Organization of the Elbow Park Minor Hockey Association

The EPMHA is incorporated under the Societies Act of Alberta.  It will operate independently from the community associations of the constituent communities.  By resolution approved by the Board of Directors, a parent or guardian of each child registered in the hockey program will become a voting member for that year.  An annual meeting is held each year shortly after the end of each season to review activities and elect a new Board for the upcoming year.  The success of EPMHA is dependent upon us all as volunteers and active participants in our children’s hockey program.  This must continue and we urge you to let organizers know of your willingness to help. 

Mission Statement

“To operate a competitive hockey program for children in Initiation, Novice and Atom divisions, designed to promote the development of hockey skills with positive attitudes towards sportsmanship, fair play, education and citizenship”

Constituent Communities

• Britannia
• Cliff Bungalow/Mission
• Elbow Park
• Elboya
• Erlton
• Mount Royal
• Park Hill
• Rideau/Roxboro
• Stanley Park

Board of Directors

The EPMHA currently has a Board of ten who are individuals introduced below. Running a hockey program of this size requires a number of duties to be carried out that the Board members have generously agreed to assume. Additional volunteers are always welcome. In particular, the September/October time period is an intensive period over which many tasks must be carried out to ensure we kick off our hockey season as smoothly as possible. In many cases a given volunteer commitment can be limited to specific duties or a finite time frame that make the time commitment less onerous.

Each year 20 or so players graduate from the Elbow Park Minor Hockey Association and join the GlenLake Minor Hockey Club for their first year of Peewee. The graduating players are replaced by newcomers to our Initiation teams. We highly encourage this “new blood” to get involved early with the Board and the Association to enable the community to continue a successful hockey program in Elbow Park.

Bylaws (download in pdf format)

Volunteer Positions

Volunteer Coordinator

Head Coaches

This role is one of the most demanding volunteer positions but often the most rewarding as well.  To reduce the organizational pressure in the fall we have included a separate volunteer sign up form with this newsletter to solicit interested individuals who are interested in volunteering to be a head coach.  We will also solicit volunteers during registration. 

Coach Selection Policy:

Coaches will not be selected until AFTER the initial draft of the teams has been selected.

All qualified candidates wanting to coach will be treated equally (except candidates wanting to coach one team have priority over candidates wanting to coach more than one team, including teams not under EPMHA jurisdiction). Therefore, there are two or more candidates wanting to coach, the candidate who wants to coach only one team will have priority over the candidate wanting to coach two teams. If there are still two or more candidates volunteering for the same position, they go to the next step.

The two or more candidates will meet and be encouraged to work out a solution.

If no solution is found, then the matter will be resolved by an independent group of directors (directors with no child on the team).

Assistant Coaches

Head coaches must use all assistant coaches who volunteer. If more than the maximum number of assistant coaches as allowed by Minor Hockey volunteer, then the assistant coach candidates will be first, asked to try to work it out and if no resolution is found, will go through a Board selection process as in # 4 above.

Team Managers

Assist with the organizational matters for the team. This is a very busy job, as it requires constant liaison between the coaches and the parents.  Need to notify parents of ice times, schedules, etc.

Team Activity Coordinator

Some teams have an Activity Coordinator as well as a Manager to coordinate social functions, tournaments and other team/parent activities.

Team Referee Coordinator

Of particular importance is the role of Referee Coordinator.  This person will be asked to organize referee training with the support of the Alberta Referee Association.  It is the responsibility of the Referee Coordinator to schedule two referees to attend and referee every home game.

Equipment Manager

The Equipment Manager shall be responsible for the EPMHA equipment and its distribution to and collection from teams.

Referees

To qualify for refereeing you must complete a 2-day weekend course put on by the provincial referee association (fees reimbursed by EPMHA).  Parent referees are encouraged as well as interested teenagers who would like refereeing experience and have the opportunity to make some extra money.  Referee fees are typically $15/game.  At least one parent/teen age referee for each team is an important element for a smooth running season for the team.

Player Evaluations Assistant

Assist the Coordinator in providing anything required for Evaluations, including working the bench.

Outdoor Ice Volunteers

Assist in maintaining the outdoor ice at Elbow Park Community Centre.

General Volunteer

We will endeavour to find a position for you.