2016/17 AAA Sharks- Directors Report

2016/17 AAA Sharks- Directors Report

Board members:

Dave Amson-DirectorTrenna Derdall-SecretaryBrenda Larsen-Treasurer

BMHA Reps- John Jangula/ Bruce Yockey

Members at large- Kathy Harper/Sherry Fraser

Parent Reps- Ken Potratz/ Amanda Burt

Coaching Staff

Gary Berggren- Head Coach Will Tupper- Assistant CoachRachel Trach- Assistant Coach

Steph Gilchrist- ManagerMartin Smith- Wednesday Skills session instructor

Momentum is growing as we just had our best attended Spring Camp this April with 66 players competing for spots this year and into the future. This growing momentum started last year with an average of 20 to 25 more girls at both spring and fall camp versus previous years.

At the beginning of the year we picked 12 forwards, 2 goalies and 5 defence for the season. Eight of these players were rookie players and very young girls. The team attended a preseason tournament in Portage as we did the previous year. This is a good way for the girls to see the AAA speed and bond as a new team. Two players missed this tournament as they were at Sask Top 28 for U18 Keara Amson and Sask Top 20 for U16 Ensley Fendelet.

Even though this years’ team was a very young team, they competed well other than two games that were one sided. Many games were only lost by a few points and our girls were in many close games this year.

The team ended the year in 7th place, 21 points with 5 Wins, 19 Losses, 2 OTW, 2 OTL while finishing strong with last series versus Swift Current splitting two OT games. Our goal is to improve on these numbers and to be a 500-club next year while showing growth year over year in the program. We will strive to grow our player’s skill set, team work and abilities by working closer one on one.

The season ended with a tough playoff draw and came up against PA in first round who are now off to the Esso Cup. We took the first game to OT and lost and competed well the next two games.

We had only two graduating players this year and both have received hockey scholarships. Jordan Kulbida is going to the Regina Cougars and Dakota Pederson is off to McKendree University in the United States. Since the Sharks started in the SFAAAHL, there have been a total of 24 young women from the Sharks AAA Program advance with College scholarships. Keeping in mind that all the girls that have played with the AAA Sharks have grown as players as they learn leadership and life valued lessons.

Battleford’s drawing area is growing and needs to continue so we can build a competitive team. This year we had girls from Holbein, Leoville, Saskatoon, Kindersley, Brock and Warman. This is one key area that we need to grow. We need to work closely with surrounding towns within 1 to 1½ hours from Battleford to make them feel like they are local girls and hopefully they will look at Battleford as their place of choice to play AAA hockey. The start up of a successful AA program this past year is key to the growth of the AAA program. We will be looking at AP’ing more girls this year.

We really appreciate the great group of billet families we had this year and big thank you to Sherry Fraser our billet coordinator. We will be looking at growing this list since we are expecting more girls to billet next year. We raised the billet compensation this past year to ensure the rate is fair for this important role and to ensure everyone’s needs are met.

We also had a great group of sponsors this year that we want to thank again. Diamond Sponsor- Xtreme Eavestroughing, Dream reality- Randall Cote. Platinum Sponsor- 777 Excavating, Precision Instrumentation & Supply Ltd, RJ Hoffman Holdings. Gold Plus Sponsor- Lac La Ronge Indian Band, Venture West Charters. Gold Sponsor- Morris Industries LTD, Rotation Power & Equipment Inc., Warne Photography.

I would like to thank Gary, Will and Rachel for coaching, the AAA Shark’s Board and Steph for helping with the growth of the Battleford AAA Sharks program this year. We started the year with a lot of changes, a new Head Coach, Assistants and Director so we knew from the start that it was going to be a year for growing and learning. Everyone from the coaches/manager to the board puts everything they can into this program with long hours and key advice. This will continue to build our program and make the Battleford AAA Sharks one of the top teams’ players want to play for now and in the future.