Looking for Midget AA Players

2008/2009 Bearcats Midget AA still has a few openings for players. Please contact Michael Sanderson by email or cal him at 613-967-8257.

First Entry Team Coaches

The following First Team Coaching have been selected:

  • Midget: Michael Sanderson
  • Bantam: Rob Bunton
  • Pee Wee: Tanya Vinkle
  • Atom: Troy Sweet

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM will take place on Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 6:30 pm. We will be meeting upstairs at the Wally Dever Arena.

Our agenda will be as follows:

  • Minutes from previous AGM
  • Constitutional Amendments
  • Report of the President
  • Financial Report

Bearcat Tournament Results

Award Winners Announced

Congratulations to the following recipients of this year's annual BDGMHA awards presented on May 17th at the AGM.

  • Sr. AA coach, Ken Anderson was presented with the Warren Hendricks award in recognition of his many years of outstanding volunteerism.
  • The Penny Meitz award for sportsmanship went to Brittany Howe of the Midget AA team who was cited for hier outstanding spirit and team leadership.
  • Kalen Johnson was presented with the Susan Hooper award given to a goalie. Kalen continued to play for the Sr. AA team while attending University in Guelph studying Kinesiology.

Changes to the Release Rules

In an unprescedented move the BDGMHA has eliminated its release rule at the recently held AGM. In previous years players have had to meet specific criteria in order to be released from the organization to play elsewhere. Over the years release requests have increased as many believe that larger centres can offer more competitive hockey and opportunities. Smaller centres, such as Belleville have denied releases in an effort to maintain their own competitive edge and even their ability to field teams.

The BDGMHA were increasingly spending a great deal of time, effort and resources to deny releases and fight appeals at the OWHA level. Although successful it became such a demanding and time consuming task given the great lengths many families would go to in order to secure a release. Given this situation the executive reviewed it's by laws and current criteria for granting releases.

In an unanimous vote, supported by the membership, it was decided to eliminate the release rule. "This will enable us to focus our energies and resources on improving hockey for the many players who remain loyal to the Belleville association and their home centre" says BDGMHA president Karen Metcalf. We wish those players who move on the best of luck both on and off the ice and will provide them with a release at their request. The new release policy states that releases will be unconditionally granted at the end of the season provided all fees are paid in full and all BDGMHA equipment has been returned.