SUNDRE – The Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s membership has voted to explore the possibility of trying out a one-year pilot amalgamation of the U13 Huskies with the West Country Chiefs.
Members also voted to maintain as-is the U15 and U18 teams.
The vote was held in person on May 28 at the Sundre Arena club room. Parents and guardians with players in the U13, U15 and U18 divisions were eligible to vote once for each age group.
“A majority vote is required for the pilot to proceed, and each age group will be voted on separately,” reads part of a statement on the group’s social media page posted by association president Matt Nielsen in the lead-up to the vote.
The question presented on the ballot after declaring the voter’s name as well as the player and their division was: “Do you support the proposed amalgamation pilot for the 2025 season?”
The process was the culmination of factors including registration challenges and feedback from families.
Voting boxes were sealed during the process and the ballots were counted by independent volunteers Stacey Johnson and Paul Isaac.
Results were posted the next day on May 29 with a total of 48 votes cast across all three age groups, which represented approximately 55 per cent of eligible voters.
For the U13 division, there were nine votes in favour of amalgamating for a one-year pilot and six against.
In the U15 division, five voted in favour and eight were opposed, while the U18 tally ended up with six in favour and 14 against.
That meant only the U13 division will take the next steps towards possibly amalgamating with West Country, which represents the communities of Spruce View and Caroline.
In a follow-up statement posted by Nielsen, he said the association would review the U13 vote outcome alongside the leadership teams from West Country.
“These associations will conduct their own processes to determine if there is shared interest in pursuing a U13 pilot amalgamation for the 2025–2026 season,” reads part of his statement.
During an interview on May 29, Nielsen, who became the association’s new president in April during the annual general meeting, told the Albertan when asked his thoughts on the turnout that both the U13 and U15 divisions were really well represented.
“There could have been more representation on the U18,” he said, clarifying that by representation, he meant the overall eligible number of people able to vote in each division.
“It was very high representation for U15, it’s just a much smaller team,” he said, adding the same applied to U13.
“U18 is a very large field,” he said, adding the association will not struggle to ice a squad for the upcoming season.
“In fact, it’s oversubscribed,” he said, adding part of the reasoning behind a potential amalgamation in that division would have been the possibility of forming two teams.
While the membership voted in favour of the U13 pilot amalgamation, he said the puck is now in the zone of the Spruce View and Caroline hockey associations.
“They have to run their own processes … to determine if they are interested in participating in a U13-only pilot,” he said.
“We hope that they do that quickly,” he said.
“If they do then we will plan around that U13 pilot amalgamation. And if they don’t, then it will be regular season for us as it was last year.”
In the event the pilot amalgamation does not proceed, icing a U13 team will be close, he said.
“Everything that we’re doing right now is based on projected numbers, and they can shift if some players choose not to stay in the region; if some players choose to try out for higher tier hockey,” he said.
“If they hold where they are, I think we’ll be fine. If there is player attrition, then there could be some risk.”
The U15s, on the other hand, are really tight, he said.
“It may be very difficult for them to ice a team this year,” he said. “We’re going to have to work as a board and a broader association to try to bolster the U15 ranks so that they can support a team this year.”
As Nielsen could not speak to West Country’s processes, he could not say for certain how long it might take for their counterparts to decide on whether to go ahead with the trial run for a one-year pilot amalgamation.
And even if it goes ahead, nothing is necessarily etched into stone.
“The thinking around that is that after a pilot, we would be able to provide more context and information to the associations to contemplate a more permanent vote,” said Nielsen.
“I don’t feel that we had enough information to ask the Sundre Minor Hockey Association to make a permanent decision,” he said.
“There’s a lot more context and awareness that’s required.”
Offering parting thoughts, he said, “Our association gave us a mandate, particularly for the U15s and the U18s to maintain those age groups in Sundre and to support an amalgamation for the U13.
“And as a board, our focus is to execute on the mandate that’s been provided by the association. So that’s our objective, and I feel like this was a fair and transparent democratic process to arrive at that mandate.”
