Paris rep hockey program to merge with St. George, Burford and Ayr next season

By Casandra Turnbull

With overwhelming support in favour of a change, Paris Minor Hockey announced this week that its members voted in favour of joining area rep programs together to create the Brant Waterloo Minor HockeyAssociation (BWMH)

The vote for Paris Wolfpack families took place on November 1st A total of 116 votes were received with a result of 106 votes – or 91.38% - in favour of amalgamation of its rep programs Votes for other centres were not announced, other than they too voted in favour of the new league

Presidents of Paris, Burford, St. George and Ayr Minor Hockey centres announced in late August that they were in initial talks to combine their rep programs to form the Brant Waterloo Minor Hockey Association This new centre, not proposed until the 2024/2025 season, will give kids the chance to play the highest caliber of hockey available within their region. It’s a move that more and more communities are adopting in a bid to combat declining enrollment numbers and better compete with teams in larger cities across Ontario.

Currently, Paris teams compete in the Southern Counties League and the landscape of that league is also undergoing significant changes recently with the newly amalgamated Norfolk Minor Hockey Association and Haldimand Minor Hockey Association. The BWMH, as it will be coined, will bring some of the best players from Paris, Burford, St. George and Ayr together to pursue higher level of ‘A’, or ‘BB’hockey.

“The major benefits for this will be development at all levels of hockey,” explains Mike Sinclair, PMHA

President. “With four centres working together with one goal there will be major opportunities to develop all our young athletes.”

He added, “After we develop our players, they can then leave our centre to pursue a higher level of hockey such as ‘AA’or ‘AAA ’

The idea for the new league started several years ago and after many round table discussions, it really came to fruition in February 2022. It’s not a surprising move, given the changes all around the area, and the fact that both Paris and Burford Minor Hockey have worked very closely together for several years now. The amalgamation will only affect players who intend to try out for the rep teams House league teams would continue to operate as the Paris Wolfpack, Burford Coyotes, St George Generals or Ayr Flames However, there would be shared development throughout the associations, said Sinclair.

He also anticipates that registration fees would likely be very close as they are not anticipating any major increase in fees because of the amalgamation. Local league fees would go to each respective association, while rep fees would go to the newly formed Brant Waterloo Minor HockeyAssociation.