our associations were not that different in how we conduct business,” the Yarmouth County and Clare-Digby groups say on their websites.

The cost of playing hockey is not expected to be significantly different under amalgamation compared to what it is now.

Should the two groups amalgamate, it has yet to be determined what the new association would be called.

The idea is to have the amalgamation voting done in March before the hockey season ends.

Referring to the document posted to the Yarmouth County and Clare-Digby minor hockey sites, Greg Nixon, president of the Clare-Digby association, said, “we accomplished what we wanted to do so far in getting it out.”

He added, “I think the more facts are out there for people, the better decision they’ll make and the more comfortable they can make that decision ... Our role, as presidents, is pretty simple: get the facts out there, get the information out there.”

His counterpart with the Yarmouth County association, Ian White, says they want to know what people think. “Anybody who has input, that’s what we’re looking for. Whether it’s positive or negative, it doesn’t matter,” he said.