INSIDE
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ALS confab with minister
From the regional archives
KEEP IT LOCAL
INSIDE Targets on backs
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Volume 11 Issue 39
www.lloydminstersource.com
Hockey Alberta wants to decrease teams in the female midget AAA hockey league in order to increase the level of competition, leaving some in Lloydminster wondering if they will have a team next season by Andrew Brethauer andrew@lloydminstersource.com
Lloydminster could lose their female AAA hockey program in the name of player development. In 2013, Hockey Alberta commissioned a review to take place concerning female hockey in the province after numerous players, parents, teams and associations voiced concerns about the path of female development, and whether or not the current structure of female hockey was acceptable anymore in the province. The review, released in February 2014, outlined major changes across the entire landscape of the female hockey program, but it’s the changes to the elite level of hockey that has many in Lloydminster wondering if they will still have a AAA hockey team next season. That’s because one of the recommendations by Hockey Alberta was that the number of teams in the Alberta Major Midget Hockey League (AMMFHL) be reduced, with only a select few cities being awarded AAA franchise cards. All cities in the province wishing to have a AAA
Goodbye Steelers?
Andrew Brethauer Photo
The Lloydminster Steelers AAA midget female hockey team could be playing out their final season in the Alberta Major Midget Female Hockey League this year, depending if their bid to keep their AAA franchise is successful.
franchise were required to submit a bid prior to Jan. 1, outlining their direction, model for player development and facilities, amongst
other required information. Twelve cities, including Lloydminster, submitted bids to Hockey Alberta, which will go through a review process
before franchises are named in February. The current AMMFHL, in which the Lloydminster Steelers play in, has only
nine teams, so cities outside of the league, including Lethbridge, are seeking a AAA club. That many cities, as well as the location of Lloydminster as the farthest east team, is leaving some worried that the Steelers won’t be a AAA hockey club next year. But Hockey Alberta says, this is all part of their new initiative to change the female hockey program for the better. “The entire female program from bottom to top is being rebuilt,” said Kevin Macrae, senior manager of hockey operations with Hockey Alberta. “The status-quo is not good enough. We have too much focus on the AAA idea and that being an option for the players, which has led us to a point where we have too many teams.” As part of the recommendation, the AMMFHL would be limited to as few as eight teams, while a AA system would be put in place with a league of up to 16 teams, with a focus on keeping teams grouped geographically in order to limit travel. North and south divisions would be established, but crossovers would only happen during tournaments and league playoffs so that players at the AA level are not traveling greater distances in order to play, keeping the focus on development rather than travel. Increased pressure from private hockey schools, such as the Warner Hockey Academy and Edge School for Athletes, has led Hockey Alberta to the decision to decrease the number of teams in order to increase the level of competition in the top level midget AAA league. What Macrae said was happening was, teams were forcing lesser skilled players to play at a higher level just to fill out teams. See “Steelers,” Page 21