Proposed House League Management Board The WSMHA Board of Directors is examining several options for focusing additional resources on its House League operations for the 2012-13 season including the establishment of a new House League Management Board. According to WSMHA President Don Easter overall minor hockey registration in Stouffville reached a new high in excess of 950 players this season, and more than two-thirds of those players play in the House League.
"We've also been piloting several new initiatives which we believe will
significantly enhance the House League experience for our
members including additional skill-development programs, and
inter-locking schedules with other House Leagues in near-by centres. We
also want to look at the possibility of hosting some tournaments and invite
other House League teams to participate. However, the combination of
growing numbers coupled with these initiatives is putting a tremendous strain
on our volunteer resources to the point where the Board is very concerned with
our continuing ability to cope. We simply need more volunteers to step up
or we face the real risk that our House League program will take a significant
step backward."
According to Easter, responsibility for day-to-day "back
shop" operations of the Stouffville House League has, in the
past, fallen to a handful of "super volunteers" who handle
everything from purchasing uniforms and equipment to appointing coaches,
preparing schedules, maintaining statistics and updating the website.
"Somehow it all gets done and usually in a timely and high-quality
manner. But we can't keep going back to this same group of
highly-dedicated people asking them to take on even more work. It's
now time for a fresh group of volunteers to come forward and share the
load."
What the WSMHA is hoping to do is to staff a House League Management Board
with 8-10 volunteers and have this Board in place before the Association's
Annual General Meeting in late April. Much of the House League
administrative work is prepatory and really needs to be done before the
middle of September to ensure a timely and relatively smooth start-up.
"In the past there's been a mad scramble in September to find last minute
volunteers to take on a variety of tasks and this too often leads to delays and
glitches that we'd like to avoid" says Easter. "The better
approach is to have the people in place early, spread out the workload and
allow people sufficient time to get the job done right".
If you can find a few hours of your time to contribute the WSMHA would like to
hear from you asap. You can email or call Charlene (905 642-2835) or
simply drop by the Hockey Office during office hours and leave a name and
number/address where you can be reached.