Stratford, ON - The 2018 ALLIANCE Hockey AGM, celebrating 25 years of ALLIANCE Hockey, was held June 1-2, 2018 in London, ON. More than 200 members attended the two-day event which included the annual Golf Classic, Recognition Banquet, Volunteer Social and Annual General Meeting.
The weekend began with the Annual Golf Classic on Friday, June 1st at the FireRock Golf Club in Komoka, ON. The full compliment of golfers endured the hot weather and were entertained with a variety of special contests coordinated in part by the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association. Special Guests included Alumni and current Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O'Reilly, Canadian Paralympian Tyler McGregor, Professional Player Joey Hishon and representatives from Hockey Canada, the OHF, ALLIANCE Hockey Member Associations and numerous supporters and sponsors. The Golf Classic concluded with a fun dinner and prize draws. Thank you to all who supported the event and donated funds that will be used to assist kids who are new to the game!
See all the photos here!
On Saturday, June 2nd, the Annual General Meeting was conducted consisting of Executive Reports, Committee Reports, Notices of Motions and the introduction of the 2018-2019 Executive Committee.
The Executive Director's Report focused upon the Association's continuing efforts to market the game, recruitment of new participants, the revitalized Initiation Program and the retention of current participants. A special Hot Stove session was held that featured Hockey Canada's CEO, Tom Renney and Director, Program Delivery, Kevin Figsby and ALLIANCE Hockey's Executive Director, Tony Martindale. The session was both informative and entertaining!
Numerous vendors were present throughout the day and ALLIANCE Hockey thanks them for their generous support of the AGM! Alfran Trophies, Plaques & Signs, Artcal, Athletica, Force Sports, Gamesheet Inc., QuickEnrollment, Nothers Signs & Recognition, ILA Sports and Hockey Coach Vision.
Five ALLIANCE Hockey Executive positions were open for election including; President, Sr. Vice-President, Vice-President Region #2, Vice-President Region #4 and Representative Council Chair. All positions were filled by acclamation except for Vice-President Region #2 for which a vote determined the position will be filled by Mr. Fernando Nogueira.
The positions of Treasurer, Chairperson of Appeals and Technical Director - Officials, were appointed.
2018-2019 Executive Committee:
President: Dan Gibbons (Tecumseh)
Past President: Vacant
Sr. Vice-President: Ray Kosumovic (Waterloo)
Treasurer: Alan Webb (Kitchener)*
Region #1 Vice-President: Gerry Potter (Hamilton)
Region #2 Vice-President: Fernando Nogueira (Kitchener)
Region #3 Vice-President: Keith Woods (London)
Region #4 Vice-President: Thom Foster (Brantford)
Region #5 Vice-President: Jennifer MacDonald (Windsor)
TD of Officials: Marshall Copp (London)*
Recreational Council Chair: Larry Moreland (Waterloo)
Representative Council Chair: Karen Gibb (Stratford)
Appointments:
Treasurer: Alan Webb (Kitchener)*
Chairperson of Appeals: David Miller (London)
TD of Officials: Marshall Copp (London)*
ALLIANCE Hockey lost 3 members from the 2017-18 Executive Committee; Harry Blinkhorn, Carl Chapman and Brian Matuch all of whom we are grateful to for their years of dedicated service and wish them much success in their future endeavours! Thank you!
Following the Meeting, the Membership was engaged with two workshops. The first workshop was presented by Hockey Canada's Director, Program Delivery, Kevin Figsby and was focused on the Model Minor Hockey Association. The final workshop was presented by Western University's architect and principal instructor of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate Program, Janine Higgins. Our thanks goes out to Kevin and Janine for their time and for sharing valuable information.
Saturday evening featured a dinner followed by a special recognition and celebration banquet. The "Voice of the London Knights", Mr. Mike Stubbs was the evening's MC as awards were handed out to ALLIANCE Hockey Associations who hosted events throughout the 2017-18 season along with 25th anniversary gold pins to those long-serving volunteers who have been involved with ALLIANCE Hockey for the last 20-25 years. ALLIANCE Hockey also recognized a select group of people for their consistent commitment and service to ALLIANCE Hockey over the last 25 years, that included: HARRY BLINKHORN, RICK DAWSON, TIM FORSYTH, TOM GRAHAM, TED KALAS, YOSH KITAMURA, PAT LANGDON, TONY MARTINDALE, PAULINE McCALLUM and GARY McFARLANE.
ALLIANCE Hockey was proud to welcome several Honourary Life Members and Past Presidents to the Banquet. Their attendance was appreciated and their contributions to ALLIANCE Hockey will always be remembered.
Following the recognition presentations, ALLIANCE Hockey was honoured to welcome special guest and Alumni, Canadian Paralympian, Tyler McGregor! Tyler provided the attendees with an inspiring message which brought the
audience to their feet. THANK YOU Tyler for your outstanding representation of Canada, for being a wonderful role model for all payers and for attending our weekend of events!
View the Banquet Program here!
See all the photos here!
The evening was capped off with dancing and music from The Figure Four Band.
Thank you to those members who supported the AGM Weekend and 25th Anniversary celebrations!
Congratulations and THANK YOU to everyone who was recognized and to all those who have contributed to ALLIANCE Hockey over the last 25 years!
Cheers and here's to the next 25 years!