With the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League President, Miles Parsons in attendance, the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals’ AGM had a different purpose than in years past.
Parsons made it clear that the Generals “need to figure things out” in regards to their board of directors, in order to continue to operate as an organization in the VIJHL. With the VIJHL holding their AGM at the end of this month, Parsons said that the Generals aren’t a topic of discussion on their agenda.
“They’re doing what they have to do,” Parsons said. “They know what they have to do and they’re going to have to make a decision as to which way they want to go from here. I’d like to see them have a team policy in place, some direction with the new board of directors and what it’s all going to do in regards to running this team.”
Elizabeth Cudmore, who was named interim president last season, has stepped down and Beverly Yelland has been named as the new president for the Generals.
“There’s work to do, for everyone involved,” Yelland said. “We’ve got to turn things around and it starts from the top.”
Parsons acknowledged that there was a lot of confusion from within and having spoken with different members of the Generals organization, Parsons voiced his concerns about the franchise.
“If there’s nobody that oversees all of these things, that’s where we get concerned,” Parsons said. “I came close to having to step in twice last season, due to matters that took place within this organization. I’m not here to threaten anyone but it’s very clear as to what’s going to happen with this team if it can’t be run properly.”
Parsons, along with members from the Comox Valley Glacier Kings ownership group, were on hand at the AGM and offered a hand to help turn the ship around.
As it was made very clear at various points throughout the meeting, this is a problem that needs to be fixed immediately or it could have repercussions, including a suspension of the team itself, should things not improve.
“We’ve seen the way things were run before,” Parsons said. “It’s not an organization that’s run by the president, this is clearly an organization that’s run by the board here. It’s been a mess and we need to see that fixed. It’s going to take a bit of work to make it better but I see that the passion to turn it around is here.”
General Manager Rob Gaudreault was on hand and voiced his concerns as well, with the lack of communication between the board and what’s going on with the team.
“There’s things that go on that nobody else sees with these kids,” Gaudreault said.
“The disconnect needs to stop. It makes everything that much harder between the coaching staff, the players and the people who run the organization. For this team to be successful, we need to be better from the top down.”
