BLACK RIVER-MATHESON - For a second year in a row, Matheson youth won't be hitting the ice in their own community.
The Black River-Matheson Minor Hockey Association (BRMMHA) has cancelled hockey season for 2024-2025, though it remains optimistic about the future. It follows last year's unanimous vote to dissolve the 2023-2024 season, a move largely influenced by the CUPE Local 1490 lockout.
“We tried to wait as long as we could. We were hoping to have a season this year, but due to a lot of unforeseen circumstances, there’s no way we can do it,” said Norm Denis, BRMMHA’s treasurer.
“It was not a decision that was taken lightly because we want hockey in Matheson. And we are working towards that.”
Denis said the union strike, which is now resolved, and byelection are not factors.
SEE: There won’t be minor hockey in Matheson this season
At a board meeting on Sept. 16, he said it was clear there were substantial hurdles to hitting the ice this year.
“If it would have been just one hurdle, it wouldn’t have been too bad, but there are so many,” he said.
“We figured, you know what, we're better off to back off for one year and get it right. And that's our goal.”
One of the significant changes over the years is the changing operational processes, Denis said.
“Before, we used to fill in game sheets manually. Now, it’s all done on laptops. That’s a huge learning curve for us,” he said.
Not having hockey last season also led to a significant loss of volunteers, complicating the process of building coaching staff and training new members, Denis said.
“We have to start from scratch now. We have to get people trained and signed off. They have to take all these courses and everything. It was just too much to be able to do this year,” he said.
“We're going to be doing a lot of different things this season to try and get people involved.”
The association is optimistic about the future, Denis said.
“We have a bunch of great ideas and we are moving forward to overcome the hurdles,”
“We want to bring minor hockey back to Matheson. We have a lot of plans in the works. We can't divulge too much yet because we have to get things in place before we can do anything. But yeah, we have plans for this season, just not hockey per se.”
As the BRMMHA looks ahead, they are focused on building a strong foundation for the future, Denis said.
“Brace yourselves. We’re coming in strong. We’re going to be very noticed in the community. We're going to be loud and out there because next year we plan on having hockey,” he said.
