EFCL-EMHA Hockey Committee Launched

New EFCL Hockey Committee News

Here is a quick update on the hockey situation. I have joined a committee to discuss a new relationship between the Edmonton Minor Hockey Association (EMHA) and the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL).

See these notes from the first meeting on November 22, 2010. We had a second meeting today (on December 6, 2010).

The committee arose as a result of wide-spread problems that occurred during hockey registration this year in some parts of the city.

The idea is to establish a new relationship between the two organizations and possibly to run programs together at the community level.

Today, Shirley from Belvedere stepped forward and joined the committee as someone who looks after a rink and is interested in programs. See the attached document for a list of the other participants.

Committee Objectives:

1)    To increase the utilization of outdoor rinks in Edmonton.
2)    To increase the number of people playing hockey
3)    To provide more opportunities for people to develop their hockey skills.
4)    To bring people together in neighborhoods, to help them develop friendships and feel good about the area in which they live.

At today's meeting we talked about programs to bring community scale hockey back into communities, the idea of a winter rink day and the idea of talking about improving use of rinks and participation in learn to skate and hockey related activities.

I also spoke with Lorraine Jex last week and she confirmed that the North Zone is very committed to retaining the relationship between communities in the northeast and hockey and the requirement for memberships. I also stressed that many folks in the Northeast would like to see these new programs developed as "new initiatives" between the EMHA and the EFCL and not as replacements for the requirement for community league memberships.

The EFCL/EMHA committee is talking about hosting an event in January to get community folks together to discuss ideas for improving participation and possibly even promoting informal shinny hockey in leagues. Watch for details, but the meeting will likely be held on Saturday January 29, 2010 early!