9
Jun
April 30, 2009
Boundary Review Committee Proposal
Current Association Boundary Map
Proposed Association Boundary Map
** this map correctly reflects the Willow Park and Maple Ridge in the Blackfoot Association.
To comment please email boundarycommittee@hockeycalgary.com
Proposal Timeline
Update February 23rd, 2009
The Boundary Review Committee (BRC) has met again and taken the next steps towards producing a proposal for your consideration.
For all associations that have already given us their input, thanks you for taking the time to let us know more about your associations situations and specifics regarding your communities.
Grandfathering
While, in the past, the grandfathering release has been an available option for players and their families moving within the jurisdiction of Hockey Calgary, the Boundary Review Committee, at this point, is leaning towards recommending that this release not be an available option for players who are relocated to a new association as a direct result of any boundary reconfiguration. Further, the Committee is also tending towards recommending that all existing grandfathering releases be concluded and not renewed with the implementation of new boundaries.
In this realignment process the committee is striving to create a more level playing field for all minor hockey players of Hockey Calgary. The analysis of the existing associations, and resulting reconfigurations, is based on numbers of players in their home associations, irrespective of any existing grandfathering releases. New boundary arrangements will designed based on those numbers. While we believe realignment is necessary to meet our goals for minor hockey, anecdotal evidence, and discussion with people in minor hockey, also leads us to believe that, if the grandfathering release was available, the number of people who would exercise it would be significant enough to undo the committee’s efforts. Effectively, we need to ensure that the realignment gets implemented as it is designed to meet the criteria. The fear is that allowing grandfathering, even to those presently approved; will compromise the new alignments by altering the planned distribution of players unpredictably and with negative results. Additionally, in the grandfathering clause it is not just the player who is approved but also any siblings, which would magnify the negative impact. Finally, administering of any form of grandfathering in a realigned minor hockey system would be very awkward. Even with Hockey Calgary’s best intentions to keep the disruptions to a minimum, to add the element of a grandfathering option to the equation would complicate the process and add, considerably, to an already expected heavy workload.
As with all the recommendations of the committee, these ones for the grandfathering release are dynamic and will continue to be evaluated; as the committee receives information and feedback from its members, as well as against the ultimate boundary realignment recommendation. It is important for all to understand that the committee was struck to come up with recommendations for boundary realignment, not decisions. The committee’s recommendations will be voted upon at the Special Meeting at the end of April and only upon acceptance there, and approval by Hockey Calgary, will they be implemented. Finally, any grandfathering recommendation will have no influence on the future reactivation or complete withdrawal of the release. That will be a separate and unrelated decision of Hockey Calgary’s.
Proposals Update
We currently have 5 proposals to review with another 5 under development that will be ready for the next BRC meeting. At the next meeting we will begin applying the criteria to the proposals to critical analyze them, and develop a short list of proposals do an even more comprehensive comparison of.
The following list of criteria, in no particular order, will be used to compare and further refine our proposals.
UPDATE - Saturday February 7th, 2009
The results of our last meeting include the following recommendations we will bring forward to the Special Meeting of April 30th.
UPDATE - Tuesday February 3rd, 2009
The Boundary Review committee has been established and is currently working on the important task of reviewing our current hockey associations with the following goal:
“To create an environment where every player in the City of Calgary has an equitable opportunity to develop their skills”.
The Boundary Review Committee is composed primarily of members from the numerous hockey associations from Calgary and one representative from Hockey Calgary (HC) as was communicated in October at the President’s Council. Currently we have 10 associations represented on this board. It is the intent of the committee to communicate our progress with all association presidents several times throughout the review process to ensure that your concerns are understood and properly considered during the decision making phase of this project. As such, we strongly encourage all to participate via this feedback opportunity to ensure that we collectively generate the best solution possible, based upon your essential input.
An in depth study has been completed by an urban planner that contains an enormous wealth of information on City demographics as they affect our hockey associations including, but not limited to; current community player numbers, growing and shrinking communities, and all arena locations. We are also including current arena/ice availability as an important planning factor in the process.
Currently we have established our goal and set the following timeline in order to allow the boundary changes to be implemented for the upcoming 2009/2010 season pending approval of this board’s recommendations.
The Special Hockey Calgary meeting of April 30th will allow associations to vote on the proposal brought forth by this committee. It has been separated from the AGM to allow a timetable that will allow for implementation in the 2009/2010 season should this prove desirable. At this time the proposal developed by the committee will be brought forth for a vote by the same representation as at the HC AGM. The decision at this meeting will be binding for all associations.
This committee is meeting every 2 weeks to complete this review. If your association has questions, please direct them to boundarycommittee@hockeycalgary.com or have them raised by your association’s representation on the committee at the next meeting.
We will also be posting information on the Hockey Calgary website starting in approximately 2 weeks as the committee progresses with its review process.
Regards,
Mike Owens
Chair - Boundary Review Committee
President Bow River Bruins Hockey Association
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