Contact InformationOffice Location: BAYplex Arena, 151 North Street,
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, B1A 3S1
Office Manager: Tracey Hanrahan
Telephone: (902) 842-1533
Fax: (902) 842-1581
Office Email: gbminorhockey@ns.aliantzinc.ca
Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday 9:00-4:00pm or by appointment.
Home Rinks:
BAYplex, 151 North St, Glace Bay. Tel:(902) 849-6066
Dominion Rink, King's Road Dominion, Tel: (902) 849-6933
Website Comments, Feedback or Requests Contact Us @ ctcampbell55@hotmail.com
2011-2012 Glace Bay Minor Hockey Executive
President - James Edwards
Vice President (Hockey Operations) - Greg O'Neill
Vice President (Finance & Administration) - Sonny MacDougall
Secretary - Nancy Politte
Ice Allocator - Phillip O'Neill
Female Coordinator - Darren MacEachern
Chair-Risk Management - Mike Binder
Equipment Manager - Gary Gracie
Professional Coordinator - Ken Tracey
Coaches Coordinator - Derrick Hayes
Special Projects Coordinator - Andre LeBlanc
Fundraising Coordinator - Aubrey Cameron
Office Administrator - Tracey Hanrahan
Referee-in-Chief - Bobby O'Handley
Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association
President's Message for 2010-112010-11 PRESIDENT"s MESSAGE
Welcome back to another season of hockey in the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association. The players and coaches are ready the teams are in place so let’s play some hockey.
Once again the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association will host a full slate of teams in all divisions. Our registration numbers remain strong and are essentially the same as last year with some 570 players registered. Included in that number are 114 females which is a new high for our female program. In the last 5 years the number of females playing hockey in GBMHA has quadrupled which bodes well for the overall success of our association.
Thanks to the parents for attending the information sessions held in September. We hope that you found them both informative and beneficial. We appreciate that it’s a busy time of year and that the sessions might be inconvenient for some. However we feel that it’s important to communicate and discuss issues such as player and parental protocol in and around the rink. Our goal is to have all members on the same page while representing GBMHA.
The start of the season had its usual hiccups with player selections and coaching changes but it was quickly sorted out. A number of parents approached us about players from other MHA's playing in GBMH. We explained that it is a Hockey Nova Scotia rule that when a AAA level ( or AA in Bantam ) isn't offered in a player's home association, the player is permitted to try-out for the team at that level in a neighboring association. There were also concerns about the GB High School team asking players from our Midget teams to play without checking with the MH coach first. An agreement was made between GBMH and the Principal at GBHS that the High School coach will check with the MH coach first before approaching a player to play. The MH coach will allow the player to play for the school if there is no conflict with the MH team. The player also must realize that his first loyalty is to his MH team. This situation reached a critical climax during last year's playoffs so it is hoped that this agreement will rectify the issue.
Development Coordinator Kenny Tracey has been working hard to get certain player development initiatives up and running. He started the video replay coaching tool last year and will be expanding on that this season. Coaches can contact him at the MH office and arrange to have their game or practice taped. Afterward the team can watch their game in the MH room while the coaching staff and Ken provide coaching commentary. Coaches should keep in mind that there are only so many weeks to playoffs and we have upwards of 25 teams. So get in touch with Kenny early to arrange a time.
We are also encouraging coaches and teams to participate in the GBMH sponsored fitness program. GBMH has an arrangement in place with Bill Smith at The Dam Fitness Center to provide off-ice, hockey specific fitness training at no cost to the team. We strongly urge coaches to contact Bill and take advantage of this as it is indisputable that a fit player is a better player which makes for a better team.
Be sure to check out our GBMH website. The site is updated on a regular basis as events happen. There are regular game reports and schedules along with interesting stories on current and former GBMH players. We are currently looking at ways to expand the site to include everything from our By Laws & Policies. We have just added a new link on our site for Hockey Classifieds and we encourage our members to use this to buy or sell their hockey gear. We also just added a new running Marquee at the top of our page, to highlight up-coming events or announcements. If you have any suggestions for items to appear on the website please contact Tracey at the MH office.
Thank you to everyone who continues to sell and support our 50/50 draw. I’ve said on numerous occasions that the most important piece of equipment owned by GBMHA is our ticket drum. The revenue generated by the draw allows us to keep registration costs down while providing many services to our players and teams that isn’t covered by most Minor Hockey Associations. We are truly grateful for the constant effort shown by our membership to keep the draw at the forefront in the community.
And finally, thank you to the countless volunteers who contribute their time, experience and effort to make the game of hockey as enjoyable as possible for all concerned but especially for our kids. Good for you!
Best wishes everyone and have a great year!.
James Edwards -
President
Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association History Of Glace Bay Minor Hockey ...since 1942The Glace Bay Minor Hockey organization is perhaps one the oldest continuous operating minor hockey organizations in Cape Breton, if not the entire province of Nova Scotia. During the 1942-43 inaugural season the organization was originally named as the Pee Wee Hockey Association.
One of the pioneer founders for this organization was Judge J. Louis Dubinsky who gathered a number of other key community volunteers such as: Art MacKinlay, Allister Morrison, Dr. O.B. Smith, Fr. Nash, Dr. Donald Ferguson, Earl Gratto…(just to name a few) to help launch the program. Soon thereafter, this group changed their name to the Glace Bay Youth Hockey Association, which was retained for many years, until it finally merged into the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association.
Initially public support for the new organization was lukewarm, but by the season 1944-45 season, the association iced teams in the Bantam, Midget and Juvenile age categories comprising of nineteen teams and over 250 players. During the mid-to-late 40’s it was not unusual to see crowds of between 1000-2000 fans attend a Friday evening of youth hockey at the old Miners Forum. The league provided an excellent brand of competitive hockey which soon developed into some truly fun cross-town rivalries. Players suited up from Glace Bay, Donkin, Port Morien, Birch Grove, Dominion, Reserve Mines and for several years, New Waterford participated in the minor hockey loop.
The association gradually expanded it’s age groups to include Novice and Pee Wee divisions which were very well accepted. In the early 50’s hockey registration and interest began to slump, so in order to help alleviate this downturn, the Glace Bay Rotary Club stepped forward to begin a 14 team Rotary Common School Hockey League for bantam age players. This local school league proved to be very popular, as even to this day, many parents of today’s minor hockey children still vividly remember the excitement which was propelled by the experience of playing for their respective rival schools. In 1952 all 14 teams participated in the first ever Sports Night featuring skills competitions and games, which drew up-wards to 5000 spectators for each annual performance.
In the early 60’s, a local gentleman by the name of Bob (Bugsy) Seward, founded and coordinated the popular Glace Bay Community Hockey Clinic. While this Hockey Clinic continued to operate, eventually the local Common School league wound wind down in the early 1970’s when the local Rotary sponsorship was lost. The bantam division then returned under the Youth Hockey umbrella once again. Meanwhile the Community Hockey Clinic continued its operation until the 1980’s, when it merged the entire novice-juvenile age programs into what we now know as the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association. During this hockey development era a number of valuable volunteers were instrumental in providing key support to keeping the program active. Although it may be virtually impossible to name every volunteer along the way, we would like to name just a few notables who held key executive positions: Angus MacDonald, John F. MacDonald, Doug Crowe, Warden Joe Wadden, Howard MacKinnon, Robert MacIsaac Angus MacDougall, Robert “Toomey” MacPherson, Ryan Sullivan, Gordon Sheriff, John MacDonald Sheldon Brown, Bernie O’Neil, Margie O’Neil, Tom Snook, Gary King, Brian Aucoin, Lynn Kelly, Nickey Bonnar, Brian Spencer, Linda & Kenny Kennedy, Tom O’Keefe, Barry "Binky" Atkinson and James Edwards who is currently serving as President of the GBMH Association since the 2007-08 season.
In recent hockey seasons our organization continues to enjoy positive growth in attracting new players with our registration base now exceeding 500 players. Divisions range from Tots to Midget and in recent years the association has been experiencing a very favorable growth in female hockey participation. DISCLAIMERAlthough care and good intention has been taken in preparing the information on this site, we do not and can not guarantee the accuracy thereof. Anyone using the information does so at their own risk and shall be deemed to indemnify the owner/author of Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association from any and all personal injury or damage arising from such use.
SAFETY:
Through a community partnership with the local Cape Breton Regional Police Services this site will be regularly monitored to help keep our children safe and to deter misuse of our web-based technology.
PRIVACY:
Any and all information submitted through this website will be handled in a strictly confidential manner and will be used only as intended for supporting website communication, unless the provider grants permission otherwise.
COPYRIGHT:
Copyright @ 2006-12 (Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association). All rights reserved by the sports writer CT Campbell unless otherwise acknowledged as being a submitted article. No duplication in part or in full may be made which contains text, images etc. on this website without prior written consent of our Association. |
