LLOYDMINSTER SOURCE I WWW.LLOYDMINSTERSOURCE.COM I Thursday, January 14, 2016
SPORTS
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Steelers await review process Continue from front “It had watered down the system,” said Macrae. “So right from the start we said build a new system and look at registration numbers to figure out what the ideal was. It was an easy statement for the review committee to say we have to reduce midget AAA, we have to build a development system.” Recommendations to cities wishing to host a AAA franchise included properly certified coaches, a minimum of three hours of practice time a week, fitness programs created by professionals, a player billet program, athletic therapy and a permanent facility for the program. Lloydminster elite female program co-ordinator Steve Hughes said Lloydminster has already put those recommendations in place this year, rather than waiting to see if they will get a program next year, in order to show that the Steelers franchise is capable of running a program to the standards that Hockey Alberta requires. Hughes feels Lloydminster’s proposal will be one of the best, if not the best one submitted to Hockey Alberta, and with the cities position as the only team other than Sherwood Park on the east
side of Edmonton, geographically a team needs to be here. “You wonder how it could possibly not be chosen,” said Hughes. “The best thing we can do is the approach we have taken, which is to be positive and put the things in place that meet the criteria and not just window dressing. We care about the things we are doing. We believe in them, too. That is the part of this process I never had a problem with with Hockey Alberta and what they are trying.” While Hughes does believe female hockey players need more time on the ice and pressure needed to be put on hockey programs around the province to provide better on and off ice training, he argues that removing teams from Lloydminster and also Grande Prairie, the most northern city in the AMMFHL that has a team, will actually hurt hockey numbers and cost families more money if they decide to play for a AAA team. A recommendation is also in play that there would be no borders, so players who come from cities without a AAA franchise can play for any team in the province and would sign letters of intent, but would have to billet with a family
in order to play if they couldn’t find their own accommodations. Without a team in the east and northern parts of the province, it essentially would make the midget AAA league a Highway 2 league. “I think they are going to drive some kids out of it if they shrink the league,” said Hughes. “I don’t think it is necessary myself. The criteria was necessary. If all the teams in the league right now do the program the right way ... I think you will see an improvement in the skill level.” Macrae, however, would say female players are already having to travel to other cities to play when their home city doesn’t have a team. And with open borders, a player from Lloydminster could play in Calgary, if for example they have family there, rather than playing in Sherwood Park and billeting with a family they don’t know. Currently, major cities such as Lethbridge and Medicine Hat, as well as other northern options, such as Fort McMurray, don’t have teams in the AMMFHL. “If a AAA team didn’t end up in Lloydminster, the statement that would be made, just as the same as every other girl in the province is, there is a team by you and it might not be really close, but there is a team you can access,” said Macrae. The committee is going through the review process of the 12 bids and will ask some associations to come in for in-person presentations before making their final decisions, which is expected to be made Feb. 1.
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The Steelers have struggled the past two seasons due to players leaving to academies, but were league champions back in 2007.
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