Brad Cable
Golden and District Minor Hockey Association Executive
Golden Minor Hockey is having a successful 2011/2012 season to date with many exciting happenings for all of our teams:
The Initiation A/B Rams have had a great start to the year. This group of 4-6 year old players makes up our largest group of players in Golden Minor Hockey. The “Mini Rams” are well ahead of last year’s pace in terms of skill development, and have some games lined up in January and February. The team will also be hosting their tournament on March 10.
Our Novice Team, 7 – 8 year olds, are busy this year building their skills with the motto of “work hard and have fun”. With this attitude the team has played two great home games and one away game. The players practice hard every Tuesday and Thursday night, coming off the ice sweaty and with smiles. The team will be travelling to Invermere to play our first tournament this season at the end of January. Thanks to all of the coaches for their dedication and parents for supporting their children at hockey. Come and see for yourself the energy and fun at the Novice home tournament on Saturday February 4. Special thanks to Tim Hortons for sponsoring both our Initiation and Novice teams this year.
The Golden Atom Rams are very competitive this season and look to continue their strong play for the remainder of the season. The Atoms qualified for “A” division play and have been successful and competitive in most of their outings. Upcoming events include a tournament in Kimberley at the end of January, various league and exhibition games in February, and our home tournament February 24-26 which will feature 12 teams. The banner championships will be held in early March in the Elk Valley.
The Peewee / Bantam Rams also qualified for A division play in the East Kootenay Minor Hockey Association. The team has a wide range of ages with many seasoned veterans and newer players. The team has had mixed results in league play however they continue to build as they head towards the banner championships in March. The club will be hosting their tournament in February, and will also be hosting the East Kootenay Championships on March 2-3.
Our female Golden Rams Girls Team range in age from 12 to 18 and have had a successful year team building, gaining confidence and competing against other mixed age teams. Our skaters vary in skill level from new on skates to our “vets” who travelled to the U18 Team BC competitions last season and this year one of our girls is trying out for the U16 team. Our motto is every girl has the right to play hockey and our coaches encourage a mixture of fun and hard work. Come out and see our girls shine on home ice during the all female tournament January 21 to 22.
The Tier 4 Midget Rams have had a successful season to date. Highlights this season include winning their home tournament in December, travelling to Calgary for a tournament and coming away with the title, and various other successful games against competition of various levels. The Midget Rams will be playing in the East Kootenay Championships February 24-26 in Creston, and have also qualified for the Tier 4 Provincial Championships taking place in Nakusp over the Spring Break.
At the executive level, we have undertaken many new initiatives this year which provide our teams, coaches, managers, referees, parents, and volunteers with an increased level of support. The success of any non-profit youth organization relies on the support of its greatest assets, the parents!! Golden Minor Hockey would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents that continue to volunteer their time to ensure that are players are provided with the best environment to play hockey.
There has been preliminary discussion on various conceptual ideas that are intended to benefit our players, parents, and the community of Golden as a whole. Golden Minor Hockey will also continue to maintain and strengthen our relationships within the hockey community which includes the Golden Rockets and the Golden Junior Hockey Society, the Golden Oldtimers, the Golden Silvertips, the Golden Men’s Recreational Hockey League, and the Golden Womans Hockey Club.
Our association will continue to strive to provide the youth of Golden and Area A with every opportunity to play, learn, and enjoy Canada’s greatest game. On behalf of Golden Minor Hockey, we extend an invitation to all of our residents to come to the Golden Arena to take part in all of our events, including our annual Mini-Olympic tournament which takes place January 23-27.
