Beach season underway

Jeff van Moorsel was returned as South Dundas Minor Hockey president at the organization’s annual general meeting held at the Morrisburg Golf Club, Monday night. 

“We had a very good year,” van Moorsel told the handful of interested parents who attended this year’s meeting. 

“We had two teams win an Upper Canada Championship and another two teams win their east or west division. For a small association, when you have two championship teams and two runners-up, then you have done very well.”

“We had very good coaching, and not many complaints. They are all volunteers, and I think they did a great job.”

“I go to all the meetings and I hear complaints about refereeing, but I never hear any complaints about the South Dundas referees. They are doing a good job.”

van Moorsel reported the association had a good year financially, his statement backed by treasurer Pam Mullin’s  report later in the meeting. 

He explained that after breaking even for a couple of years and losing money last year, the association is in the black this year. This he said was mainly because the association used 48 less hours of ice time this year.

“There are several factors for this, but mainly it depends on the ice time required for playoffs. Hours are also affected by how Christmas falls, and how many events the Figure Skating Club hosts.”

van Moorsel took the time to say good bye and thank you to several out going executive members. They included Ice Scheduler Steve Martineau (four years service), Secretary Andrea Cartier (eight years) and Equipment manager Rob Perry (two years).

“This executive has done a great job,” said van Moorsel. “It was a pretty easy job this year, and you have all been a good group to work with.”

Of major interest was Pam Mullin’s financial report which shows the association ending the season with a net income of $10,554. 

“We have ended up in a very positive position,” said Mullin.

Because of the good year, Mullin reported that the board of directors had decided there would not be a fee increase for the 2013/14 season. 

“We have $4,400 cash on hand, and we have $30,000 again in GICs. Our goal now is to keep the numbers (players) consistent.”

Mullin suggested that to do so, the association could look at a more pro-active enlistment of players, try to keep the girls on teams longer before they move to all girl leagues and to continue to keep the Initiation fees low to attract the younger children.

“It is nice to keep a safety net so that when we have a year when expenses are higher, we don’t have to raise our fees,” said Mullin of the $30,000 in GICs.

This year’s registration fees brought in $82,613, while fund raising contributed another $43,110. The largest portion of the fund raising money, $40,800, came from the Lottery Draw. 

The major expense was Ice Rental at $78,024, which, with about 50 fewer hours used, was down from the previous season that came in at $83,035. Referee cost was the next biggest expenditure at $16,007. Insurance costs were $6,588 and league fees accounted for $3,433.

Total revenues were $127,597 while total expenses were $117,043.

The average program cost per participant this year was $567.57. There were 204 registrations. A total of 725.5 ice time hours were used compared to 773.5 used the year previous.

Various reports were given including that of registration, which this year was co-handled by Tanya Domanko and Cassandra Barry.

Domanko reported that for the coming season there would be no online registration. “We need to have it done in person,” she said. “Hopefully, we will be able to get all of the information correct. We will give everyone their draw tickets at registration and the ticket numbers will be recorded.”

Domanko indicated registrations have been set up at the arena for Saturday, May 14 (10 a.m. until noon) and Wednesday, May 8 (6-7:30 p.m.) For added convenience a minor hockey registration will be held at the Iroquois soccer fields on Saturday, June 1.

After various reports were given, three amendments were made to the South Dundas Minor Hockey Constitution. The first officially standardized the Association’s Lions logo; the second dissolved the board of directors position of Trophies, Awards and Tournament and moved those duties to that of the 1st Vice-President; the third created the position of Electronic Communications Coordinator.

The two changes to the board kept the voting directors at a total of 14.

The final item of the meeting was the election of the 2013-14 Board of Directors. 

van Moorsel remained as President, Mike Domanko is 1st Vice-President-Awards & Tournament Coordinator, Jamie Smith is 2nd Vice-President–Risk Management and Gary Hart remains Past-President.  Johanna Kronstal replaced Andrea Cartier as Secretary and Pam Mullin remained Treasurer. Tanya Domanko is  Registrar and Cassandra Barry took on the position of Electronic Communications Coordinator.

David Lapier remained Rules and Discipline Chair, and Bruce Mullin remained Coaching/Development Co-ordinator. John Connors was elected Equipment Manager, and Jason Broad was elected Ice Scheduler to replace Steve Martineau. Lisa Schwerdtfeger became Referee In Chief and Joanne Backes was elected Fundraising Co-ordinator.

[…]

 

This past  weekend, two Morrisburg Curling Club mixed teams competed in Winchester at the Gamble against Metcalfe and Russell as well. 

Andy Patenaude, Susan McIntosh, Neil Williams and Claire Locke lost their first match to Winchester, but won their afternoon competition against a Russell quartet. That qualified our folks for the ‘B’ championship in the evening.

Our other foursome, Joe McCooeye, Kathy Norg, Mahlon Locke, and Leanne McCooeye lost their morning game to a Russell team, but they dominated play against a Metcalfe challenger to win the other spot in the evening ‘B’ final. That left our two champions battling each other.

Morrisburg’s highlight was the competition for the Gamble plaque with our two athletic teams. Neil Williams was unable to play in the evening match, and Dave McIntosh filled in for him. Both foursomes played very well, but the younger team, skipped by Joe McCooeye, won out and will keep the plaque in our club for the next year. Well done, everyone!

The evening meal was spectacular, by the way. Winchester catered roast pork, roasted potatoes, a variety of vegetables and a fine dessert.

The two teams who won both of their daytime matches also played off in the evening for the ‘A’ title. The Metcalfe foursome prevailed and claimed the Gamble trophy.

Sunday’s two-person bonspiel was re-scheduled because of insufficient entrants. They’ll try again another time soon.

 Susan McIntosh took Kathy Norg, Joanne Baker and Claire Locke to the Richmond ladies’ bonspiel last week.

They won their morning game against Pembroke, but dropped their afternoon match against a Carleton Heights foursome. 

The meal was excellent, and our ladies have high praise for the atmosphere and the food. They look forward to next year, even though the Richmond Bakery is no longer open.

We have a couple ladies’ teams at bonspiels in Brockville and Lancaster, and we’ll report on those next time. 

Today, Glenn Cougler’s annual stick bonspiel is scheduled, and we’ll have the details next time. Four local teams are involved, as well as foursomes from Kemptville, Russell, Winchester, Prescott, Maxville, Lancaster and Cornwall. It’s an all-day affair, so feel free to drop in for some or all of the matches.

Thursday, November 26th three Russell teams will be out in the morning to have a friendly match against 12 of our Thursday mixed curlers. There will be a return visit later. As always, visitors are invited to drop in and watch the matches.

Looking ahead, a “Grey Cup” spiel at the club is planned for November 30th. Tentative plans are for a two-game competition beginning at noon. A lunch and refreshments would be provided for $2, and the evening would see the exhausted but well-fed curlers relaxing in the club’s comfortable chairs to enjoy the 2014 Grey Cup match in athletic company. The western and eastern champions will be decided this weekend. Look over the details in the lounge and 

[…]

 

The Ontario Power Generation made most appreciated donations of $500 to the Morrisburg and District Figure Skating Club and the South Dundas Minor Hockey Association on Monday evening. According to Skate Club president Julie Van Hoof, the annual OPG donation is always a big help and this year it will be put towards some new equipment and the construction of new viewing stands for competition judges. Minor hockey president, Jeff Van Moorsel also expressed his association’s gratitude and said the money is used to provide registration assistance to some of its players. The OPG presentation was done by Dale Adams of Morrisburg who is the Maintenance Manager at the Saunders Generating Station. Adams explained that OPG likes to give back to the community and in this case, “it is going to our youth athletes.” Pictured, l-r, are Ellen Biemond and Julie VanHoof representing the figure skating club, Adams, and Jeff Van Moorsel.

[…]