By Tina Comeau
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
With summer sports like soccer and baseball soon wrapping up, attention turns to hockey with registration for the upcoming Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association (YCMHA) season happening on Saturday, Aug. 28.
Registration will be held at the Mariners Centre from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Last year 530 players were registered with the association, a number that has been holding steady for years.
For the third consecutive year the registration fees aren’t changing. The total cost (including a $100 recoverable fundraising book of tickets) is $315 for Timbits and $360 for all other levels.
To try out for a rep team, a $40 tryout fee is required upfront. Anyone who secures a position on a rep team will also be required to pay an additional $100 rep fee early on in the season.
This year’s registration is earlier than last year’s, and so too will be rep tryouts, which begin at the start of September. (A tryout schedule appears with this story.)
In fact, the entire minor hockey season will also be starting up earlier in October than usual to make up for ice time that will be lost in November due to events happening at the Mariners Centre.
As well, the YCMHA hockey school that usually takes place in early October is scheduled to be held Sept. 27 to Oct. 2.
Yarmouth minor hockey president Jeremy Kini says the association wants to ensure that players get their promised 21 weeks of hockey, even though sometimes hockey does have to be bumped by other events.
“Our kids get more ice time than other associations,” he says, and they want to keep it this way.
The Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association is also combining a fundraiser with this year’s registration. Tusket Ford will donate $20 to the minor hockey association for every test drive of one of its vehicles on registration day, to a maximum of 300 test drives. This has the potential to generate $6,000 for the minor hockey association.
Canadian Tire is supporting minor hockey again this year by donating a portion of team jacket sales back to the hockey association later in the season. Last season Canadian Tire did the same and donated $2,800 to minor hockey.
This fundraising money, along with other grants the association is looking to secure, will help with several coaching and player development initiatives planned for the season.
One initiative this season is a Jean Sebastian Giguere One to One Goaltending clinic planned for November.
The minor hockey association also looks forward to building on a partnership it has struck with the Yarmouth Junior A Mariners, which has seen some players assist during minor hockey practices. Last year the junior A team also offered one-hour development clinics for forwards, defensemen and goalies. The goal is to start those development sessions in late October. Power skating will also be added to the rotation.
Another change for the upcoming season is the inclusion of an all-girls peewee house team. This team will play in the regular house league and will also travel to tournaments.
TRYOUT SCHEDULE ON NEXT PAGE
