Q1: Respondent Contact Info - Location

Region Association Brandon Brandon Brandon Hockey Brandon Central Plains St Eustache Central Plains St. Eustache Minor Hockey Beausejour-Brokenhead Minor Hockey Eastman Eastman GMHA Eastman Ile Des Chenes Eastman La Broquerie Eastman La Broquerie Eastman Lac du Bonnet Minor Hockey Eastman Mitchell Eastman Mitchell Minor Hockey Eastman Rat River Minor Eastman Springfield Minor Hockey Eastman St. Adolphe Minor Hockey Eastman St. Adolphe Eastman St.Adolphe Interlake Fisher River Interlake Gimli Interlake Gimli Minor Hockey Interlake Gimli minor hockey Interlake Riverton MHA Interlake St Laurent Minor Hockey Interlake Teulon Interlake Teulon Minor Hockey N/A ? Norman Cranberry Portage Norman Flin Flon Norman Flin Flon Norman Norman Minor Hockey & FFMHA Norman Thompson Minor Hockey Norman TMHA Norman TMHA (Thompson Minor) Parkland Dauphin Minor Parkland Grand Plains Parkland Roblin Minor Hockey Parkland Roblin Minor Hockey Carman Minor Hockey - Pembina Valley Pembina Valley Pembina Valley MacDonald Pembina Valley Macdonald Pembina Valley Manitou Minor Hockey Association Pembina Valley Morden MHA Pembina Valley Morden MHA Pembina Valley Rock Lake Pembina Valley Red River Wild Pembina Valley Somerset Pembina Valley Winkler Minor Hockey Westman South Glenboro Westman South Hartney Minor Hockey Westman South Reston Minor Hockey Westman South Shilo minor hockey Westman South Virden Westman South Virden Westman South Wawanesa Westman South Wawanesa FGNHA Winnipeg Hockey Winnipeg Winnipeg Hockey Winnipeg Winnipeg Somha Winnipeg Swha Winnipeg Transcona Minor Hockey Association Yellowhead Birtle Yellowhead Elkhorn/Mcauley Yellowhead Elkhorn/Mcauley Yellowhead Elkhorn/McAuley Yellowhead Elkhorn-McAuley Yellowhead Hamiota Yellowhead Neepawa Yellowhead Onanole minor hockey Yellowhead Shoal Lake minor sports Yellowhead Tri-Valley Yellowhead Yellowhead Yellowhead Yellowhead

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INCOMPLETE How well utilized are the community centres in your area?

Answer Choices Responses Response Percentage Over utilized 8 9.30% Well utilized 38 44.19% Normal utilization 23 26.74% Under utilized 15 17.44% Severely under utilized 2 2.33% TOTAL 86 MHA relationship with Hockey MB

Answer choices Responses Very positive 9 Somewhat positive 31 Neutral 34 Somewhat negative 12 Very negative 0 Has your MHA hosted a Hockey MB event before?

Answer choices Responses Yes 65 No 16

MHAs who have not hosted an event (according to responses) Beausejour Red River Wild Fort Garry North MacDonald Onanole St. Laurent South Winnipeg Springfield Somerset St. Adolphe Tri-Valley 6 had no contact info Q5: How proud are you of the volunteer work in your community? Responses Advertise Although beneficial for taking courses, people are intimidated at all the courses they have to take Attract the volunteer early (Timbits), then recognize them for their time ban cell phones from life Be more open to the feedback and suggestions from associations.

Better leadership By creating a positive atmosphere so that volunteers enjoy the time spent helping out at rink By creating a positive atmosphere so that volunteers enjoy the timne they spend at our rinks By keeping politics out of clubs. Which will probably never happen. Communication Communities in the RM are separated by distance and therefore not very unified. Grow the community i am not sure how to attract more. It seems that in todays day and age, people do not want to get involved unless there is something in it for them, and satisfaction doesn't seem to be enough. I think politics and favouritism need to be parked and the thought needs to be part of a larger collective not elitism and tiering. We are an association with declining involvement and commitment. improve the timeliness of communications so that volunteers have necessary information as early as possible

Its a sense of pride and a culture that seems to be fostered in our community Less hoops to get certified as coaches/officials. Resources for equipment. Make folks pay more for fees if they dont volunteer. If they volunteer, no fees. It is becoming very sad when the same people(volunteer group) do it every year. Make it easy to be involved. Don’t make it about the same group with every event. Eliminate the ‘old boys club’ feel Make it less onerous with clinics and qualifications. Lower levels of hockey (house league) do not need so many qualifications.

More interaction and training seminars that support the local volunteer by the Branch ie: Season Opener type seminars

Need to make it easy for parents to volunteer at younger age groups to support coaches at IP and Novice levels. For example, could a "practice support" role be created with online course that allows them to go on the ice for practices.

No idea Offer benefits Proud of the people who volunteer. However, very few volunteers. An incentive towards hockey reg fees for volunteers

Smaller/shorter commitment Start having people volunteer t a younger age, pre teen for sure

There is too much expectations to volunteer unnecessary meeting and travel. Look at using online meetings. Tough question. Our association offers free referee registration, coaches clinics are paid for as well as any extra training and travel. We also host a free supper evening for our coaches, managers, club members and sponsors every spring.

Try and improve support and training for the volunteers such as Season Opener . Perhaps some online seminars during the year . This would help with travel issues and busy schedules

Unknown Unsure We need to associate a cost to parents for not volunteering or provide a discount for volunteering. We need to change the culture of Hockey to be less elite. Winnipeg ice purchasing spring hockey won’t help that We need to work togather not apart. When issues arise and people need help then help should be provided not ignored. Q6: Community Engagement How engaged is Hockey MB with your MHA?

How engaged is your MHA with its communities? Responses Answer calls, connect calls to emails, communicate with regional minor hockey association more As a rural community, it feels like Hockey is disconnected with rural hockey. We ran an IP jamboree a few years ago where Hockey MB reps were supposed to be on the ice with coaches and players to teach and encourage player development. Unfortunately these reps did not attend. It feels like the only time some rural MHA communicate with Hockey MB is for something negative or with an issue

Be around more. Be less like a dictator and more of a partner Be more present and create relationships with each association Be seen more Better communication and better response time on information sent out Better representation and attendance at local MHA's to explain the programs to parents, especially Novice half ice. Come to the table to directly deal with Macdonald Hockey instead of going through Pembina Valley instead. This is in regards to specialty clinics. Communicate. Acknowledge and listen to our issues and concerns

Consider limitations put on smaller associations having to compete against bigger centres in provincials because of elimination of D category direct and personalized contact Get outside the perimeter. Have their employees at more events. Help when asked and begged for. Run specialty clinics up here not just in the southern region. HM doesn’t seem to understand smaller areas and communities. Most new rules or policies are based on larger centres

Hockey Manitoba can show up to the functions that they are putting on (IP Festivals, etc) Hockey Manitoba needs to consider what hockey is like for rural communities, not just regulate to accommodate the large centres. I feel that Hockey Manitoba does not have a grasp on the needs of rural hockey associations. Hockey Manitoba makes policies that work for Winnipeg and larger centers, but don't necessairly for rural communities. I know it’s a pretty tough thing to do but if hockey manitoba could be more available to people when needed in a short notice. Listening and doing what’s best for each community, not what’s best for the biggest community. Boards should be made up of members from all communities and not a majority from 1 large community

Look outside the city More contact with local board vs regional hockey boards. more engagement perhaps online seminars and interaction. Perhaps the use of webinar training for volunteers instead of traveling to meetings

More exposure through social media platforms. More opportunity for development, partnerships, training never anyone around- you could always have reps go from rink to rink for a weekend or 2- making appearances & being seen is important (or should be to Hockey MB). even have scheduled events in rinks & change it up weekend to weekend (or something!!)

Not so much restrictions on provincials Small centres will never have two hotels Online support seminars , in person visits by mentors etc Provide additional support and a more collaborative relationship with Regions provide more opertunites for larger communites to host events.

Resources for equipment such as novice dividers and nets, coaching items, etc. Send reps to meetings Staff effort and engagement is poor at h mb

There is a general distrust of the association. We are at the extreme of a large league and our players drive considerable distance. If boundaries were redrawn to look at the drive time of our players we may be able to engage more families. It is not unheard of driving upward of an hour and half one way on isolated roads for a 8 year old on a Saturday morning. For many families this is unreasonable so they do not engage. Q8: MHA Best Practices & Unique Communties - Responses Responses ?

Absolutely no tiering of teams within our small community

Allow all kids no matter skill level to play Communication/Transparency. Master email list specific to each level.

Ensure we are following proper guidelines of Player, parent, fans, and referee respect in sport. No one wants to attend your arena if they are not treated right. every member of our board is directly involved and hands on with all our events and activities

Excellent staff and efficient, well run office.

Fundraising has been pretty good the last few years. High parent involvment

I am proud our fans as we hold much respect for the referees in all towns and we hold ourselves as being ambassadors of IDC and Grande Pointe when travelling to other arenas.

I coach initiation hockey, ref all levels, as well as sit as the ref in chief for my MHA. in doing this, I strive to provide a positive experience for all the kids involved.

I don't believe we have any best practices as it is difficult to be innovative when the association is being run by volunteers who are just trying to keep things afloat. I think our extra programs such as power skating, breakfast club, etc make our association stand out. In season development programs Independent evaluations N/A NO No comment Not sure Nothing out of ordinary Our association is a part of the Parkland Minor Hockey Leagues, which has implemented innovative strategies to help develop our players. 4 goal limit per player, for example which encourages stronger players to pass the puck once they've reached their 4 goals.

Our coaches and managers all get together at least once a season to discuss what seems to be working in each team enviroment and to share and discuss ideas Our community has a strong history in the region and province. we have great recognition of our team name. Our fees are much lower ($85) than most other association, making it affordable to anyone who wishes to play. Community is vital and involved. We never have trouble finding community members to work in the kitchen (which also lets parents watch their kids’ games!)

Our Hockey Skills Night. We have designated Tuesday as the day in our community when all teams and coaches have specific power skating instructor for 1/2 hour with 1/2 skills based stations with coaches. Our High School hockey academy kids help support coaches these nights by demonstrating drills, encouraging, and leading with coaches.

Private Evaluations for try outs and good governance

Referees are booked through goaline We have enlarged our board to include age division directors

Same as most in our area

Small board working hard to keeps costs affordable Small tight knit association. Snowflake program for 4yr olds and first year 5 year olds The distance that people have to travel within our association is tremendous, so we try and limit that by making regional teams not tiered teams Try to host programs like the first shift, hold socials and other creative fundraising ideas.

Very small assosciation We all get along. We are an amalgamation of 3 towns. Two of the towns have natural ice so cannot be used until late December. Our teams are very aware and do their best at trying to utilize all 3 rinks as much as possible to keep all 3 rinks from having to close their doors.

We are an association in need of repair and growth. People for the most part are not engaged outside of their own respective teams.

We foster Female hockey and work hard to build and support female programs We have a second ice surface that is an old curling rink, and is much Wesmaller have than been the trying regular to grow ice rink our size. program. It is perfect We offered and approved free Initiation for registration last year which resulted in over double the amount of registration. This season, those numbers continued to grow even with regular registration fees back in place

We have community support that keeps us operating We have excellent refs and are proud of the mentoring that goes into our young new refs from the older experienced refs. We have worked very hard to promote girls hockey. We have made our programs as much about coach and volunteer development as we have about the players. Created pre-season programs where volunteer involvement earns coaches discounts in other events, encouraging more participation. Creating a house initiation league that includes a coach coordinator for the age group. Coach participation has increased dramatically at younger ages since implementation and registration numbers have increased significantly. Also have done more for the game of hockey than just recruiting to our association. Hosting a first shift program to amazing success. Rec hockey numbers have jumped with this as well, and more kids have transitioned from Rec hockey to minor hockey. Big focus on girls hockey makes us stand out. City has recently hosted 2 National events which we have partnered with to fill volunteer roles and increase opportunity for female players.

We run our own coaches and ref clinics. We also run our own goalie camp that is free for goalies in our association. We, as a board, try to share as much info as we can with our members and ask for feedback on some of the policies as we put them in place.

When we hold tournaments or league games we have the full community involvement. Q9: What are you most proud of at your MHA? Responses #s continue to grow at both the player and the young official levels A great facility were other teams like to come to tournaments Ability to find raise and keep community involved. As always the people who continue to serve and work for the majority of our players Before this year I was proud of the fact MacDonald valued and supported the female hockey program. Until this year unfortunately, we were forced to stay within pembina valley with a league of only 4 teams...4 teams that all struggle to have enough players at any given game giving us a grand total of 5 games from beginning of season to Christmas(3 if these games being played a week before Christmas). Building it to what it is today Coaches

Competitive teams, teams in most age groups in such a tiny community

Fair formation of teams For the most part, the parents work together. Grass roots decision making Great coaching How our volunteers step up and help when needed How we can represent ourselves as someone who is respected and respects others when on ice at home or at away games. I am most proud of the fact that we have managed to maintain our fees for the last 3 years while still purchasing new goalie equipment, jerseys and running our player camps. I would say in the past we were somewhat organized. Officials development Our ability to provide the opportunity to play at minimal cost Our association has grown drastically over the last 5 years and our board has matched that growth Our teams have been extremely competitive within Pembina Valley as well as at Provincials

Our board. We have a diverse board and all are they for the right reasons and always looking to help improve our program. We have wonderful parents and we hold them to a zero tolerance when it comes to disrespect. Given this-it gives our board more time to focus on development and how we can improve. our commitment to improve our minor hockey programs. Our dedication to growth of the game at the younger age group which in turn keeps our association growing. Our growth in player registration, our transparency and overall coordination of the association; we have a strong board.

Our MHA has really taken steps to become more active in our community such as our Gimli Minor Hockey Good Deeds Cup, food hamper, participating in local parades, encouraging player mentor ship Our parents conduct in our arena and others. Our volunteer base Our volunteer commitment Our volunteers

Our volunteers - especially our coaches! They see the big picture and know what is important - developing the players - not winning games.

Over %25 female registration and extremely low hockey registration costs

Positive culture. There are conflicts between individuals everywhere, but we feel we have made hockey a positive experience for everyone involved and feel our registration / volunteer numbers support that.

Same goals. See #8! Small but proud That we have been at it for a long time and we try to make hockey for everyone and not just for the elite. That we have worked hard this last year with our new board and positive things are coming. The amount of players involved for a small community. Numbers have been fairly good. The community pride for our teams and the coaches and other volunteers that step up year after year. The current board is filled with people who really care about the sport and not just their own children or area of the city. the level of productivity relative to our size - we are a very small association but we achieve a lot every year, especially with the and size of events that we host The local board takes on a lot of the work. (Not a lot of additional volunteers during the year) THe number of kids involved in hockey within such a small community. The people that help run it. The small group of individuals that work tirelessly to ensure that our children have a place in their home town to play hockey. The volunteer that put in selfless hours. Unity. While we all come with various ideas and opinions, I believe we have created a culture in which we are unified in focusing on development of character, fun, skill development. usually high registration numbers

Very little Volunteers

We utilize the canteen in our community center to keep our membership fees affordable

Work to maintain programming despite a lack of support from hockey mb. Work to improve relationships within community and improvement of facilities for membership Q10: How do you build inclusivity in programming? Responses Advertising and showcasing hockey to as many who will listen. All our programs are inclusive. Alot of our challenges simply come down to a lack of population in our area. With only one team in each age group, we're trying to balance stronger skilled players and committed parents, with weaker skilled players and less committed parents. It causes alot of internal fighting because the two sides have different priorities.

Any kid can play regarding of skill level. We never Tier our teams Bauer program Come try goal tending Be available to inform all persons who need information that pertains to hockey and guide them through it. This means providing knowledge, sources of information, and policies and procedures. continue to try and grow our female program

Encouraging all caliber of players to consider minor hockey, maintaining competitive costs and using social media for awareness equal ice at all age groups I coach and continuously encourage all skill levels to retain and possibly grow the game. Everyone gets to play Everyone has a chance to try out for a team Everyone plays. Never turned a kid away. We'll find them equipment. extra effort is put towards growing female hockey, and grassroots programs to attract more participants - free skates, development programs, breakfast club, school skates, etc Have covered that in previous 2 answers. Also have began a fund where we can support families financially as well as partnering with Hockey Gives Blood to reach some non-traditional hockey families. The only minor hockey association to make that partnership that we are aware of.

I make sure and sharer social media posts from our MHA, to try and bring people to the rink and cheer on our local teams. I also bring awareness to the thank the stripes program, to shed a positive light on refs, so as to try and recruit more refs within the community.

I think building inclusiveness is what's hurting our programs. We should all be working togather not trying to separate each region and hanging them out to dry. I think we need to rethink the idea of hockey as the biggest divide is between recreational / semi competitive / competitive players. The Pay to Play progress is making our players forgetting to have FUN and the long term outlook is PeeWee drop of and disconnected associations as we tier early and it is becoming a game of singletons and not a team. Hockey stops being fun ....players stop playing and those that want to continue cannot find teams to play. improving on our communications and expanding our program to include all female teams as possible. In the past few years our club has really tried to get young kids involved and keep them involved. Trying to keep things fun so they continue to enjoy the game. When kids enjoy the game , everything else comes easy. In most cases, parents and fans seem to be the problem.

It’s hard to do with such a small community but we are trying to keep it affordable. Keeping costs low, ensuring grassroots programs grow and provide no charge programs to "Try Hockey" to allow children and parents to try the sport prior to financial investment Multiple First Shift programs every year and an emphasis on getting new Canadians involved in our programs. n/a Not much going on so numbers are declining. The next generation of parents do less to help at all aspects of the game so it’s hard to keep things running . Nothing. Just like many associations it’s about who you know and who is in power (presidents , coaches ) as to what kids get on certain team. we play other sports through the year and we don’t experience this elsewhere ... perhaps due to non parent coaches and less Dad’s ego involved.

Organizing team get togethers out side of the rink. Our organization is partnered through one of our players with the to fully fund up to 3 players in our area to enable them to play hockey.

Providing good quality,safe and fair officiating by proper mentor ship, constant encouragement and positive reinforcement. See above answer....definitely a way to bring attention to female hockey, unfortunately in a less than optimal outcome for the girls who chose to play.

Try and development and keep costs down Try to spread the pros of all programs that arise. Trying to build our female program and trying to improve and build relationships with the smaller communities which surround us. Trying to drive a regional skills competition, Also trying to put players in positions/teams where they are most able to have successs Trying to get the younger generation to get more involved Utilizing social media to promote and celebrate hi key in our community

We are doing our best to promote the game in our community and providing the message that all are welcome, no matter what the skill level. We also partnered with our local CanSkate program to develop positive programs to support kids and parents at younger levels

We are not doing enough We are trying to keep costs as low as possible. We have an annual Saints Day as well as have a year-end windup for all of the Association to attend.

We have a 100% mentorship program for our young officials for atom and below We have always been inclusive, anyone who wants to play gets to play! Unfortunately there aren’t the kids around to form a lot of teams, but we do email every child of initiation age every year to promote playing hockey

We have been creating small teams to ensure all players have a chance to learn in small groups with coaches. Goalie development camp was provided to help support our goalies This season we have brought in Shoot to Score camp to help our players and goalies and coaches. We also hosted a Female Hockey Day. Our focus has been on players having fun, learning and skill development in hopes they continue their hockey career in our MHA.

We have never excluded anyone, everyone gets to play regardless

We have not had any issues regarding this come up recently. We are also an association which includes wealthy communities so although our programs are expensive we don't see cost being a prohibitive factor

We need to improve on the mental side of the game. Promote team environment not individual success We provide equipment for first time players, we have open ice sessions, we encourage our player to engage within the community

We recently had a young player who went through a gender-change and it appeared that everybody in the association was very respectful and welcoming to the player. This included the players and the parents.

We started a girls hockey program last year and a regional girls day to allow initiation and novice age girl the opportunity to play in all girls games. We use older hockey players to work along side our grassroots players. We are strongly focused on new players and their families as the hockey works can be intimidating at first. We also make it a priority to welcome players and their families in situations of transfers and amalgamated teams.