Hockey Manitoba Annual Meeting May 3-4, 2019

HOCKEY MANITOBA ANNUAL MEETING

MAY 3-4, 2019

AGENDAS & REPORTS

Hockey Manitoba Annual Meeting

Table of Contents

Annual Meeting Agenda ...... 2 Minor Council Agenda ...... 3 Development Council Agenda ...... 4 Female Council Agenda ...... 5 Senior Council Agenda ...... 6 President ...... 7 Executive Director ...... 10 Financial Report ...... 17 Vice President ...... 19 Past President (Director at Large) ...... 21 Chair of Hockey Development ...... 21 Hockey Development Report ...... 23 Chair of Senior/Adult Rec. Hockey ...... 25 Chair of Minor Hockey - Rural ...... 26 Chair of Minor Hockey - Winnipeg ...... 27 Chair of Female Hockey ...... 27 Director, Officials ...... 28 Brandon – Minor Council Representative ...... 28 Central Plains – Minor Council Representative ...... 29 Eastman – Minor Council Representative ...... 30 Interlake – Minor Council Representative ...... 31 Norman – Minor Council Representative ...... 32 Pembina Valley – Minor Council Representative ...... 32 Westman South – Minor Council Representative ...... 33 Yellowhead – Minor Council Representative ...... 34 Central Plains – Development Council Representative ...... 35 Pembina Valley – Development Council Representative ...... 35 Westman South – Development Council Representative ...... 36 Winnipeg – Development Council Representative ...... 37 Brandon – Female Council Representative ...... 40 Central Plains – Female Council Representative...... 40 Eastman – Female Council Representative ...... 43 Pembina Valley – Female Council Representative ...... 44 Westman South – Female Council Representative ...... 45 Winnipeg – Female Council Representative ...... 46 Yellowhead – Female Council Representative ...... 47 MWJHL – Female Council Representatives ...... 47

Hockey Manitoba Annual Meeting

May 3-4, 2019 - Winnipeg, MB Canad Inns Polo Park

Tentative Agenda

Friday May 3rd

5:00 – 6:45 PM Board of Directors' Meeting Ambassador I

7:00 – 7:45 PM Assembly Session Ambassador 1

8:00 – 10:00 PM Minor Council Meeting Ambassador M Development Council Meeting Ambassador E Female Council Meeting Ambassador G

10:00 PM Hockey Manitoba Hospitality Ambassador K

Saturday May 5th

8:30 AM – 11:45 AM Minor Council Meeting Ambassador M Development Council Meeting Ambassador K Female Council Meeting Ambassador G Senior Council Meeting Ambassador J

12:00 – 12:45 PM Lunch Break - Meal Provided Ambassador 1 (lobby)

1:00 – 1:45 PM Presentation & Group Work Ambassador 1

2:00 – 3:00 PM Assembly Session Ambassador 1

1. Call to Order 2. Approval of Agenda 3. Moment of Silence & Special Recognitions 4. Approval of 2019 Semi Annual Minutes 5. President's Report 6. Financial Report /Budget Review 7. Executive Director's Report 8. Director of Development Report 9. Board of Directors' Reports 10. Council Representative Reports 11. Council Reports 12. Committee Report(s) 13. Season Opener/Fall Council Meeting 14. Nominations/Elections 15. Other Business

3:15 – 3:45 PM Board of Directors' Meeting Ambassador 1 2

Minor Council Meeting May 3-4, 2019 Canad Inns Polo Park

1. Opening Remarks, Introductions and confirmation of Credentials - review voting structure

2. Adoption of Agenda

3. Approval of previous Minor Council Minutes - Semi Annual 2019

3a. Business arising – outstanding items

4. 2019 Notice of Motions - review from Semi Annual

5. High School Hockey - Update

6. Manitoba Midget Hockey League - Update

7. Provincial Playoffs: 2019 Provincial Playoffs - Update / Review Bantam AAA Banquet

8. Affiliation - Discussion on proposed new regulations

9. Officials - online Game Reports - Suspensions league / Directors - Officials program - annual changes - updates

10. HDC Semi Annual - Age Category Agenda • IP • Novice • Atom • Peewee • Bantam • Midget

11. Hockey Manitoba Initiatives - Discussion

12. Midget Hockey / High School hockey - concerns (Discussion letter from Semi Annual Meeting)

13. Social Media Policy

14. Summarized Development Support/Meeting Summary from the Semi Annual

15. 2019 Fall Council - Minor Council Agenda Items - Season Opener suggestions

16. New Business

Development Council Meeting May 3-4, 2019 Canad Inns Polo Park

1. Welcome & Introductions

2. Adoption of agenda

3. Operations Overview - Bernie

a. Officiating program - Harvey b. Player Development Programs - Dustin c. Coaching i. Coach 1 - certification changes - Erikson ii. NCMP review - Bob/Erikson d. IP/Novice - Devon

4. “There’s no such thing as an elite, 8,10, or 12 year old - please get it out of your vocabulary” - Wayne Goldsmith

a. How do you know if your child is talented? b. Can you teach commitment?

5. Regional reports - HDC Reps

6. Working groups - 1 year goal setting & task list

Female Council Meeting May 3-4, 2019 Canad Inns Polo Park

1. Opening remarks, Introductions, Confirmation of Credentials and Voting Structure

2. Adoption of Agenda

3. Approval of previous Female Council minutes • Business arising • Outstanding items

4. 2019 Notice of Motions

5. Novice ½ Ice for 2019/2020 • Best Practices from each Region • Concerns, Transition Season, Timeline, etc.

6. Extended Season--- Review Guidelines

7. Bantam AAA Showcases • Banquet- Pros and Cons - Recommendation moving Forward • Registration Process for 2019/2020

8. Provincial Review • Review placement -- concerns • Overage at Provincials • AP rules and regulations

9. Review current Female Programs • Peewee Prospects • U-16 Prgram • POE

10. Discuss Renaming Age categories and League names

11. Reports

12. Review Pilot Project Pembina Valley 2019/2020 • U16 and U18 combined League

13. Discussion on MOU and Boundaries review • Parkland/Yellowhead • Brandon/Westman South

14. Social Media Policy - Review Current Policy

15. Appeal Process for 2019/2020 5

Senior Council Meeting May 4, 2019 Canad Inns Polo Park

1. Introductions / Welcome

2. Chair Report

• Discussion

3. Director/League Reports

• Discussion

4. Hockey Canada Senior Council

5. Revamp Senior A Provincial Tournament Format

• Update rules and locations

6. Notices of Motion

7. Hockey Manitoba Cup Adult Rec.

President

Thank you all for attending our Hockey Manitoba 2018-19 AGM. We’ll deal with the council meetings, assemblies and the budgeting process for next season. Along with their regular day-to-day duties, our staff has again guided us through another very busy and exciting season. A huge thank you goes to our Hockey MB staff members, board members and hundreds of volunteers throughout this province who put in countless hours providing services to our membership. These groups unselfishly commit an enormous amount of time to making the “game” better for our membership.

We continue partnerships with Cargill, WHL, MJHL, Sport MB, Canad Inns, Hockey Canada, Reebok/CCM, Scotiabank and others. These corporate sponsorships have provided us with over $125,000. Partnerships provide exposure and benefits to our branch. Again this year our branch marketing has been headed up by Scott. Sponsorships were again secured for our year ending Adult Rec tournament – The Hockey Manitoba Cup. We had 84 teams playing in multiple divisions of recreational hockey. As well, we had the winning teams from all the province’s Senior Leagues come together to play for the Senior “A” Provincial Championship. Ste. Anne won for the 2nd year in a row. Some sponsors for this event are Canad Inns, Tavern United, Budweiser and Boston Pizza. These sponsors provide budget relief and new opportunities for our membership. Thank you to Scott, Devin, Trevor and Erikson for their efforts leading up to and throughout these events. As well, thank you to Ray & Rick Brethour and their volunteer helpers for overseeing these tournaments.

Respect in Sport for Coaches continues to be accessed by Hockey MB members with the support of Sport MB. This program continues to be provided at no cost to our membership thanks to Sport MB. Most other provinces pay Hockey Canada to access this program. The Respect in Sport Parent program continues to be very important with the education of parents.

Hockey Canada is working through their first season with the new Task Teams, Branch Presidents and EDs being assigned to special committees. There has been a new group started up in the Hockey Canada office. It’s called Branch Engagement. Darren Cossar heads it up. He has 4 assistants, Rob Newsom Atlantic region, Yves Archambeault Quebec, Trevor Hosaman Ontario and P. A. Poulin for the West & North region. Hockey Canada board & staff felt there was a void between them and the branches, so hopefully this new Branch Engagement group can help with the new Hockey Canada governance model moving forward.

Our own Hockey MB governance continues to work well. A few tweaks here and there help us to serve our membership better.

Our Hockey MB website continues to receive numerous compliments. This site is very attractive and user friendly. Hats off to the staff for the work they do with this valuable communication tool. As well, as times change, the staff keeps the Hockey MB news updated on the social media sites.

Hockey MB has funds available for regions and associations to apply for to “grow the game at the grass roots level” for both male and female. We encourage the regions to take the time and effort to promote the game and access some of these dollars.

Bob Caldwell was back again this year to head up our Coach Mentorship program. Thanks to Bob & Bernie for organizing these very valuable, free, coach instruction sessions. Breakfast Clubs are staying around 30. There are around 20 schools running skills academies throughout the province.

Our U-16 and U-18 teams both ended up in 5th place this year at the Canada Games in Red Deer AB. Congratulations to the players and thank you to the coaching staff and management for representing Hockey MB very well.

Every year we have Manitobans enjoying success with our Hockey Canada teams. Men’s, Women’s and Sledge teams at World Championships, U-18 female, U-22 female, U-17, U-18 and World Junior Championships, the Spengler Cup. Congratulations to all Manitobans.

Congratulations to Eastman, Provincial Champs for boys AAA Bantam and Pembina Valley girls AAA Bantam. The Westman Wildcats won the AAA Midget female league and represented MB well at Saskatoon for the Esso Cup Regionals. The Brandon Wheat Kings won the male Midget AAA title this year and represented MB at Tisdale SK for the TELUS Cup Regionals. Southeast Prairie Thunder travelled to Lacombe B to compete in the Allan Cup. Jr B, Jr A and MMJHL area all in the finals as I write this. Good luck to the winner of Portage and Swan Valley as you move forward to compete against SK on the road to the RBC Cup.

Harvey Nichol was our Director of Officiating this year. The officiating program continues to be improved. Thanks to all officials for helping out at clinics, evaluations and mentoring. Thank you to all of our on ice officials as well. The game can’t be played without you. Good job.

Thank you to all associations that hosted our Provincial tournaments and Rising Stars programs. We had around 25 provincial tourneys again this year. I had the privilege of helping with the Opening Ceremonies in Winkler & Steinbach. Female Peewee Prospects and Director’s Cup tourneys will be held soon. U-18 female and U-16 male selection camps continued this past weekend in Portage. Volunteer host committees and our staff do a fantastic job of making these events enjoyable and memorable. Thank you.

Along with the sponsorship of Scotiabank, we hosted a Female Hockey Festival at the IcePlex again this year. Around 1500 females take part. Thanks to our office staff and board members that helped out to make these successful events possible.

Again this season we have some challenges to work on: • Cooperation of minor hockey with high school and sport schools, both male and female • Coach deficiencies • Retention and attraction of participants and volunteers • Jr B • Churchill High School Grade 9 team • Interlake Minor • Novice half ice and the transition season. Challenges and changes are always difficult but pulling together will end in positive results that will benefit our entire membership.

At last season’s AGM, half ice Novice hockey was approved to take place for the full season. This went well until the transition season. There were different definitions from some associations and regions. This caused confusion and frustration to all involved. Many phone calls later we got through it for this year. Hockey Canada will be implementing Half Ice Novice hockey across the country for the 2019-20 season. After the Hockey Canada AGM in May, we should know what the new program looks like. There will be some changes to what we’ve been doing for the past 2 years. But we’re hoping the changes aren’t drastic.

A special thank you to Peter, Scott, Bernie, Ashley, Bonnie, Dustin, Devin, Trevor, Meaghan, Charles and Erikson for their commitment and dedication to our membership and the numerous programs we run. Far too often we lay unwarranted blame on our staff and take for granted the work they do for us. We must remember they are carrying out the tasks decided upon by our membership. We welcomed Meaghan, Charles and Erikson to our staff this year. They’re fitting in well and getting used to their new jobs with most of a year under their belts. Devin will be leaving us in the middle of May. All the best in your future endeavours, Devin. Interviews will take place soon for Devin’s replacement. Thanks again everyone for a job well done!!!

I also need to thank my board members. Great Job!!! Thank you for pitching in and completing your assigned tasks. Thanks to Doug Maughan for travelling with the Southeast Prairie Thunder to Lacombe AB as our Branch rep and to Kim Davis for looking after Jr A. Good luck against SK! Also to Greg Thompson, for travelling to Tisdale SK with the Brandon Wheat Kings as our Branch rep at the TELUS Regionals.

Thank you to Bert, Ray and Ken acting on the scholarship committee. To Brian, for heading up the nominating committee and for agreeing to sit on our board as a member-at-large for another season. Tony, for heading up the Development group. Chris, bringing your Hockey Winnipeg thoughts to our table is very important. Cal, for heading up female council. Ken, being in charge of male minor with Chris helping out. To Ray, for making sure all Senior hockey in our branch runs smoothly. Finally, Bert for travelling with Peter and I to Vancouver for the Western Branch meeting and meeting with WHL, as well as heading up the female Midget review along with Cal. We look forward to the results at the AGM. And to all helping to make events work, travelling to meetings and provincials, sitting on appeals, takes lots of time and effort. Thanks Board!!

We will be handing out our Hockey MB official, volunteer and scholarship awards in conjunction with the regions again this year. Congratulations to all the award winners. I also want to thank the numerous volunteers for their selfless commitment, dedication and support of Hockey MB and what it stands for. Volunteers make this organization. To those continuing, your efforts are appreciated and to those moving on to bigger and better things, all the best. Thank you!

Jets and Moose are done for the season. KJHL and HNO will have a Jr B challenge in MB this year.

I attended some provincial tourneys as well as a number of playoff games.

The Hockey Canada AGM is in Ottawa at the end of May. Peter and I will attend the Branch Forum. The Branch Engagement group will also meet in Ottawa with the theme of this meeting being Female & Development. Bernie, Scott and Bert will join Peter and I at this 1st go around with the Branch Engagement group.

Again, we’ve had a very busy season. We continue to work on programming and tweak our governance to better serve our membership. We’re looking forward to the 2019-20 season and how the Hockey Canada Novice Half Ice program looks. We have some exciting events in Manitoba next season, starting with TELUS & Esso Cup Regionals. The RBC Cup will be renamed as RBC drop their sponsorship with Hockey Canada. The new Cup will be played for and hosted by the Portage Terriers. Also Hockey MB will be hosting the Hockey Canada AGM at the end of May 2020. We will be calling on many to help with these significant events.

Kim Davis will be stepping back from our Hockey MB board at the AGM. He’ll continue as Commissioner of the MJHL for one more season with his job ending with the CJHL Championships in Portage, May 2020. All the best in your future endeavours, Kim. Your opinions and thoughts at our board meetings will be missed!

We want to hear from you, the volunteers, how we can improve our meetings, schedules, on the way we’re delivering our programs. There will always be things to work on and improve. I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and support as we work for the good of all hockey in Manitoba.

It has been my pleasure and an honour serving as your President again this year. With the help of everyone, Board, Staff and Volunteers, the season seems to go by in a flash. Your support is very much appreciated.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Whitehead

Executive Director

Introduction The season began with Hockey Manitoba hosting the 6 th annual “Season Opener” which attracted the largest attendance in the short history of the event including representation from over 75 minor hockey associations. The purpose of the event continues to provide increased education and training opportunities for our membership through a series of lectures, presentations and exposure to some of the top hockey minds in North America. The 2 day event coincided with our Fall Board meeting and consisted of presentations, discussion and information sharing. The lineup of impressive presenters included Corey McNabb (Hockey Canada), Stephane Gagnon (Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada), Bob Caldwell (Hockey Manitoba), Reed Maltbie (Changing the Game Project) and members of the Hockey Manitoba Staff. This continues to be a very valuable program to motivate our membership at the front end of the season and provides essential direction and updates on our program changes. Plans are progressing for the 7 th Season Opener event that will be held the September 27 th and 28 th in Winnipeg.

Three years ago, Tom Renney, CEO for Hockey Canada proposed and tasked the Branches to reach 1,000,000 members by the year 2020. The current national membership is approximately 600,000 so the goal remains significant and realistically not achievable. In order to reach this goal all branches must identify a plan that focuses on recruitment and retention and growing the game at all levels within their program which to date we have collectively demonstrated and achieved very little progress. This is a challenge for all branches but in order to continue to be viewed as world sporting leaders a concerted effort must be made at all levels of the system.

Certainly the ongoing success of the Team Canada National Program is impressive and fills us all with pride; however elite players are only one aspect of our program and in order to reach the level that Tom Renney has proposed all membership levels must continue to grow in all categories. Traditional recruitment and retention methods must be examined for us to stay ahead of the curve and to simply rely on the recruitment practices that existed decades ago and expect registration to increase would be wrong, and a disservice to the game and our existing membership. Canadians are very proud of our success and association with the game and although we are intensively humble we must continue to explore all avenues to maintain our status as world leaders. Hockey Manitoba is certainly a sport leader in our province but all areas of our program delivery must be examined, challenged and improved to continue to attract new members as well as retain our existing membership base. I am confident this is a challenge that should be central to our entire membership which we have identified as a strategic priority for the game to grow and together I am confident we will strive forward to advance our goal.

As Canadians we periodically reflect on the state of hockey in this country and, rightly or wrongly, two of the most common dates we focus on are early January and the 3 rd week in June. These dates just happened to coincide with the conclusion of the World Junior Championship (WJC) and the NHL Draft, whereas if we win the WJC and we have the most players selected in the NHL draft all is good. Although these dates are one of the tools that we use to measure the success of hockey in this country they do not accurately summarize all of the good things that we continue to do as we strive to improve and deliver the game to our members on a regular basis.

This is not to suggest that the NHL draft and the outcome of the WJC are not important to us as a nation, however it is equally or of even greater importance to celebrate the things that we do very well. Certainly the recent introduction and positive changes relevant to Initiation, Novice and the pending changes to the delivery model for the Atom Pathway should not be ignored, as well as the numerous national and branch programs designed for the benefit of our membership.

We also have to realize that hockey is now more so than ever clearly a global game and we have to respect that a number of countries are producing players at all levels. It is now even more important for Hockey Canada and the respective branches and the need to continue to strive to collectively grow the game at every level.

As indicated membership growth continues to be a challenge which Hockey Canada has recognized and has responded by restructuring and introducing a new department and delivery model. With the addition of Hockey Canada’s new Engagement Department (HCED) it is imperative that we make every effort to align ourselves both organizationally and strategically with the National Governing Body (NGB) which has forced us to rethink our own staffing structure. The mandate of the Hockey Canada Engagement Department was established exclusively to assist the branches in the delivery of our respective programs so that we can operate collectively as one cohesive unit, as opposed to 14 independent organizations which may have suffered from the appropriate leadership and guidance necessary for consistent program delivery. The introduction of the HCED will help to address Branch needs to ensure the sum is greater than the whole.

Programming Congratulations to Hockey Manitoba teams who represented our branch in the following regional events this past year. The following were representatives:

• Midget Female - ESSO Cup West Regional held in Saskatoon – Westman Wildcats • Midget Male - TELUS Cup West Regional held in Tisdale – Brandon Wheat Kings • Junior Male - Anavet Cup held in Portage/Battleford – Portage Terries • Senior Male - Allan Cup held in Lacombe - Southeast Prairie Thunder

In addition to the scheduled regional programs Hockey Manitoba continued the staging of events including the IP Face- off throughout the province, Bantam Showcase, Scotiabank Female Girls HockeyFest, the Manitoba Cup, Directors Cup and Rising Stars program as well as the Provincial Championships. The success of the Provincial Tournaments continues to steadily improve and can be a significant fundraiser for host communities. The total profit for the 2018 – 2019 Provincials of the 27 host sites was $133,875.44 or $4,958.35 average per event. The most impressive total was generated at the Midget B Provincials held in Landmark with a profit of $18,119.72.

The IP Face-off provided the opportunity for approximately 2500 IP players in over 20 different locations the chance to participate in a daylong activity in a fun, enjoyable and friendly environment throughout the early part of the season. In addition to the on ice component Hockey Manitoba offered an introduction to hockey presentation for parents. Hockey Manitoba also held 3 female Bantam showcase events and 1 for Bantam aged male players that proved to be very successful; and the Manitoba Cup Provincials in mid April saw 85 teams participate in 8 different divisions. The feedback from participants, operators and evaluators of the program and players congratulated Hockey Manitoba for providing excellent development opportunities.

For the 7 th consecutive year Hockey Manitoba hosted the male Senior A Provincials. The event consisted of a league qualifying process that allowed the male Senior leagues the opportunity to earn a berth into the Sr. A Provincials. This event continues to grow and remains a highlight for Senior A hockey in our Branch.

The Hockey Canada Bauer First Shift program continues to be offered throughout Manitoba with several organizations looking to host events. Each program includes/included full head to toe equipment, 6 weeks learn to play hockey focusing on fun while learning basis skills. Cost of the program is $199. Information can be accessed by visiting the Hockey Manitoba website.

The Dodge Caravan program attracted almost 100 Novice teams throughout the Branch which is consistent with last number of seasons with each participating team receiving $500 for displaying a company decal on the backs of their team jerseys. This program will be offered again in 2019 - 2020 with the registration information available in the early part of June.

The “Chevrolet Power of Play” continues to build a grassroots movement among the Peewee age group to inspire kids to reinforce the important values that are learned through the game. Coaches distribute a Most Inspirational Player Award at the end of each game based on players displaying the qualities that make us the best we can be – teamwork, heart, 11 leadership, fun and determination. Awards are not based on skill but rather based on the qualities that all team players can emulate. Hockey Canada’s season’s goal that was set at 2,500 coaches/teams participating throughout the country was achieved. The coach kit consisted of a Bauer hockey bag; lesson plans to support 10 inspirational words that will be the mantra of the program; 20 branded pucks; tape ball starter kit; 25 pairs of laces and 25 rolls of tape. Part of the program is the challenge for all teams to give back to the community and a selected winner is awarded the Good Deeds Cup. The Pas Huskies captured the awarded last season of $15,000 which they donated to Oscar’s House which is a shelter in the town of The Pas. The money was very much appreciated and without this donation they were in jeopardy and closing. The prize money was reallocated this year with the winner collecting a cheque for $100,000.

Hockey Canada approved the following 25 skills academies in Manitoba for 2018 - 2019. These include Ecole Seven Oaks Middle School, Ecole McIsaac Ecole St. Malo, Churchill High School, Frontier Collegiate School, Frontier Misajajiken School, Garden City Collegiate, George Waters Middle School, Gillam School, Hedges Middle School, St. James John Taylor, Morden Collegiate, Morris School, Portage La Prairie School, River East Collegiate, Rivers Hockey Academy, Shaftsbury High School, St. Emile School, St. James Collegiate, Starbuck High School, St. James Sturgeon Heights St. James Westwood, Tec Voc High School and W.C. Miller Collegiate.

Hockey Manitoba continues to be the trailblazers for the coaching mentorship program. We are extremely fortunate to have Bob Caldwell working alongside and leading our staff in providing direction in the delivery of an outstanding mentorship program.

This past season we maintained the registration for officials using the HCR online system. The experience gained from piloting the program over the past 10 seasons has augured well for the continuation of the same format and it is encouraging to see our Branch take a leadership role in the advancement of the administrative management of the game. The 2018 - 2019 season also saw the continuation of online training for Safety and Coaching both of which were provided at a low cost as a value added approach to the education and training of our members. This is not the case in most of the other branches throughout Canada whereby the online program is used as a revenue source to augment branch budgets. The addition of a full time staff member assigned exclusively to manage the officials program has been an important step in the evolution of developing officials for our program.

Not only have we enjoyed a varied and successful provincial program but Manitoba trained athletes and officials have represented their home province on the national and the international stage. Congratulations to all Manitoba athletes and officials who were selected to represent Canada or our branch over the past season.

The branch is fortunate to have an experienced staff, a mature volunteer base and strong community support in order to be able to host events and programs of this magnitude in an effort to enhance the quality of life in Manitoba. Hockey Manitoba continues to provide a healthy environment surrounded by peers and colleagues who are enthusiastic, conscientious and constantly striving to provide a positive and enjoyable experience for our members. Our sport does not remain without its challenges, which can be partially attributed in part to our enthusiastic and passionate base of associates.

Registration Hockey Manitoba has just completed the 11 th year of our online player and coach registration plan whereby we were able to enlist almost the entire membership base to assist with the management of the registration program. Our records indicate that we were able to activate almost full support from our membership by enlisting almost 95% of minor hockey associations with only a limited number of remote locations being unable to participate. Hockey Manitoba still experiences limited registration challenges in some of our remote communities due to internet band width and availability and are exploring alternatives that will not directly impact the integrity of our program. Surprisingly Hockey Manitoba is the only provincial hockey organization that has mandated online hockey registration and is the envy of most provincial hockey partners in achieving this standard.

On a most encouraging note Hockey Manitoba once again continues to be placed in the upper portion of branches in the country for the early registration of players of the overall membership entries. We continue to witness consistent success each year which is extremely encouraging since at one time Hockey Manitoba had been listed in the bottom half of all branches in Canada. Congratulations to all regions and associations in contributing to this impressive improvement and to Meaghan and Ashley and the respective Regional Registrars (Hockey Winnipeg and Hockey Brandon) for managing this aspect of our program. The addition of Meaghan as a full time Registar in our office has assisted in the delivery and consistency of the registration process which has advanced our program.

Hockey Manitoba will continue to progress with the advancement and implementation of HCR training and understands and recognizes that we must continue to train new volunteers on an annual basis. With the Parent Respect in Sport and full implementation of online player registration the Hockey Canada Registry (HCR) continues to act as a player registration management tool and is an excellent resource for minor hockey associations. The online format has worked well in other parts of the country and provides a significant advantage for associations, regions and the branch to get a head start on membership data. Hockey Canada has recognized the need to upgrade the HCR system and expects to launch an improved and new system within the next 18 months. Hockey Manitoba has assigned Ashley Fergusson to sit on the Hockey Canada Task Team to review the current system and will keep us updated on the progress.

Hockey Manitoba successfully introduced the Parent Respect in Sport program branch wide 3 years ago year with nearly a 95% compliance and is now a mandatory requirement for all branch members. It is important that all organizations embrace the online parent registration to assist the implementation of this program to ensure our members’ safety remains at the forefront. Hockey Manitoba will continue to offer the Respect in Sport for Activity Leaders again this season at no cost to membership.

We will continue to review and refine other online concepts which have included player transfers and overage approvals. This was one of our major goals that we introduced during our 100 th anniversary season and after some initial communication and growing pains has progressed favorably.

An initial snapshot indicates that registration numbers for the 2018 - 2019 season will marginally decline but it is important to remain conscious on promoting the benefits of the game in order to attract and maintain membership stability. Geographical location, demographics and the rising cost of the game and negative internal and external publicity are certainly barriers that place limitations on expanding our membership base. The game of hockey has some challenges and a concerted effort from all stakeholders must be embraced if the game is to advance. The addition of Canlan 5 seasons back as a member of Hockey Canada has certainly assisted in the growth of our program however it has also created some additional challenges with data compilation.

As the game of hockey evolves specific to playing, coaching and an administrative perspective we need to adjust our outlook and perspective and ask ourselves - do we still believe this is the best way to do this? Hockey Manitoba has made some significant strides in the delivery of the IP and Novice program that deviate from the traditional approach but have been accepted as being beneficial for our members. As the caretakers of the game we all have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives through the delivery of a balanced, exciting and enjoyable hockey experience. We have to remember who the game is for and apply our best practices at all levels and categories in order to ensure the experience is positive and rewarding.

Coaching deficiencies for delinquent coaches remain a mild concern and challenge for our volunteer registrars who have been tasked with managing membership entries. Our office has done an exceptional job in managing this aspect of our program but with the introduction of Safety and the Respect in Sport online certification courses in the past few years we continue to adjust. The final coaching deficiencies as of December 1, 2018 deadline were Safety 16, Respect in Sport 137, Coach 1 – 29, Coach 2 – 62 and Checking 23. The total number of deficiencies was 267 which is an improvement from last season.

Despite the office, regional registrars and minor hockey associations spending a tremendous amount of time in trying to ensure that all coaches are accurately tracked the policy cannot be policed unless all associations and regions are willing to support the concept of coaching certification. The adoption of having associations pay a supplementary fee if the coaches in their respective associations failed to meet the certification deadline continues to demonstrate a measured result that the policy is effective. Fewer associations each year take advantage of this policy but rather direct their coaches to be fully certified. Although some associations registered their concerns the option to remove a coach prior to the December 1 st deadline remains in effect and if a program is managed properly no supplementary charges need to be paid. We still have a number of coaches taking courses but fail to be placed on a team roster. This is due to a number of factors, in some cases there are parents/volunteers that commit early in the season and then do not end up coaching. A more significant factor is that we have a number of non-member groups that access this membership benefit with no intention of ever being placed on a roster. Groups such as the female high school hockey coaches as well as privately run spring and summer hockey programs. We need to introduce a method that creates greater education and awareness for all members applicable to the value of being properly and timely rostered and certified. In addition some association have failed to add coaches to their respective team rosters thereby exposing teams and coaches to participating as a non-member. This creates some insurance challenges and exposure for members who may believe they are registered. Hockey Manitoba will continue to exercise random audits to a select number of minor hockey associations to ensure there is registration compliance in respect to this issue.

Hockey Manitoba believes that coaching education and compliance is both valuable and important and we are hopeful that we will continue to see improvement in this area of our program. Coaching is the most important position within our organization. Coaches often have more impact on a child than any other adult, other than the child’s parents, and in some cases coaches can be even more influential than parents. It is important that we continue to provide the resources and direction to ensure that our coaches are prepared, educated and confident in the job they are doing.

One of the priorities of Hockey Canada and supported by Hockey Manitoba is the recruitment and retention of members and with the support of the new Membership Engagement Department we will continue to identify ways and means to address this issue. This is the collective responsibility of our entire membership and the sharing of best practices of programs that have demonstrated growth is one method that should be happily shared. Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Canada continue to both identify recruitment and retention as one of our major goals and strategic priories for the 2019 - 2020 season. Obviously member drop off is going to occur as players get older and the ownership to continue playing is transferred to them from their parents as they move towards adulthood. As a result it is important to ensure that the membership base continues to grow to avoid a drastic decline in overall growth.

It will be the collective responsibility of the Councils, Staff and Board to identify a forward path as a priority for recruitment and retention. We need to be realistic and understand that there is competition for recreational opportunities and that hockey needs to strive to remain a leader in membership recruitment.

Sport Manitoba Hockey Manitoba has been in the new location at 145 Pacific Ave. in the new Sport for Life Building just over 9 years. The Sport for Life Center houses the administrative offices of all of the 70 plus PSOs in addition to the Sports Hall of Fame, Gym and Fitness center.

Hockey Manitoba has received a grant from Sport Manitoba for the 2018 - 2019 year which has remained relatively consistent with previous seasons. The amount of funding is comprised of a base grant in the amount of $100,000.00, with additional funds distributed through the evaluation of each PSO’s “Sport Development Funding” submissions. Hockey Manitoba continues to score high on the funding scorecard from Sport Manitoba. Sport Manitoba once again has rated Hockey Manitoba as the top ranked program amongst the nearly 70 provincially funded programs. Considering the game of hockey ranks 3 rd in Canada in participation behind soccer and swimming we should be extremely proud of our rating.

Executive Director’s Notes The Western Branch Presidents met in Vancouver in February to review mutual program concerns as well as meeting with the WHL. The Western Branches met to identify and review our respective programs and remain collectively committed to program growth. Unfortunately despite Hockey Manitoba’s opposition the Western Branches discontinued the Western Bantam Championships two seasons ago and our continued effects to re-activate has not received the necessary support.

Although Hockey Manitoba and Hockey Canada continue to offer some of the best programs in the world we need to continue to grow our marketing and promotion strategy. The adoption of a new Hockey Manitoba logo eight years ago has clearly assisted in the marketing and branding of our program. Although we have not yet maximized our branding opportunities I am confident this area has additional potential. The purchase of our new display unit 5 seasons ago certainly improved our profile and is utilized at all significant Hockey Manitoba programs and events and has assisted in elevating our visibility and branding awareness. Along with our social media presence and regular weekly TSN Radio slot to promote our program we remain confident of a strong brand image. Having said all of the above, too often members refer to our organization as the MAHA which we have not been called in over 20 years. I am not sure if that is a product of age or simply we are not doing a good enough job of marketing ourselves.

While reviewing both our needs and the ability to maintain a gold standard in the delivery of our program it has become apparent that a full time Communications person is a necessity. Over the past few weeks the Senior Staff (Peter Woods, Scott Furman and Bernie Reichardt) have met several times to review our current staffing structure, in order to access the best program delivery model which has been accelerated due to the pending departure of Devin Himpe for May 15 th . Devin was responsible for grassroots development but also for the daily website content, social media and other communications. These areas are extremely important and to continue to be a shared portfolio is an injustice to both areas of our program and a disservice to our membership. Although these concerns were certainly discussed and considered when we re-structured last year, we felt we could utilize Devin’s unique skill set and combine both areas of the job. However, we are now at the point where this is no longer a reality due to the specialization and importance of the respective positions, and they need to both be stand alone portfolios.

Competition for members and the reduction of program costs must be the cornerstone of our focus, and are important concerns that cannot be ignored if the sport is to grow. Hockey is the sport of choice for nearly 35,000 Manitobans and we need to maximize our resources, in order to not only maintain this figure but to attract new members at all levels of the system. With the exclusion of soccer the remaining 69 PSOs in Manitoba combined do not achieve the same level of membership as those that are playing hockey so it is obvious the high level of importance of the game to Manitobans is important.

Hockey Manitoba continues to demonstrate a strong growth in regards to sponsorship recruitment but feel that there are additional opportunities available to complement our success. There are extensive options available to youngsters and hockey needs to project a positive image to advance and attract new members on an annual basis. Hockey is an expensive sport, therefore any budget relief that we can provide to membership to offset annual dues should be one of our desired goals and outcomes. Our sport will always be unfortunately highlighted in the news for some of the wrong reasons but that should not discourage us from continuing to provide a positive and structured program for our members. It is unfortunate that the media appears to gravitate towards negative reporting but it is our responsibility to ensure they are aware of the significant positive and rewarding opportunities that are available through participation in the game.

The female festival held at MTS Iceplex in conjunction with Scotia Bank continues to be one of the most positive programs that the branch has engaged in and we need to identify similar programs to enhance membership growth. Similar accolades have been received from members who participated in the 10 th annual Adult Rec. Provincial Championships, the revamped Director’s Cup and Rising Stars, IP Face-off as well as the Bantam Showcases. Hockey Manitoba is exploring all programming activities and will look to offer them on a more consistent basis throughout the Branch in order to be hosted in all regions.

Challenges for 2019 - 2020 Unfortunately our resources will continued to be challenged due to program expansion and the increased costs of operation but I believe Hockey Manitoba continues to offer an outstanding opportunity and one of the most affordable member programs in Canada.

The safety of all members of our program remains at the forefront. The education and early detection of concussions is certainly a priority and continued association in providing educational information to assist members with this very serious issue is paramount. We will continue to promote this program for the best interests of our membership.

Regional issues and a global perspective continue to have a direct impact on partnership programs as an ongoing challenge for Hockey Manitoba. Support must be embraced by organizations, associations and regions to address similar concerns for the benefit of the overall good of the program. Constant communication and cooperation for the benefit of the game must be maximized if the game is to receive the by-products of a concerted effort by staff and volunteers. Changing demographics must be taken into consideration in digesting the participation and formation of teams to help service the views and philosophy of our membership. It is vital that each stakeholder thinks beyond their localized area in order to receive the greatest return. Boundaries will invariably be reviewed in order to provide the necessary balance for our entire membership to be able to compete on level playing field.

Respect at all levels needs to remain a strong focus for our entire membership. It seems to be an eroding concept not only in our sport but throughout society and as an organization we need to address this aspect of the game. Too often respect is given lip service and has a tumble down effect on the overall operation of the game and we need to elevate our standards. Racism is a concern that needs to be addressed and it is the responsibility of all members of our program to conduct themselves in a manner that is void of this behavior.

Volunteers are an integral component of our program and their contribution and voice in the decision making model will remain important. Our evolving governance structure will continue to recognize volunteer contribution and the adoption of a more development focus model will have tremendous long term benefits for the management of the sport. I believe we have made significant progress in addressing this issue.

Finally, Canada is no longer the owners of the game of hockey and we can’t simply show up and they award us the gold medal. I repeat, the most important person in our program is the coach and we need to provide them with the tools and resources in order to ensure the players are stimulated and are having fun. The changes that have been introduced for IP and Novice players to participate on a reduced half ice playing surface is a significant step and will clearly assist players development but in order to achieve success a consistent message of the advantages must be delivered to ensure branch compliance.

This past season Hockey Manitoba lost 3 extremely strong volunteer leaders and important contributors to the success of our organization – Wayne Deschouwer, Greg Ens and Gord Agnew. It is always difficult when people leave us far too early and their loss has profoundly impacted their loved ones, family, friends and colleagues but the cumulative contribution of Wayne, Greg and Gord was significant, valuable and important and all will be certainly and greatly missed by Hockey Manitoba. RIP Wayne, Gord and Greg.

Summary I would like to thank the President, Board of Directors, Regional Registrars, Sponsors and our strong office staff for their continued support and help that they have provided to the Branch operation over the past year. It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to work with everyone to meet the daily challenges for the benefit of our great game. In addition I would like to thank all the volunteers who will not be returning next season. The Branch acknowledges your support, effort and unselfish commitment and your contribution to the game is appreciated. The game is clearly better from your involvement.

Respectfully Submitted, Peter Woods

Financial Report

The 2018 - 2019 hockey season is winding down and initial preparation has begun for the fiscal year end of May 31, 2019. In addition to the budget, we are currently working on the reconciliation process for all membership fees and will be preparing for the year-end process and annual audit over the coming months.

The audit will be scheduled in early-mid September and the financial statements will be presented at the 2019 Fall Council meeting.

2018 - 2019 Projections & 2019 - 2020 Budget We are circulating the following information to all representatives at the meeting:

• 2018 - 2019 Budget/Projections • 2019 - 2020 Budget • 2018 - 2019 and 2019 - 2020 Notes

All representatives are encouraged to review the information and forward any questions or concerns to the Vice President, Director, Operations or Executive Director. The 2019 - 2020 budget will be reviewed during Saturday's Assembly session with final adoption by the Board of Directors on Saturday afternoon. As indicated the budget information includes detailed notes on all revenues and expenses, explaining variances for items to assist in the understanding and clarification of our financial forecast, budget process and financial position. We welcome questions during the review on Saturday, and of course at any time moving forward.

We are currently projecting a surplus of $58,075 in 2018 - 2019, with a $10,000 contingency remaining in place. While there are fluctuations in a variety of budgeted areas, as has been the case periodically in the past, unbudgeted funding received from outside sources, particularly Hockey Canada, has had the most impact this fiscal year. We should note that the surplus represents only 1.8% of the total $3,184,000 budget. This projection is based on information at this time, however there are a significant number of programs throughout spring that may have an impact on our year end.

Overall revenues for 2018 - 2019 are projected to be $3,143,125 while expenses are projected at $3,085,050.

The submitted 2019 - 2020 budget is balanced as per branch policy, and as communicated at the Semi Annual Meeting, includes no Hockey Manitoba membership fee increases. There is an allowance for a $.50 per member increase to account for the Province of Manitoba Retail Sales Tax (RST). Recently Hockey Canada advised that the Province of MB is now charging RST on all insurance components, compared to only some of them when the change was initially made years ago. Hockey Manitoba has subsidized this cost (approx. $15,000-$18,000 annually) the past two years, however we now require members to pay the tax on insurance provided by Hockey Canada.

Please refer to the Budget Notes document for an in depth look at all revenues and expenses. A number of key items, which will be outlined during Assembly are:

• $75,000 transferred in from our unrestricted fund balance (current balance is $541,000, NOT including the surplus from 2018 - 2019) • Investment of $50,000 in Grassroots Development Funding Grants (continue program from last year) • Adjustment to staffing and operations to meet organizational needs and strategic priorities • Additional or adjusted budgeted amounts in areas such as Grow the Game initiatives, Grassroots Goaltender Development, Coach and Officials Mentorship/Support, Best in Class Development programs, etc.

Overall revenues and expenses for 2018 - 2019 are budgeted at $3,245,350.

The Board of Directors has recently adopted our Strategic Priorities for the next five (5) years, and a presentation will be made during the weekend. These priorities serve as the foundation for organizational structure and allocation of resources to ensure we spend or invest in areas that will have the greatest impact to our membership. We have also aligned our strategic plan with Hockey Canada's where possible. As we move forward, we will always look to our strategic plan as the guiding document when making decisions.

Over the past few years, we have been fortunate in that we have received funding from outside sources not necessarily planned for, or have managed to mitigate costs in various areas. This has resulted in an approx. $230,000 operating surplus over the past two years (which is only 3.5% of our total budgets during that time). What remains key is to ensure we begin to use our surplus funds wisely, and as you know we have presented concepts and had some discussions at our recent meetings this past year, that will remain ongoing (i.e. Use of Surplus Funds).

As we consider a more long term outlook over the next 4 or 5 years, despite the potential for required membership fee increases at some point, our goal, which we believe is attainable, is to cover most of our costs annually through our operating budget, while using some of our unrestricted surplus funds if meeting strategic priorities, supported by our membership and approved by the Board of Directors. We will also work hard to obtain additional revenue sources (sponsorship, advertising, fundraising, retail, events, grants).

Investments Our current overall investment balance as of March 31, 2018 is $762,672. All of the branch's GICs are now held with Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU), and we have managed to increase our interest revenues through higher rates over the past year. The Admin & Finance Committee and Senior Staff will review and make the necessary re-investment decisions on behalf of our organization. It should be noted that approx. 85% of our investment value is allocated to branch internally restricted funds including Heritage Fund, Legacy Fund, Building Fund, Contingency Fund, Risk & Safety Fund and Mentorship Fund.

Sponsorship We continue to enjoy ongoing successful Official Partner agreements with Canad Inns, CCM Hockey and Cargill Ltd. Unfortunately our partnership with Pro Hockey Life was not renewed this year, resulting in reduced sponsorship revenue, however we are happy to report that we are in negotiations with another partner for this coming season. We also continue to maintain strong partnerships with the Western Hockey League, Manitoba Moose, MB Hockey Hall of Fame, Esdale Printing, Budweiser, Funding Change, MTS Iceplex, Aaltos, Tavern United, among others. Our sponsorship revenue is fairly stable and with additional assets and opportunities moving forward we should reach approx. $130,000 in annual revenues this fiscal year.

Grassroots Support Hockey Manitoba outlined a commitment to grassroots hockey at the 2017 Season Opener, and we were moderately pleased with the success of the funding program this year. Most of the applications submitted were approved, and a total of approx. $20,000 was granted to various Minor Hockey Associations across the province for grassroots and goaltender hockey development initiatives. Hockey Manitoba is committing $50,000 in funding support this year through our Development Legacy Fund, and information will be forwarded to everyone in mid-June.

Thank to all staff, Board of Directors, Council Representatives and the thousands of dedicated volunteers across Manitoba that contribute countless hours for the betterment of the game. We also fondly remember those that we have lost over the past year.

Recently Hockey Manitoba updated its financial policies and practices to ensure we are in compliance with Sport Manitoba. As always we welcome your questions and comments in regards to the budget or any financial aspect of our organization, and look forward to a productive Annual Meeting.

Respectfully Submitted: Scott Furman, Director, Operations & Bert Dow, Vice President

Vice President

As request by the president I had the opportunity to Chair the Review Committee – Female Regional Hockey.

Female Committee Report Members: Brent Pringle Westman Pam Campbell Winnipeg Brad Kirk Eastman\MFMHL Andre Murphy Norman Erl Mackenzie Interlake Kim Paul Pembina Valley Brad Twordik Brandon Ann ransom Parkland Kirk Botterill Central Plains Shelly Nichols Yellowhead Cal Harrison Chair Female Bert Dow Chair

February 2, 2019 - Brandon Discussed the following items: Introductions, Purpose of the committee and timelines, the purpose of the MFMHL in Manitoba, Reviewed registration analytics provided by HM Staff, next steps, meeting schedule.

The committee reviewed the responses from the three questions posed to the regions. 1. Identify current positive aspects of Female Midget AAA structure from a regional perspective 2. Biggest challenges within current Female Midget AAA from a regional perspective 3. Initial changes or adjustments you would like to see from a regional perspective from the review and discussions of the submissions, the following priorities of the MFMHL were agreed upon: • Development • Sustainability • Opportunity for players

Next step: Each region is to review the registration analytics with members and discuss options (boundaries) and program sustainability (homework). Bert Dow is to contact Sport Manitoba to consult on criteria used when revising Sport Manitoba boundaries.

February 12, 2019 – Conference Call There was a presentation from Kylo Harris on the process of Sport Manitoba with regards to changing the Sport Manitoba boundaries. It started in 2014 with a review of the 7 existing regions. There was a round table discussions with regards to development and coach education. Changing of personnel and placement of regional employees was brought to the table. Used some of the RAHA regional boundaries and etc. in the moving of existing regions, looked more at number of people in each region and tried to keep the same number of actual teams. Process took till January of 2016.

Reviewed results from regional discussions on sustainability of a Midget AAA program in their region. There were only two regions that expressed issues with sustainability, however these regions provided rational on how they can support a program. Female registration numbers were discussed at length and the number of 400 female registrants in a region, appears to be a baseline for a sustainable midget program.

Discussed a number of different scenarios in regards to possible boundary realignment, however there was not an appetite for any drastic change. Westman is willing to allow players from Carberry to sign in Central Plains, Yellowhead and Parkland agreed that a partnership may work to provide ongoing sustainability for players in both regions to participate in a Midget AAA program.

February 20, 2019 – Conference Call Regional representatives were to have discussions with their board regarding the Sport Manitoba presentation. Bert had ideas based on the Sport Manitoba boundaries with a hybrid but regions could have up to two teams per region with regions running own AAA teams.

Combine YH and PL (with a new name - but concerns for loss of identity), combine IL and CP, Brandon and WM.

There was round table discussion and each region was provided the opportunity to give feedback on their regional discussions and\or other possible options. Optimum number of teams in the MFMHL was discussed, 8-9 seemed to be acceptable, which would include Norman. Shelly and Ann have offline discussion with pros and cons/challenges between the two regions. If we can resolve PL /YH other pieces should fall into place.

We need to start somewhere. Are we staying at with the league - 9 teams with Norman, or do we have 8 teams with co- branding of IL/CP and PL/YH will league support the changes? There isn't a magic number, but want a competitive league. We don't want disparity in the league. We currently have a very competitive league, but will we beat the top SK or AB teams? Probably not 10 teams may be too watered down. 8 works, and 9 with Norman is sustainable. Want consistency year over year.

Moving forward - Shelly and Ann meet and discuss - bring back ideas to the group, framework to be brought up. meet with Cal and Bert, rest of the group continue to discuss and bring up - all regions need to be able to do some give and take i.e. Carberry going to Central Plains.

February 24, 2019 – Special Meeting with Yellowhead and Parkland A special meeting was held to review and discuss the proposed agreement (MOU) that parkland and Yellowhead had developed. Overall the MOU or Memorandum of Understanding will provide both regions with the frame work to provide a viable program for female Midget age players to participate in a unified Midget AAA program. There are two caveats, one each region will continue to operate their Bantam AAA program separately, secondly the MOU references the current regional boundaries used for all development programs, therefore reverting the decision made in by a committee in 2016 to change the Midget Female AAA boundaries.

March 28, 2019 Email was sent to committee members, attached was the Memorandum of Understanding between Yellowhead and Parkland. The committee members to review the MOU and send comments back to the committee chair and Cal Harrison by April 2 nd .

April 7 th , 2019 – Winnipeg An in person meeting was held to review Yellowhead\Parkland MOU. We discussed the mutual agreement Westman and Brandon have established for regional female hockey. We also discussed Westman concession to allow female players from Carberry to transfer to central Plains for regional programs. Establish finial recommendations from the committee to the Board of Directors for ratification at the 2019 AGM.

Other Duties: • Attended the Western Branch Presidents and WHL meeting in Vancouver with Bill and Peter in March. • Attended Hockey Girls United week end. • Participated in multiple of appeal and discipline hearings throughout the fall and winter. • Volunteered to participate on the Scholarships Committee for 2019 • A member of the host committee for the upcoming National Woman’s U18 Championship being held in Morden\Winkler in November of 2019.

Respectfully submitted, Bert Dow

Past President (Member at Large)

This past year I have mainly been involved with Appeals and Discipline Hearings. I would like to thank Ken Gladden for chairing the vast majority of these in a very professional manner.

A big thank you to Peter, Scott, Bernie and the rest of the Office Staff for the great work they do on behalf of the membership.

Best of luck to fellow Board member Kim Davis as he moves on---thanks for the time and effort you put into Hockey Manitoba over the past number of years.

I hope everyone has a great summer and you are able to re-charge your "hockey batteries"!!

Respectfully submitted,

Brian Franklin

Chair of Hockey Development

How I Stopped “Dealing” with Parents - by Nate Sanderson Try something different at your next parent meeting…

For the past 14 years I have began every basketball season by conducting a parent meeting. Every one of those meetings had one goal in mind - to insulate myself from parent complaints. I've used all the standard approaches to communicate our policies and expectations verbally and in writing for players and parents prior to the season.

Our player manual includes information on our coaching philosophy, coaching backgrounds, game day expectations, eligibility policy, "Who Starts and Who Plays," how we make team assignments, lettering requirements, travel expectations, practice rules, charts with off-season hours and shots taken, and more. The purpose of every single item in our manual is to communicate as much information up front as possible so that we will not have to deal with the parents once the season begins.

Interestingly, this is how the parent-coach dynamic is always described. Attend a clinic on the parent-coach relationship, take a coaching class, or have a conversation with coaches from any sport, and the phrase is always the same. It's assumed that if you want to get into coaching, you're going to have to deal with the parents , plain and simple.

Going into this season I started thinking a lot about that phrase, dealing with parents. Generally speaking, we never have to "deal with" things we like. In fact, the very notion of dealing with something invokes feelings of negativity, suspicion, and even dread. We usually deal with things that are unpleasant. We deal with problems. We deal with difficult people. With all those negative connotations, it's safe to say, nobody ever looks forward to having to deal with anything.

That likely describes how most coaches approach the parent-coach relationship. Rooted in fear of conflict and confrontation, we negotiate parent interactions like tiptoeing through a minefield hoping to spend as little time as possible desperately trying to avoid an explosion. At the end of the day, we signed up to coach a sport, not to deal with parents.

In thinking about this, I began to wonder how much this approach to the parent-coach dynamic prevented me from forming positive, constructive relationships with the people who influence our players as much as anyone. I would 21 never walk into a practice thinking, "Today I have to deal with these players again." Rather, we strive to appreciate, love, and encourage our players every day. That's our focus going into every practice. What if we approached the parents the same way?

What if we chose to stop dealing with parents, and tried to coach them instead? This year we decided to do something completely different during our parent meeting. We still took a few minutes to address important issues such as "Who Starts and Who Plays," but we spent the vast majority of our time doing something far more important.

We invited the parents to participate in our culture. Our basketball program culture is built on three basic principles: This phrase defines everything we want to be about as a team. It is our identity. Over the years, we have become increasingly deliberate in teaching our players specific behaviors that demonstrate these values. This year, we decided to do the same for the parents by giving them specific things they can do to participate in our culture.

Play Hard ● Help provide a team meal ● Be patient & understanding ● Positively promote the program through social media - you are the most influential voice representing our program to the public ● Be good representatives of your daughter’s efforts and respectful to her commitment to the TEAM

Support Each Other ● Support your daughter’s effort, commitment and sacrifice. Celebrate the effort and contributions of every player. Find ways to serve by helping when needed ● Tell your daughter you’re proud of her and that you love to watch her play. Don’t coach her in the car ride home. ● Your child’s success or lack of success does not indicate what kind of parent you are. Having an athlete that is coachable, respectful, a great teammate, mentally tough, resilient, and tries their best IS a direct reflection of your parenting.

Do What We Do ● Be a crowd builder, bring a friend, give a ride. ● Applaud all players when they come out of the game ● Greet the team post-game

We felt it was important to not only invite our parents to participate in our culture, but to coach them in how to do so just as we do our athletes.

Then we did something crazy. We asked the parents what they think. Never in my career have I asked a parent what they thought about our basketball program, or what they want their daughter's experience to be like. I just wanted to avoid the minefield, remember? The more I thought about the sports parent experience, the more I realized, I have no idea what the parents want their experience to be like. So, we created an exercise to find out. Interestingly, many of the parents wanted a similar experience as the players. They want to have fun. They want to belong. They want to be in a positive environment. It was important to let them create a vision for what they want to their experience to be like together.

Then we asked them how to do it - here’s what they said: ● Be positive ourselves. Congratulate other parents on their children's performance. ● Make sure every parent is involved. Be excited and have more people join in. 22

● Stay positive. Trust that the kids are doing their best. ● Be supportive. Listen. Have fun. ● Be sociable and volunteer for extra activities as needed. ● Make positive comments while in the stands. ● Be positive and cheer for the team, not just my daughter. ● Be positive fans for all the players. Share pictures and stories about fun moments. ● Be positive. Be supportive. Cheer! ● I am supportive and encouraging, and will do my best to promote unity. ● Congratulate other parents when their daughter does something well during the game. Be positive in the stands. Cheer & clap a lot. ● Be positive and encouraging and help others see that our kids are learning more than just basketball.

Just as we encourage our players to find ways to create a positive and meaningful experience for their teammates, we encourage you to do the same for your fellow parents. If you can be faithful to the things written above, I have no doubt that your experience will be a special one together.

Does this mean we will never encounter another difficult parent? Probably not, but when that day comes, our hope is that trusting relationships will be in place that can weather disagreements.

Regardless, we will choose to coach the parent with love, understanding, appreciation, and encouragement just as we would one of our players because our days of dealing with parents are over.

Respectfully submitted,

Tony Franklin

Hockey Development Report

Coach Development The 2018-2019 season saw a very successful coaching clinic season. 92 certification clinics were run from October 1 2018 to December 1 2018 which resulted in a total attendance of 1713. Specifically we ran 27 Coach 1 clinics, 37 Coach 2 clinics, 25 Checking Skills 1 clinics and three Development 1 clinics. There were a total of 267 deficiencies which includes Coach 1, Coach 2, Checking Skills 1, Safety and Respect in Sport. The five year recertification that was recently introduced for Respect in Sport provided some issues this season, but overall the adjustment proved to be manageable. This season also marked the first time Head Coaches on Female teams were required complete the Checking Skills 1 certification. This seemed to be a successful and beneficial venture. Regions will be approached about beginning to organize their coaching clinics for the 2019-2020 season at the Annual General Meetings. The process for this will remain the same as it has in past years.

Additionally the branch also organized 30 Instructional Stream – Specialty Clinics throughout the season which served 449 coaches. A number of Regions/Associations did not run any Specialty Clinics this season which we want to change moving into the 2019-2020 season. We will no longer be setting up Specialty Clinics by request like we have done in past years. Instead we will be organizing the Specialty Clinics prior to the start of the season much like we do with the Coaching Clinics. Regions will be approached about beginning to organize their Specialty Clinics for the 2019-2020 season at the Annual General Meetings.

Throughout this season 20 field evaluations were completed for the coaches that attended the 2017 High Performance 1 Seminar. The remaining coaches are scheduled to have their evaluations completed during the 2019-2020 season. 23

The 2019 High Performance 1 Seminar is scheduled for July 9-13 at Canad Inns Polo Park. Some of the speakers at the seminar include Andy Murray, Derek Laxdal, Steve MacDonald, Mike Sirant and Bob Caldwell. We will also be running a High Performance Coach Camp in conjunction with the High Performance 1 Seminar on July 11 & 12. This camp will serve as a great way for current High Performance 1 coaches to gain PD Points to maintain their certifications.

Player Development After a very successful full season with the Novice Half Ice program, we have received some good feedback on improvements as the Novice Half Ice becomes a mandatory set up by Hockey Canada next season. We will look to improve the information and be ready for the 2019 – 2020 season.

Our four major development programs are all coming to a close as the Directors Cup Prospects and Rising Stars Plus tournaments take place in Winnipeg this weekend. We feel that with some good discussion in Development council this weekend along with some potential changes going forward we will be able to continue providing top quality programming to our athletes.

The Female Peewee prospects occurred last weekend in Portage la Prairie with 200 girls attending. There were skills Friday and games Saturday and Sunday.

The Male U16 POE continued in early April with a Top-116 Selection Camp and WHL Skills Combine in Winnipeg. This provided the coaching staff, led by Jeff Sveinson, a great opportunity to get a closer look at our 2004 players. The U16 group will now move on to the U16 Top-44 Camp taking place in Portage la Prairie May 9-12.

Our U18 group ran a top 68 Spring Camp April 12 – 14 with practices and games. With 41 athletes having received invitations the focus will now shift towards the U18 Top-40 Camp taking place in Portage la Prairie May 12-14.

Our Female U16 Program of Excellence kicked off with their Top-100 Spring Selection Camp April 12-14 at the Seven Oaks Arena in Winnipeg. After some combined teams practices to get rid of some rust, our athletes competed in some highly competitive inter-squad games. The coaching staff, led by Troy Gould (Westman South) will now take a group of 42 athletes into their Top-40 Camp taking place May 10-12 in Portage la Prairie.

Officials Development With the season having come to a close there will be more discussions on more opportunities for all officials across the province regarding several pilot programs being organized in specific regions. One in particular is the PV on ice coaching. For young officials just starting a officials coach was placed on the ice to help build more confidence and to help answer any questions young officials may have.

During the clinic season an emphasis was put on the idea of “how are we able to engage more clinic attendees”. With the help of the ODC we have attempted more engagement seeking more questions from all those that have attended. This was done in hopes of having more officials prepared when they start their first few games.

While identifying young promising officials is expected throughout the year, our two major tournaments the Bantam AAA Showcase and Female Showcase in October and December. Hockey Manitoba asks regions to nominate and send officials to Winnipeg for the weekends. While in Winnipeg the officials are given games to officiate, Supervisions and mentorships and also classroom time allowing them to grow and have a better understanding of what they need to improve and become “elite” officials. Once the weekends have completed the goal of the program is to follow up with the officials to see how they are developing and progressing.

Throughout the season supervisions are occurring throughout the province in each region. Local mentorships are taking place as well as trying to identify elite prospect officials in hopes of reaching the highest levels.

For female hockey events put on by Hockey Manitoba, we made an effort to assign and schedule more young female officials to work the hockey and to be supervised by high level female officials.

Directors Cup will be the final development opportunity for young officials in the season as they are supervised by high level officials and given ideas to work on before the offseason,

Respectfully submitted,

Bernie Reichardt, Dustin Stewart, Charles Bergstresser, Devin Himpe and Erikson Solnes

Chair of Senior Hockey/Adult Rec

Senior AAA Ste. Anne Aces defeated the Norway House Bruins 2 games to 1 and advanced to the Provincial Final against the Southeast Prairie Thunder. The Thunder defeated the Aces 2-straight and moved on to Lacombe and the Allan Cup. After defeating Lacombe in the opening game they fell to the N.B. team and lost the ¼ final to Rosetown. Congratulations to all teams for participating on the Road to the Allan Cup and Thank-you to Senior AAA Director Doug Maughan for his guidance and also attending the Allan Cup.

Senior A The four-team League Champion format proved successful once again. The teams that competed were (CSHL) Ste. Anne Aces, (THHL) Boissevain Border Kings, (NCHL) Miniota/Elkhorn C-Hawks and (SEMHL) Morden Redskins. After round- robin play Ste. Anne defeated Boissevain to lay claim to their 2 nd consecutive Manitoba Cup Senior A Championship. A special thanks goes to Harvey Nichol and Brent Smart for the Officials selection and to Senior Directors Stacy Neufeld and Rick Brethour for working at the admission gates. Special note to Ray Laing for taking charge and making everything work.

Hockey Manitoba Cup (Adult Rec) Eighty-four teams competing in 8 divisions over 3 days using the Ice Plex and Canlan ice surfaces is quite a daunting chore. There is no doubt that this event is unmatched across Canada and we need to promote the hell out of this. All staff-driven from top to bottom, I need to say thank you to Scott, Trevor, Devin and Erikson for the effort put forth. Also, a Thank-you to Meaghan and Bonnie for their time and efforts. WELL Done!

Officiating The level of Officiating appears to be declining in Senior Hockey across the Branch. I have some ideas on the reasons, but nothing stands out. I would like to host a brainstorming session with the various League Presidents and assignors to research the issues. This may be beneficial to all levels of Hockey in or Branch. I will pursue this at Council and at Spring Planning meetings.

Respectfully submitted,

Ray Brethour

Chair of Minor Hockey – Rural

Welcome everyone to the 2019 AGM, as we gather this weekend to wrap up another successful season. This spring we held our Provincial Championships throughout the province, congratulations to all the hosts, community volunteers and everyone who worked to ensure their success. Thanks to all the people who stepped up as Branch reps at these championships. And congratulations to all teams that participated, did well and had fun participating. Our thanks go out to Ashley, Meaghan, Scott and the Hockey Manitoba staff for their work in coordinating the championships and the day to day work on our Provincials.

This was the first year under the new format for team placements and by all accounts was well received. Still concerns on affiliation and how it is being used. We need a good discussion on the purpose and what we need to do so it is used for the purpose it was created for and to ensure fair play.

This season we went from Zone Registrars to the Office looking after. My thanks to the office staff for looking after all the extra work to ensure we are all following the same processes. As with any new process it takes time so that everyone is all on the same page.

At the semiannual meeting, we passed several motions. As a reminder, please ensure you update your Regional Associations and the members on those changes.

This season, as in the past, I have participated in numerous Registration, Discipline and General Disputes hearings. It is so important that all parties ensure that they submit all pertinent information in advance of these hearings. The Committees review, listen and base their decisions on the information that is submitted/presented, and they want to ensure that any decision they made is based upon all the information that is available.

As the Regional Annual meetings are taking place, my thanks to the Board members for attending these meetings when available.

The Fall Board meeting will also need agenda suggestions, possible notices of Motion, and any other items you would like discussed. Please let us know so that we can plan the agenda. In addition, if you have any topics that are of interest and could be part of the Season opener please let the office know.

My thanks to everyone for your continued work on behalf of Minor Hockey, The Board of Directors, Regional Boards, Minor Hockey Associations and the entire Hockey Manitoba Office staff.

Hope everyone has a great summer and will see everyone in the Fall.

Respectfully submitted,

Ken Gladden

Chair of Minor Hockey – Winnipeg

Another successful season has come to an end. Unfortunately, like every season there are some things that we would rather not have to deal with.

I participated in fewer hearings this past year as a member of the committee as there were many involving Hockey Winnipeg participants.

The Novice program was a success yet again and I would like to thank Bernie Reichardt, Scott Furman and their teams for all of the work put into this program.

There are many opportunities to continue to evolve our game and communication will be key going forward. I encourage all regions and area associations to share their ideas and to work together to strengthen the game in Manitoba.

Finally, I would like to thank Bill Whitehead and Peter Woods for their leadership, and to the staff of Hockey Manitoba for their support.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Hall

Chair of Female Hockey

I would like to thank everyone for another great season of hockey, hopefully the weather is great and we can have a nice summer.

I attended all of the Female Provincials this spring, congratulations to all the winning teams and also all the teams that participated. I was very impressed with how all the Provincials were ran and how the host committees created some impressive decorations at the arenas. Thank you to all the people involved for making these very successful.

Congratulations to the Westman Wildcats and the Pembina Valley Hawks for winning the AAA Midget and Bantam provincials respectfully.

I was involved in meetings and conference calls with the Female Midget Boundaries committee, Thank you to Bert for chairing the meetings and also to the committee members.

I will be attending the Parkland and Westman Regional meetings this spring.

This past spring, we have dealt with a number of appeals, none are easy and we do try to make the best decisions possible. Hopefully the new appeal format will reduce the evenings spent on the phone by the committee members. Thank you again to the Hockey Manitoba Staff and all the volunteers that coach, manage and make our minor hockey association run smoothly.

Respectfully submitted,

Cal Harrison

Director, Officials

We have 3 officials that were selected to participate in the 2019 Canada Winter Games held in Red Deer, Alberta. Amy Martin was selected as a Referee in the female competition. Matt Granger and Lane Gramiak were selected to be linesman in the Male competition.

With no National or Regional Championship this coming year, our focus will be grassroots officiating mentoring and advance instruction. We have Pembina Valley and Hockey Winnipeg conducting on ice mentoring throughout their Region in their Atom games for the 2018-19 season.

Southwest had their Officials’ Camp for the 2 nd year and was very successful, will be working with the organizers (Ben Croker, Landon White and Kyle Moffat) and the ODC to develop an Officials’ Camp to be offered to all the Regions.

We are working to develop a Linesman clinic to be offered to the regions for next season, also working on an Officials’ Camp in August to further educate and mentor our up and coming officials.

We have a Coaching/Mentoring program started with the MMAAAHL where we planned to cover 25% of the regular season games and was very successful. This will improve the league by developing consistency among all referees officiating within the MMAAAHL. We used this to identify new officials for advancement to high level of hockey and has potential to move into the Hockey Canada Program.

We will be going forward the Coaching / Mentoring program with the MMAAAHL for next season and looking to expand into the MJHL and MMJHL.

We had 2 successful Official’s Seminars earlier in the year with the Male Bantam AAA Showcase (15 officials) and the Female Midget/Bantam AAA showcase (9 officials), will be following all officials with coaching/mentoring during their up and coming games. This is beneficial for the regions to identify new or up and coming officials so they can work in their Associations and be identified to move up into the Provincial hockey programs.

In early February the ODC reviewed our operations of clinics, clinic agendas and material as there will be new guidelines set out by Hockey Canada for all Branches to follow for consistency in the program. Also reviewing our Male and Female Seminars to deliver the best educational experience.

Respectfully submitted,

Harvey Nichol

Minor Council Report – Hockey Brandon

If you choke a Smurf what colour does it turn?

Minor registrations for Brandon in 2018-19 literally mirrored 2017-18 at 733. While still down a bit from the glory days, we are inching forward. It wasn’t long ago we were below 650. We’re not sure to what we attribute our stability/growth, but having run eight First Shift sessions can’t have hurt.

We must tip our caps to the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League Champion Brandon Wheat Kings. Maybe that will be a trivia question one day – who were the last AAA Midget league winners? After an interesting first half, a change was made and the team never looked back. Congrats also to the Westman Wildcats, MFMHL Champions for 2018-19. We

28 are thankful to the Wildcats for providing some of our talented players a place to continue to grow. And we apologize for Myles!

Why do they sterilize needles used for lethal injection?

Brandon hockey fans still have reason to tune in to the NHL playoffs with three Brandon raised players in round two. Calvert (Avs), Edmundson (Blues), and Ferland (‘Canes) are carrying our hopes for a Cup visit this summer.

Sad times for Westman, as this past week we said good-bye to a long-time colleague and friend. Gord Agnew left us far too soon. His passing will leave a very large void in the hockey world in Hartney and area. RIP Gord. The soup’s on me buddy!

When Peter Woods was interviewed for the role of Executive Director, the hiring committee asked if he could perform “under pressure”. Peter replied “I’m not sure, but I do a killer Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Turn your hockey brains off for a while and have a happy summer.

Respectfully submitted,

Glen Parker

Minor Council Report – Central Plains

As the smallest region in the province (exception City of Brandon), the struggles are real; player numbers continue to be a concern although we are still forming competitive teams in every age division. We continually initiate conversations with Hockey Manitoba and our regional partners about re-aligning boundaries +/or establishing a closest centre rule but do not seem to gather any support from the larger regions. It is time we actually looked at what is in the best interests of the players and their families and how that will positively impact hockey within our province.

Central Plains has one of the best centralized “hubs” for hockey in comparison to other regions with great highway access. All of our AAA Bantam, Midget, Male & Female teams have unparalleled private dressing rooms, workout/weight room, shooting gallery and video review areas to utilize, with set practice and dryland schedules throughout the season; all at one of the lowest fees in the province.

With the increase in Sport Schools in our province, they are going to continue to compete for our players and it has become obvious that they do not follow or respect the recruitment procedures set out by Hockey Manitoba & Hockey Canada.

Central Plains Minor continues to adhere and promote all of Hockey Manitoba’s development programs. With the establishment of a full-time Development Coordinator (Rod Sveistrup) and a development committee made up of 7 members, we are able to offer development advice and support to all of our rural minor associations.

Local Presidents - Thanks for being the leaders of hockey within your communities and providing guidance to your local association membership.

With CP holding its AGM last week, we have 2 associations with new Presidents and I would like to take the opportunity to Thank Doug Jeffrey and Greg Buydens for their years of contributions.

St. Eustache – Richard Bell Gladstone – Greg Thomson Oakville – Bev Klassen Portage – Kelly Funk MacGregor – Kyle Currie Sandy Bay – Jesse Spence

Respectfully submitted,

John Ferg

Minor Council Report – Eastman

The 2018-2019 Season in Eastman is now over and we are proud of the excellent work the Board and our Associations have done this season. As volunteer pools depreciate, we are thankful in Eastman of the good working relationships between our Board and Associations. We would like to take a moment to thank our tireless and dedicated volunteers.

Our Eastman Skill Development and Coach Mentorship Program saw an enhancement to include 6 dedicated goalie sessions. Coaches were welcomed to attend the sessions to gain new strategies and drills to use with their goalies so that they can reinforce the messages in their practices. This year, 536 Peewee players, 34 Bantam AA players and 83 coaches participated in the sessions that were held across the region.

Eastman introduced enhancements to our Coach Mentorship and Analyst Program which is providing the Eastman Board with valuable feedback on each regional team as well as help ingrain a culture focused on development both in player skills and interpersonal growth.

The Novice Half Ice Program continues to build and gain appreciation. We had some disappointments this season in our league formats and will be looking at making some changes to ease some of our internal league issues our families have such as travel times to and from games and parody within the league. We hosted two successful IP Festivals which were very well supported and provided our Region with positive feedback on the program.

Eastman will be continuing with a Summer Summit Session where all associations will get together for the day to discuss issues and ideas for change at all levels of hockey in our region.

The Eastman Female shows a steady increase in players. We are continuing to promote awareness to members of the benefits of dual rostering to promote growth and allow more female players to play together.

A big congratulation goes out to our Eastman Selects Bantam AAA Team on their excellent performance which won them the Provincial Championship and a thank you to the Eastman Associations who hosted Provincial Playdowns, Provincial Tournaments and IP Festivals. A special congratulation goes out to veteran goalie Raygan Kirk who was awarded the Sport Manitoba Junior Female Athlete of the Year!

Respectfully submitted,

Ken Kutzak

Minor Council Report – Interlake

The 2018-209 season was another successful season of hockey in the Interlake. The regions number of participants saw a small decrease this year. This was mainly on the male side as female hockey continues to grow in the Interlake.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 2018-2019 executive for their past year(s) of service and dedication to minor hockey in the Interlake.

Jay Charison – Director Darren Bond – Vice Director Male Kris Barrett – Vice Director Female Brad Emberly – Secretary/Treasurer Liam Wheddon – Development Coordinator Doug Zeller – Referee-in-Chief Alvin Amos and Dean Cochrane – Members at Large - North Bryan Sangster and Erl Mackenzie – Members at Large - South

Initiation hockey continues to grow. Thank you to Teulon for hosting this year Initiation Jamboree and Erl MacKenzie for organizing.

Novice hockey saw some changes in the Interlake at the half way mark. The Associations agreed to put in a stoppage after goals to try and decrease the number of goals scored after a goal is scored. This was to allow teams to ‘celebrate’. The development zone continues to be under used. We will not have Novice playoffs next season. We will extend the regular season and end the season with a jamboree.

Atom hockey saw the introduction of referee coaches this year. Some associations had difficulty recruiting these coaches. We will implement some changes and continue to invest in this program as we feel it is very valuable to our younger on-ice officials.

Peewee Rising Stars are currently practicing. We had 45 players come out. Thank you Neils Kaczorowski for coaching.

Female Peewee Prospects has 24 players total and are also currently practicing. Players from Peguis, Lundar, Arborg, Warren, Teulon, Stony Mountain, Stonewall, Grosse Isle and Balmoral. Thank you to Charlene Bodnarchuk for coaching.

Directors’ Cup this year has 21 players total. Thank you to Chad Balmer for coaching.

IMH currently has 6 Regional teams, M AAA Prov., U17 Development, B AAA, B AA, Female Bantam AAA and Female M AAA. Thank you to Hockey Winnipeg and Eastman Minor Hockey for allowing us to play in the various leagues. We will continue to move forward with our regional programs.

Thank you to all coaches, managers, players, parents and volunteers for all their support and dedication to hockey in the Interlake.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Underwood

Minor Council Report – Norman

In Norman Region registration is our biggest struggle. We had a lot of issues with the registration process this season. Lots and lots of roster deficiency issues etc. In some cases, is preventing players from playing in games which is what registering with hockey should be about (Playing in games) to date still have a team or 2 not registered that played all season.

The Pas Minor held the Provincials in Atom A1 in Norman Region (Well done and congrats to The Pas Minor Volunteers), Congrats to the Gold (Steinbach) Silver (Thompson) Bronze (Morden) and Consolation (The Pas) teams.

Norman has 1 regret with the Provincial program, we had 1 team having to withdraw after deadline which team staff were unaware of, and our currently being fined $2500. This was Flin Flon Peewee A2 team whom were not even aware of what needed to be done to withdraw. As Quoted by Coach (This is how we are rewarded for Volunteering just providing left over players a chance to play.)

Norman would like to recognize the Midget AA and Midget A League team coaching staffs and organizations for supporting the 10 teams of 15-17-year-old players, providing hockey opportunities for these young athletes.

Our Hockey Development programs came together slowly and with low attendance this season. (Female Prospects, Peewee Rising Stars and Director Cup) Ice after March 31 st is near impossible to get as with Junior A teams not advancing and Community Arenas closing for the season. Other options were remote access and costly.

I am still working on start-up of New and Old Associations in Norman. Progress has been slow, as the on-line courses are still a challenge for most 1 st nation Associations. Parents, in most cases Grandparents, are not familiar with computers and or no access to internet. We really need some flexibility to get these new Associations on board just playing hockey under Hockey Manitoba. There is some talk of these Teams/Associations Breaking away from Norman Minor, and just playing in their own leagues.

Thanks to my Board Members as well as all Minor Executive Volunteers in Norman.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron LaRocque

Minor Council Report - Pembina Valley

Thanks to ALL the volunteers and organizers within PVMHA we completed another successful hockey season.

PVMHA held our AGM in Miami on April 23 which was attended by all the associations with the region as well as Bill Whitehead representing HM.

On behalf of PVMHA I would like to thank retiring board members Shawn Parago and Ken Froese for their work and efforts in scheduling and convenor respectively. We welcomed Denise Laing as master scheduler and Carly Cox as website manager to our group.

As many of you know PVMHA lost an outstanding volunteer and leader with the passing of our past director Greg Ens. Greg was an outstanding person and PVMHA director, he will be sadly missed by all of us. Greg will be honoured with the PVHMA Dr Letain award to be presented to his family at the start of the 2019-20 season.

As a region we are very pleased with multiple indicators showing the programs being implemented are having positive results including, most notably, the growth in female registrations, the decline in suspendable offenses and the positive parental responses to the investments made in player and coach development.

Additionally, through income received from hosting the Esso Cup, we are planning a multiyear investment strategy primarily focusing on further referee, female and coach development programs in addition to our present general player development focus.

We are blessed to have an outstanding group of volunteers at our association level and at the PVMHA board level.

THANKS TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS.

Respectfully submitted,

Matt Bestland

Minor Council Report – Westman South

Once again, it has been another successful season. Spring is finally here. The Jets are out of the playoffs so we will have no distractions from yard work.

At this time, I would like to thank a number of people of our region who help to make thinks run smoothly in Westman South:

Development Coordinator – Brad White Female Council – Derek Shearer Referee Coordinator – Landon White Goaltender Coordinator – Brian Elder Secretary-Treasurer – Frank Bennett

As well, I would like to thank:

Chair of Minor Council – Ken Gladden Chair of Female Council – Cal Harrison Chair of Development – Tony Franklin

I would like to thank the members of the minor hockey boards in each of our communities. It generally seemed to be a quiet year from my perspective. I did not have to attend any minor hockey association meetings in any community this year. That is a great thing.

Our region successfully held 3 provincial tournaments this spring. Congratulations to all the organizers of these events. They were well run and had very positive reviews. Also, I would like to congratulate all players who participated in provincials outside of our region. All of you represented the Westman South region well. We participated in 17 tournaments and brought home 9 gold, 3 silver and 5 bronze.

Finally, it is important to recognize that we remember to thank the many volunteers in our communities and thank each one for helping to make our programs as successful as they are.

Specifically, those of you who have no children left in the system but have chosen to give back. One in particular that comes to mind for me would be Mr. Brent Pringle, from Glenboro, who chose to sit on a Female Midget Boundary Review Committee on behalf of the Westman South region over the past 3 months. We greatly appreciate your commitment.

Thanks again to everyone. Looking forward to 2019-20.

Respectfully submitted,

Guy Williams

Minor Council Report – Yellowhead

First off, I would like to say Thank you to everyone in the office for their assistance throughout the season. We have a dedicated staff in which to lean on.

I would like to thank my fellow Minor Council for the most enjoyable experiences and debate at the table this season. We had a very not normal year this season. We started the season with the development of our Rink Behavior Policy. Thanks to Hockey Winnipeg for their leadership in this endeavour. The Policy was well received by our MHAs. Unfortunately, it was brought up far too often this season with many issues to deal with. Here’s hoping for a calmer 2019/20. The new Provincial Play in format had some hiccups. I have come up with a better plan for this for next season.

We had a couple Executive members choose to not seek re-election for another term. Thank you to Mike Kyle – our outgoing Coach Coordinator and to Roz Maddess – out outgoing Vice Director on HDC. Both were great volunteers and they won’t be far away. With their departure we welcome incoming Coach Coordinator, Mike Birch and incoming Vice Director on HDC, Jeff Hume. In Yellowhead we went thru an extensive update to our constitution this season. Which included Changing our name. Yellowhead Regional Minor Hockey Association will now be known as Yellowhead Hockey. We also created a new logo that we are very excited about.

We continue to put top caliber teams out in our AAA programs. All 4 teams finished their league play in the top 4 and 2 at the top of their divisions. Congratulations to them for keeping our programs strong and fun to follow.

As I enter my 9 th year on our executive and 6 th as Director, I reflect on the people that I have sat around the table. Most notably the ones we lost this year. Greg Ens and Gord Agnew. 2 exceptional volunteers that gave and gave to shape the game in their respective regions and in the Province. I can say that I was very fortunate to have known both men and they will be sadly missed.

I am very much looking forward to entering the 3 rd decade of the new millennium and seeing where the game goes in the next 10 years. As a branch we have been leaders in the country, and I don’t see that changing. That is definitely due to our strong Board Leadership we have. Congratulations to President Whitehead and the rest of the board on your work this season. All are very easy to work with and always available to chat. Thanks.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dan Johnson

Development Report – Central Plains

Central Plains ran both a Midget and Bantam “AAA” program in the Region for the 2018/19 season. The Midget Capitals played in the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League with a roster of 17 skaters and 2 goalies and hosted the Manitoba AAA Midget Showcase in Portage la Prairie on October 19 th -21 st , 2018. The Bantam Capitals played in the Hockey Winnipeg AAA Bantam League and participated in the Showcase tournament at the IcePlex on October 5 th to the 7 th , 2018. Central Plains is investigating the possibility of entering a team in the City Midget AAA league and is looking at the associated costs and number of estimated eligible players within the Region. Both the AAA Midget and AAA Bantam programs are having issues with numbers for tryouts and regarding AP’s throughout the season. Central Plains continued with their Bantam AA program in the Hockey Winnipeg League. The Region has and will continue to participate in various Hockey Manitoba Programs.

Central Plains held their AGM on April 17 th , 2019. John Ferg has been voted in again for a 2 year term as Director and Mike Neill has been voted in again for a 2 year term as Vice Director for Male.

Development Committee will be meeting again throughout the summer to plan for the 2019/2020 Season. The Region will continue to utilize an events calendar on the Central Plains web-site for all to access. The events calendar was extremely useful for registration and providing additional information on each event. AAA Council, the Development Committee, Central Plains Board members and volunteers will continue to work together to provide opportunity for development at all levels and areas.

From our Preparation-Planning Meeting for the Central Plains Region we have listed below some of the items to look at for this upcoming season:

• IP Skating Clinics to run in conjunction with IP Festival and Novice Jamboree. • Look into Officials’ Mentorship program to better define the program and assist our new or fairly new officials. • Accessing more Development Funds that may be available. • Data housing all committee and council information for easier access for all. • Look into recruitment initiatives or ideas to ensure better numbers at registration. • Look at additional resources to better assist or support Central Plains. (I.e. part time office staff, financial audit services, event volunteers, treasury services...etc) • Meet with GDI to review and refine that support attached to Regional programs for further Goalie development along with Portage Minor running their program with GDI throughout the year. • Meet with The Rink to review and refine that support for our Power Skating programs targeted at Peewee, Atom and Novice.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mike Neill

Development Report – Pembina Valley

Development Team The group of PVMHA development and development representatives met three times in 2018/19. Two female development representatives were added under development and female hockey. The focus will be on female coach and player development.

The development group has set a calendar of events for all planned coach male/female development programs, evaluation dates, and blackout dates for female Fridays. 35

Coach Specialty Clinics With the support and requests from the development team, 4 coach mentorship clinics were hosted: Oct 14, Red River - Goaltending Oct 15, Altona -Developing Defense Oct 28, St. Claude- Skating Nov 3 or 4, Carman -Shooting and Scoring

Pre-Season Skill Development PV Skills offers skill development sessions in support of a 6 week development period pre-season. 28 ice times between August and September run by the PVHMA development group is offered to Novice, Atom, Peewee and Bantam in August and September 2019. A body contact for bantam players is planned for August 2019.

Goaltender Development 8 goaltender development sessions were delivered to atom, peewee and bantam levels.

Rising Stars Rising Stars Plus was run out of Morden.

Female Prospects Female Prospects was run out of Morden and were fortunate to have 3-4 female coaches involved with this program.

Director’s Cup DC program was run out of Morden and host to the development weekend and the exhibition day.

IP Faceoff Event The 2018 IP Faceoff Event was held in Morden on November 18 th . 23 teams participated in the event.

Coach Certification PV hosted Intro to Coach, Coach Level 2, and body contact clinic this fall.

New initiatives for 2019/2020 Host two IP faceoff festivals, expand the role of female development representatives, change to a tournament format for Provincial Playdowns, player retention strategies and initiatives for bantam and midget age players.

Respectfully submitted,

Shawn Dias, Ryan Hutton, Chris Laing

Development Report – Westman South

AAA Cougars and Wildcats Westman South operated AAA teams for U-18 and Bantam Male and Female programs. The Female U-18 Wildcats won the MFMHL for the first time this year and the Female Bantam Wildcats completed their season with a Bronze Medal at Provincials. The Male U-18 Cougars finished 4 th in the regular season and the Male Bantam AAA Cougars earned a Bronze Medal at provincials.

Bantam Directors Cup There were 21 participants in the Westman South DC tryouts. This year’s team is being coached by Troy Gould, Troy Chandler, Jesse Bernard. Westman South hosted the DC Prospects Development Weekend in Killarney on Mar. 22 to 24. 36

Regions attending were: Westman South, Brandon, Yellowhead, Parkland. Instructors for the Saturday’s Skill Development were: Bob Caldwell, Bruce McCallum and Brian Archibald. As well, Westman South hosted the DC Development Day in Souris on April 20.with Westman South and Brandon as the participating regions. Instructors for the skill portion of the day were Bob Caldwell and Dan Averill.

Peewee Rising Stars Forty Seven 2006 Pee Wee players from the region signed up for the RS Skill Sessions held in October, November, December and January. The Skill Sessions were held in a variety of locations throughout the region.

Peewee Rising Stars+ There were two evaluation sessions held for the Evaluation of the RS Plus program in February. Evaluations were completed and provided to each of the players/parents. 18 skaters, 2 goalies and 5 alternates were chosen to continue with the skill sessions in April. This year’s program is being coached by Mark Ryckman, Steve Phillips, Dave Wyman, Brian Elder.

Female Peewee Prospects 18 girls attended the skill sessions with the final tournament held in Portage, April 26 – 28. This year’s program is being coached by Jim Cooke, Jessica Vallotton and Dan Averil.

Initiation Face Off Festival As mentioned in Westman South director’s report in January, the rescheduling of the Face Off Festival from October to November then December created some problems. Attendance was poor but Killarney had everything in place for those who did attend and it was enjoyed by those participants. Plans are to go back to the October date for next season’s IP Face Off Festival and include the IP Skating Clinic for that event.

Referee Development Westman South had some very good success with the Atom Mentorship Program. There were 29 mentorships in Souris, Virden and Hartney. A survey sent to participants indicated that 100% felt they benefitted from the mentorship and 100% said they will officiate again next year. In addition, there were 155 other Mentorships/supervisions in the region. The 2 nd Annual Ref Camp was held in Souris in early December with 10 participants. Priorities in the region are: 1. Increase support for Level 1 and new level 2 officials. 2. Use Bantam AAA as a stepping stone to mover our officials to elite levels of hockey. 3. Support female officials in their pathway to refereeing.

Clinics Coaches Clinic 1&2 were held in Virden and a Checking Clinic in Hartney Specialty Clinics for Coaches were: Shooting and Scoring in Boissevain and IP Skating in Deloraine. Plans are in the works to host Specialty Clinics on a specific weekend early in the season.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad White

Development Report – Hockey Winnipeg

Canadian Tire First Shift Programs There were four (4) Canadian Tire First Shift Programs in Winnipeg this year. Registration for each program was completely full. Over 150+ boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 10 years old had an opportunity to be introduced to the game of hockey. Hockey Winnipeg will continue to support our Area Associations who host these programs next season.

Female Novice Jamboree Hockey Winnipeg’s Female Council once again hosted a “Female Novice Jamboree” at the MTS Iceplex this year. The event introduced all female Novice players and their parents to the structure of Novice hockey in a fun manner.

Novice Half-Ice Program This program has become well established with all of our Area Associations adopting the Half Ice/Development Zone model. While resistance was encountered (mostly at the Novice A level) when it became public knowledge that the entire season would be half-ice format, greater acceptance gradually took place throughout the year. The “Novice Half- Ice Development Manual” created by Hockey Winnipeg was widely distributed and assisted in the successful implementation and progression of the Novice program.

Development Zone Coordinator Program Hockey Winnipeg created a “Development Zone Coordinator Program” for Novice A hockey this year. AA and AAA female and male hockey players from the ages of 14-17 were recruited and hired to coordinate on-ice activities in the Development Zone during Novice A and Female Novice A1, A2, and A3 hockey games. The program allowed Novice coaches to focus on the Game Zone during Novice games and provided an opportunity for elite-level hockey players to gain experience that we hope will lead to an interest in coaching in the future. We are currently analyzing the feasibility of expanding the Development Zone Coordinator Program into Novice House League for the 2019/20 season.

Novice Transition Season As nine (9) Area Associations indicated that they were unable to secure ice or volunteers for this program, only SJAMHA hosted Novice Transition Season games this season. The program occurred from April 13-April 30 and included 12 Transition Season teams with each team playing six (6) full-ice games.

Goaltender Development Program Hockey Winnipeg partnered with the Ice Lab at the Bell MTS Iceplex to put on another season of the Goaltender Development Program. The program was open to male and female A1, A2, and A3 Atom, Peewee and Bantam aged goaltenders who were granted three 1 on 1 sessions at the Ice Lab throughout the hockey season for a greatly reduced price. This year the program filled up in less than 20 minutes, with 75 goalies successfully registering and an additional 80+ goalies being placed on a wait list. Due to the noticeable demand for goaltender development programs in the city, we are looking to expand this program next year to give more goalies an opportunity to participate.

Referee Development Courses Mitchell Jeffery, Principle of Hockey Winnipeg Referee Development, once again offered three (3) referee development courses this season. These courses are not certification clinics, but are meant to provide additional education and support to Winnipeg’s referees.

Winnipeg Jets Learn To Play Program Hockey Winnipeg has continued to work with the Winnipeg Jets Learn to Play Program on building a partnership. SJAMHA once again hosted a Learn to Play 2.0 Transition Program this spring for players who participated in the Learn to Play Program this year. The 2.0 Program is meant to provide these players with an opportunity to continue to learn the game of hockey and encourage them to register for minor hockey in St. James next season.

Hockey Winnipeg Area Association Developing Funding Hockey Winnipeg once again offered Development Funding that was made available to all of our Area Associations. Associations provide development programs as they see a need for their Area. A program tailored toward development must be presented to Hockey Winnipeg setting out the objectives and the resources that are required for the program to be a success. These funds are available each year to our Area Associations.

Hockey Manitoba Specialty Clinics Only a few Area Associations in Winnipeg utilized Hockey Manitoba’s Specialty Clinics this season. Although it was difficult generating interest in these clinics among our Associations, those Areas that utilized them provided positive feedback. Hockey Winnipeg will continue to promote these clinics to all Area Associations and look to increase the number of clinics run next season.

Hockey Manitoba IP Faceoff Festivals Winnipeg held five (5) Hockey Manitoba IP Faceoff Festivals across the city. Although certain Associations chose not to participate in these Festivals due to timing issues, many individuals who were involved have stated that they look forward to hosting these Festivals again next season.

Hockey Winnipeg Vice-President’s Cup/ Director’s Cup Hockey Winnipeg once again hosted our “Vice President’s Cup” program in April. This 9-day development program was for male Bantam 2 AAA players and Minor Bantam AA all-star players and served as a precursor to the Hockey Manitoba Director’s Cup program – the top players from the Vice President’s Cup were invited to Hockey Manitoba’s Director’s Cup program. Players in the Director’s Cup program were granted eight (8) on-ice development sessions as well as an opportunity to participate in the Director’s Cup tournament. Attendance for the Director’s Cup on-ice development sessions in Winnipeg was terrific.

Hockey Winnipeg Peewee Cup/ Rising Stars Plus+ Hockey Winnipeg introduced our brand new “Peewee Cup” program this year in early April. Similar to the Vice President’s Cup, this 9-day development program was for male Peewee AA players and A1 all-star players and served as a precursor to the Hockey Manitoba Rising Stars Plus+ program – the top players from the Peewee Cup were invited to Hockey Manitoba’s Rising Stars Plus+ program. Players in the Rising Stars Plus+ program were granted eight (8) on-ice development sessions as well as an opportunity to participate in the Rising Stars Plus+ tournament. Noticeable issues for the Rising Stars Plus+ program related to demanding spring hockey schedules as there was poor attendance at all on-ice development sessions while numerous players dropped out of the program entirely.

Hockey Manitoba Female Peewee Prospects Registration for the Female Peewee Prospects program was based on category (female Peewee AA players had first opportunity to register, followed by A1 players) this year in Winnipeg. Players in the Female Peewee Prospects program were granted eight (8) on-ice development sessions as well as an opportunity to participate in the Female Peewee Prospects tournament. Similar to the Rising Stars Plus+ program, demanding spring hockey schedules resulted in very poor attendance at all on-ice development sessions and players dropping out of the program.

AAA Development Programs The AAA program continued their Monday Night Skills program for the AAA Bantam II, Bantam I and U17 Prep teams this past season. Each team was granted eight (8) forty-five (45) minute on ice sessions (every second Monday) throughout the season. Each session divided the team by position, defense, forward and goaltender, with each group working on position specific skills. As a result of the overall success of the program this season it is being expanded to sixteen (16) on ice sessions on every Monday night from Oct 21/19 to Feb 10/20. Along with the on ice team sessions each team is granted ten (10) one to one goaltender sessions with the MTS Ice Lab.

The AAA program began its season with a Pre-Season Goaltenders Clinic held at the Keith Bodley Arena. This one day Clinic is offered to all Goaltenders in the AAA program. The Clinic is run by Gord Woodhall and offers an opportunity for all AAA goaltenders to receive professional training under a Hockey Canada prescribed program before their season begins. This Clinic also involves team skaters as shooters for the goaltenders. This give these individuals insight as to what teams are looking for when it comes to warming up their goaltenders for games and practices and what goaltenders are looking for in support.

The University of Manitoba provides support to the AAA program by conducting an annual Coach’s clinic. The clinic consists of an on ice session by the University of Manitoba players and a white board session to discuss strategy and systems presented by the University of Manitoba coaching staff.

Respectfully submitted,

Russ Cassidy Brent Poplawski

Female Council Report – Hockey Brandon

Hockey Brandon had the following female teams, one team in Bantam, two in Peewee and three teams in Atom and two full time Novice teams. Our Midget girls combined with Wawanesa as we did not have enough for a team in Brandon. The all girls Novice teams continue to be very successful; they act a good feeder system into the Atom age group. The teams all participated in the Rural Manitoba Female Hockey League. The Bantam team were league winners. They all attended provincials and did very well. The Novice teams participated in the Novice boys B division and really enjoyed their season.

Female Hockey Tournament Thanks to the organizing committee for all their hard work. It was a huge success with 24 teams participating. Congratulations to Paige Hubbard who participated in the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, AB.

Good luck to the following Players that have made the top 40 U18 POE camp, Natalie Williamson, Jori Hansen Young and Charly Lindberg, Lainie Nichols and Jenna Barscello.

Good luck to the following Players that have made the top 40 U16 POE camp, Sydney McMullan and Devyn Laba. Congratulations to the Westman Wildcats in capturing their first League Championship. Graduating players from Brandon are Brandon Alisha O’Hara (Minot State Beavers) and Paige Hubbard (Regina Cougars).

Thank you to all the coaches, assistants and Managers for maintaining the strength of our Female Hockey program. See you all next year.

Respectfully submitted,

Myles Hubbard

Female Council Report – Central Plains

AAA Programs Central Plains offered both a Midget and Bantam “AAA” program within the Region for the 2018-19 season. The Midget Capitals continued to compete in the MFMHL plus attended several tournaments/showcases rostering 17 skaters and 2 goalies while the Bantam Capitals played within the Hockey Winnipeg “AA” Bantam league, participated in the Hockey Manitoba Showcases and attended the Rural “AAA” Provincials rostering 16 and 2. The Bantam “AAA” Capitals are to be congratulated on earning a Bronze Medal at the Hockey Manitoba “AAA” Rural Provincials as well as winning the top division of the Hockey Manitoba Showcases, Botterill Cup.

The Midget “AAA” Capitals graduate 7 players; 4 have accepted recruitment opportunities to attend university for education and play hockey: 40

• Megan Ferg – Minot State University – American College Hockey Association D1 • Halle Edwards – University of Manitoba – USport Canada West Hockey • Paige McArthur – College of Holy Cross – NCAA D1 Hockey East • Alex McArthur – Dalhousie University – USport Atlantic University Sports Conference The other 3 graduating players were all approached by post-secondary hockey programs and declined.

The “AAA” Midget Program hosted another successful Showcase that saw 50% of the games streamed through HockeyTech for the second season. This continues to be a great way to promote the players attending the Showcase to university/college programs and will be in place again in 2019.

2019 Central Plains Showcase dates are September 20-22, 2019 @ Stride Place.

Program of Excellence Central Plains had 2 players; Alex and Paige McArthur make Team Manitoba and participate in the 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer Alberta. Megan Ferg made it to the Final 27 Selection Camp.

Central Plains had 3 players selected to attend the U18 Program Spring Camp hosted at Seven Oaks Arena April 12-14, 2019. The U16 program within Hockey Manitoba's Developmental and High-Performance Stream saw 9 players who participated on Central Plains’ “AAA” Bantam team attend the Spring 100 Camp April 12-14, 2019.

U16 Program – Central Plains 2017-18 Bantam AAA Coach Grady Stephenson has been selected as an Assistant Coach.

Development Program Thank you to Rod Sveistrup for excellent Calendar of Developmental opportunities this past season.

Details are available through the Development Report. Central Plains will again host the Final Peewee Female Prospects Tournament April 26-28, 2019 in Portage la Prairie at Stride Place continuing its trend of being a prime location for Hockey Manitoba Developmental Programs. The Top 40 U16 & U18 Camps will again be hosted in Portage la Prairie at Stride Place from May 10-14, 2019.

Prairie Fitness & Rehab The great partnership that has developed with Central Plains’ teams utilizing athletic training & rehab services as well as fitness and conditioning as provided by Prairie Fitness and Rehab continued this past season.

Provincials Central Plains’ teams were registered for both Atom and Peewee Provincials in both this season.

The Oakville Atom team attended provincials in Reston however the Peewee team pulled out of the provincials due to no hotels available within any reasonable distance hosted by Grandview & Gilbert Plains, MB.

Notes The motion that passed in 2017 to have the boundaries for Female Hockey at the Midget “AAA” Level changed was providing Central Plains with a larger base of players from to create teams from creating a more competitive and balanced setting within the “AAA” league. This motion was again challenged by Yellowhead and Parkland with Motions are the January 2019 AGM. These Motions were tabled by the Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and the President directed that a Committee be struck to look into this situation. Kirk Botterill was selected to represent Central Plains and I thank him for his time and effort in regards to this important issue. The following highlights are what is being brought forward that affect Central Plains from the Committee for consideration in May:

1. Central Plains will continue to maintain “AAA” Female Programs but should consider some form of partnership with Pembina Valley for Bantam. 2. Suggested that Neepawa will return to Yellowhead and the Boundary will return to Arden Ridge from #5 Highway for Central Plains. Negative Effect on smallest Region in Manitoba. 3. Carberry will remain with Central Plains for Bantam and Midget.

These recommendations will hinder the growth of numbers in Central Plains while other Regions like Yellowhead has now gained all of Parkland and will gain Neepawa back increasing its size. Central Plains was the only region in this process who became smaller and we are the smallest region. Other larger Regions outside of Westman who allowed Carberry to stay with Central Plains showed no willingness to create an equal or competitive environment but rather looked after their own well-being. Central Plains will be considering and bringing forward a boundary motion in regards to “AAA” Hockey for the 2020 January meetings.

Continuing to be a concern at the Regional Level is the lack of ability for the Midget Teams to actually use Midget Aged Players as Affiliate Players as they go to the High School Programs where they are not eligible to be used as it is not Hockey Manitoba sanctioned hockey. This issue has been raised and brought forward on numerous occasions especially from families who have daughters that do not attend high schools in rural Manitoba as it now makes it impossible to form Bantam or Midget teams for those players to participate on. This is also becoming a concern for the Manitoba Junior Women's League in regards to AP capabilities. It would be of great benefit if the High School teams were Hockey Manitoba sanctioned like their Male Counterparts and if they had guidelines as the “AAA” Midgets do in regards to use of Bantam players at a full-time level or as AP’s. It is of no benefit to any association or program to watch players drop out of hockey because of a lack of ability to form teams. At this time there are 25 teams in the High School league, 400 plus players, with a majority not signing Hockey Manitoba Rosters. This is a huge loss to our region plus provincial association and something that should be looked into and fixed.

2018-19 was a solid season within Central Plains and we continue to work hard to develop quality programs for our players. The season, as with past seasons, was not without its trials, controversies and road bumps but overall saw the Regional Teams compete at a very high level while offering our membership the opportunities to participate in very affordable high-end programs including the Regional “AAA” teams and Hockey Manitoba scheduled Developmental Programs. Thank you to all who were involved on the Regional Minor Hockey Committee, “AAA” Council and Developmental Committee for their time and efforts as well as to all the volunteers we have operating our Minor Hockey Associations, coaching our developmental programs, coaching and officiating at all levels.

Thanks to Hockey Manitoba and Scott Furman in particular for facilitating a “AAA” Midget Showcase again in 2019 as part of the Girls’ United Weekend at the Bell MTS IcePlex. Central Plains looks forward to continuing to assist and work with Hockey Manitoba to promote and facilitate this endeavour and increase exposure for our “AAA” Programs.

Central Plains looks forward to continuing to be an active participant in the promotion and growth of female hockey within Hockey Manitoba.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdi Nelissen

Female Council Report – Eastman

Female Registrations Below is a breakdown of female players by age and category for this past season: Squirt – 73 (68 in 2017/18; 80 in 2016/17; 71 in 2015/16; 79 in 2014/15) - 31 (2012), 31 (2012), 11 (2014) Novice – 103 (84 in 2017/18; 81 in 2016/17; 76 in 2015/16; 74 in 2014/15) - 60 (2010), 43 (2011) Atom - 86 (94 in 2017/18; 93 in 2016/17; 99 in 2015/16; 70 in 2014/15) - 52 (2008), 34 (2009) Pee Wee – 87 (91 in 2017/18; 65 in 2016/17; 66 in 2015/16; 79 in 2014/15) - 45 (2006), 42 (2007) Bantam – 58 (58 in 2017/18; 66 in 2016/17); 69 in 2015/16; 73 in 2014/15) - 22 (2004), 36 (2005) Midget – 62 (66 in 2017/18; 70 in 2016/17; 50 in 2015/16; 37 in 2014/15) - 22 (2001), 18 (2002), 22 (2003)

Female Teams For the 2018/2019 season we saw the following teams in our region: Novice - 3 full time teams played in the Perimeter Female Hockey Alliance rural novice league Atom – 4 teams (either full time or dual rostered) Pee Wee – 4 teams (either full time or dual rostered) Bantam – 3 teams (1 A1 and 1 AAA) Midget – 3 teams (2 A1 and 1 AAA)

Female Peewee Prospects This season we had very good numbers with 46 skaters and 3 goalies signed up for tryouts out of a potential 85 girls in the region. Next season we will be looking to include the tryouts during the Directors Cup tryout weekend.

Program of Excellence Building on the successes in the various programs within Eastman over the last number of years and the coaching we have in place at our AAA levels, Eastman had an impressive showing in the U18 and U16 POE female programs: • U18 – 8 invites to the Spring Camp (top 68 players in the province) • U16 – 7 invites to the Spring Camp (top 100 players in the province)

The region wishes these players the best of luck as they move through the next stages.

Epilogue… As my tenure finishes with Eastman and I reflect on the many opportunities and challenges I have been fortunate to be a part of over the years, my fondest memories will simply be the various individuals I have been able to interact with. It’s these interactions that allow us to grow and improve as a region and to recognize that none of us always have the right answer. Those discussions and recognition that sometimes decisions need to be made which are bigger than an individual are what I really have enjoyed.

I also have been very fortunate to have a child who has been able to achieve her goals in her hockey career so far. It had nothing to do with “politics” nor feeling a need to play with certain programs because they are “better”, nor this coach or that coach is not being “good” for my child. It’s recognizing that working hard at every opportunity you have and being accountable to yourself, your teammates and your coaches are what can help you achieve success no matter what your end goal is.

Respectfully submitted,

Brad Kirk

Female Council Report – Pembina Valley

The female program had a successful year in PVMHA and we are looking forward to continuing the growth of female hockey within Pembina Valley.

Teams results:

Atom Female PVMHA Female league – 1st place A side -Morden Atom - A division Provincials – 1st place – Morden

PVMHA Female league – 2nd place A side – Treherne Atom - A division Provincials – Lost in consolation finals - Treherne

PVMHA Female league –5th place - Carman Atom - B division Provincials – 3rd place - Carman

PVMHA Female league – 2nd place B side finalist -Macdonald Atom - B division Provincials -consolation winners -Macdonald

PVMHA Female league – Manitou – 7th place Atom – B division Provincials – Manitou – 7th place

PVMHA Female league – 1st place B side – Altona Atom - C division Provincials – 3rd Place – Altona

Central Plains Team - Oakville 6 th placed in PVMHA League

Winnipeg A2 division – 13 th – Macdonald ( 15 teams in total )

Peewee Female PVMHA Female league – 1st place Peewee - A division Provincials – won consolation at provincials – Pembina West

PVMHA Female league – 2st place Peewee - B division Provincials – won consolation at provincials – Morden

Central Plains Team- Oakville placed 3 rd placed in PVMHA league

Winnipeg A2 division – 13 th Macdonald ( 14 teams in total ) Winnipeg A1 division – 7th Macdonald ( 10 teams in total )

Bantam Female RMFHL 3rd place – Manitou – Double rostered team Bantam - A division Provincials – 4th - Manitou

RMFHL 6rd place – Morden – Double rostered team Bantam - B division Provincials – 6th – Morden

Winnipeg A division – 3rd – Macdonald ( 8 teams in total ) – single rostered team

Bantam AAA Female – Won rural provincials –double rostered team Bantam AAA Female - Beat the city champs two games straight to become provincial champions

Midget Female Winnipeg league A division – 1st Carman (7 teams in total ) RMFHL – 5th - Manitou Midget - Provincials – 4th - Manitou

Midget AAA Female - Lost in the first round of play offs to the Avro's. – single rostered

Future Hawks program for both the Midget and Bantam AAA teams went over really and both teams would like to do this again and we had an over whelming response from parents loving this program for the girls!

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Paull

Female Council Report – Westman South

Female Provincials 8 medals for Westman South Atom: A - Boissevain - Bronze B - Oak Lake - Gold C - Glenboro - Gold

Pee Wee: A - Antler River - Gold

Bantam: Souris - Gold Westman Falcons - Bronze AAA Bantam - Bronze

Midget: AAA Midget - Gold

Female Peewee Prospects Jim Cooke, Jessica Vallotton and Dan Averil are coaching this program. 18 girls attended Female Pee Wee prospect initial skills sessions. Phase 1 consisted of 5 skills sessions in Wawanesa and Deloraine prior to spring break.

A total of 10 skaters and 2 goalies opted to continue on with the second phase of the program. Phase 2 consisted of 7 skills sessions in April in Souris with a final tournament is in Portage this weekend where the players will be divided into 12 equal teams based on the player rankings.

Competitive Volleyball and Softball being the two biggest reasons to not carrying on to Phase 2.

U16 POE Top 100 A U16 Top 100 was held in Winnipeg at the Seven Oaks. 100 female players from the ’04 and ’05 age group were invited based on scouting at the AAA bantam showcases. Six skaters and two goalies were selected from this year AAA Bantam Wildcats and two skaters from the AAA Midget Wildcats. Troy Gould was selected as the Head Coach.

U18 POE A U18 Top 68 was held in Winnipeg at the Seven Oaks. Five player and two goalies were selected from this year AAA Midget Wildcats.

Congratulations to all those selected to participate in this year’s POE programs.

Respectfully submitted,

Derek Shearer

Female Council Report – Hockey Winnipeg

This year has been very successful. It has been a team effort with all the assistance of the female council members. We had a record number of 125 teams this year. There were 24 teams accepted from out of town, and 3 teams from the Winnipeg Jets Hockey Academy.

We added in A3 at Atom and Novice at the beginning of the season. This provided opportunity for the girls to begin to play at their level and not be moved into a secondary group at Christmas or playoffs. At Atom and Novice A1, we asked each area to place additional teams at the A1 level. This allowed us to have more girls playing at the top level at Atom and Novice. Rather than having the players pushed to the top tier at the younger levels, we are allowing more players to play at the top tier. The competition at A1 was much more competitive this way. This may be something to consider for the male program as well.

This year the second AAA Midget team, the Winnipeg Ice was reinstated. The teams were created equally through a draft process. We kept the Avro players that ranked in the top 40 at tryouts with the Avros, and the Ice was allowed to choose players to even out their roster, once the teams had even numbers, teams were finalized through a regular draft. The Avros finished the season in second, and in playoffs made it to the finals losing to the Westman Wildcats. The Ice finished the season in 4th, and made it to the semi finals, also losing to the Westman Wildcats. With the quality of the two teams, it is apparent that the decision to go back to two teams was the correct one.

At Midget AA, we had a centralized tryout for team formation. This worked well, the only changes that I would suggest for the 2019/2020 is to align the girls by age and position rather than by area association as we had done this year. We will need to ensure the areas who will host are set up prior to the beginning of the tryouts.

We may find that we have some issues with players at the Midget level this year with the creation of the Rink's new female sport school that was approved by Hockey Manitoba. This will cause us to lose additional players to the 3 sport schools in the city, but with the positive results of the AAA Midget teams, we will need to promote our programs over the much more expensive sport school programs.

I would like to take this time to thank all the female council members, board members and office staff for all your help over the last 5 years. It has been a lot of fun, some stress and dealing with crazy parents. Thank you again for all your support as I pass the torch to the next VP of Female.

Respectfully submitted, Pam Campbell

Female Council Report – Yellowhead

What another successful season of female hockey in the Yellowhead Region and around the province.

Congratulations to Westman Wildcats to winning the MFMHL and to the Pembina Valley Hawks AAA Bantam team as the provincial champions.

Within the Yellowhead Region, the Bantam Female AAA team won a silver medal, Midget A - Birtle/Hamiota gold medal, Neepawa silver medal, Peewee A - Foxwarren silver medal, Peewee B - Elkhorn gold medal and Neepawa silver medal. Congratulations to all players and coaches.

There were a total of 12 female teams in region for the 2018/19 season made up of 3 Atom teams. 5 Peewee teams. 2 Bantam teams. 2 midget teams.

The Yellowhead Region organized another season of female peewee prospects and had 23 girls come to pre-skates and selected 17 to go to the tournament last weekend in Portage La Prairie. Since the weekend we have had many comments from players and families expressing how they have enjoyed the tournament and would like it to continue in the further.

The Bantam AAA entered into AA Winnipeg Bantam league for the past season which included 28 game season which was a very competitive league. The team was ranked 1st during the regular season in the league.

Congratulations to Kora, Alex, Sadie, Josie, Louise, Callie and Kasey on making U16 top 100. And further congratulations to Sadie, Louise, Callie and Kasey for moving on to the U16 top 40.

The region’s female midget AAA team had a very competitive season and playoff series and continue to see a more competitive league. Congratulations to the graduating players Rylee Gluska, Sadie Wood, Sadie McIntosh, Monet Mazawsicuna and Juliana Davis. Rylee committed to MacEwan, Sadie Wood, Sadie McIntosh and Monet committed to ACC. Congratulations to McKyia, Jena and Joie on making U18 top 68 and Levi on making U16 top 100. Levi also continues to U16 top 40 and McKyia and Jena to U18 top 40.

Rivers hockey minor association also hosted an Esso fun day in March. They have seen a great interest in growing the female program in their area. We hope to see future growth within Yellowhead female teams.

The Yellowhead region would like to thank all our players, coaches, managers and parents for their ability to volunteer and continued support to improve our all our programs and teams with our region.

Respectfully submitted, Shelly Nichols

Female Council Report – MWJHL

Another year and that makes 15 and each year brings its own drama, excitement and success stories. So in a nutshell:

Congratulations to the Prairie Blaze on their Provincial Championship win; note as well all of the coaches will be back on the bench for our Manitoba Aboriginal Provincial teams at the National is Whitehorse, the Yukon. Dale Bear, Kevin Monkman and Steven Daniels – Webb (MGR); I will be going there as a fan next week for a 1 st visit to the Yukon and a 1 st Nationals Aboriginal;

Our League Champion was the Polar Ice (x3 consecutive)…and pls visit our website at www.themwjhl.ca for the list of Award winners and the many bursaries and Scholarships provided; see the website for some great action shots from playoffs;

Congratulations to all players for their Awards and the recipients of the Financial support provided by our Sponsors and the League itself;

Thank you sponsors True North/ Manitoba Moose and PAL for their support; (we are looking for more); and thank you to our Volunteers;

The year: • Safety is our main issue and great strides, time and money was invested into an Officials Development Model led by Mitchell Jeffrey, our RIC; more to do next year; • Western Predators represented us at the Alberta Showcase and did very well playing for the Bronze medal of 12 teams…Good on all of you! • I had the occasion to meet with a Chinese team, Harbin Sports University who had a team there and invited them to 2020 MB150/ LG tournament we will be hosting February 6-9, 2020; • Our Annual Prospects Camp was held last night April 29, 2019 at the Iceplex and we had 33 players attend under the direction of Dave Benediktson and Player coaches who will be going with him to Duluth; Courtney Kruse, Haley Bound, Shawe Tremblay and Brynn Schmidt; the players raised lots eyebrows and smiles… great efforts and lots of goalies; • The Duluth team is being finalized this coming month of May and the MWJHL Blizzard team will head south late May for a great experience; • Registrations are coming in slowly as to be expected with spring and summer; anticipating 8 teams this year; anticipating more volunteers with the new and rookie players and parents; • AGM is June 13, 2019; • The MWJHL will be hosting a 12 team Invitational for Junior aged teams across Canada in Feb.2020 (see above); and Team China – Harbin(?) TBA;

Respectfully submitted,

Kirk Kuppers

NOTES