Selwyn Township has created an ice allocation policy for the upcoming 2025-26 season due to high demand of prime time ice.
At the Tuesday Selwyn Council Meeting, Mike Richardson, manager of recreation services gave a report to council outlining a potential ice allocation policy.
This report was created by staff from council direction back in March of this year after the Ennismore Minor Hockey Association (EMHA) requested that the township draft the policy to ensure fairness and transparency for all users.
In March, the EMHA told council that because of the current way the township allocates ice, their players that are 16 years old and under would sometimes be on the ice until as late as 11 p.m. on school nights while adult recreation groups got earlier time slots.
The way the township determines who gets ice times is by a legacy standards, which basically states that what you had in years past is what you will get going forward, leaving little room for change to accommodate growing youth organization.
In March, it was stated that both the Ennismore and Lakefield arenas operate at near full capacity, with over 1,700 participants from various minor hockey leagues, figure skating clubs, and adult recreational leagues competing for available slots.
On Tuesday, it was also stated that nearly 90 per cent of prime time ice is accounted for. Selwyn Township classifies weekdays from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. as prime time.
Because there are many issues every year will allocating ice time to the various user groups across the township, it was discussed that creating a facility allocation policy would be a possibility to incorporate soccer fields and other municipal properties should issues arise there as well.
ntinued from page 1However, according to a report presented to council on Tuesday, a meeting was help with all user groups earlier this year that was moderated by Monteith Brown Consulting. During that meeting it was decided that the only real issues user groups see persisting is ice allocation. Therefore the policy will only deal with ice and no other facilities.
During the moderated discussion with user groups, key points that were raised included:
• A shortage of prime time ice for youth organizations. Many of which will still need to buy ice time from outside the township regardless of an ice allocation policy.
• Youth groups are not requesting the elimination of the established adult groups ice times, but rather that they would like access, when needed, to the earlier ice times that the adult groups are holding.
• The groups affected by the late-night ice are the four youth hockey organizations within the township.
• Concerns expressed about any changes, or lack of changes, affecting participation. EMHA noted that they are losing players to other centres due to late ice times. Adult groups noted a similar concern that they may lose players if ice is shifted to a later hour.
• Ice hours between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. could be utilized by Selwyn Minor Sport Organizations to fulfill their ice needs
The recommended ice allocation policy would maintain the legacy allocation standard with some conditions.
According to the report, the policy states that:
• Initial ice time requests will be determined using legacy ice allocations based on the previous season’s schedule.
• Variations to the legacy ice allocation will be granted, when requested in writing, as follows:
o Selwyn Minor Sports Organizations to get priority ice booking on Weekdays and Weekends for U16 and younger before 10 pm while maintaining the number of adult ice hours
o Selwyn Minor Sports Organizations to get priority ice bookings on Weekdays during the non-prime times of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
In addition, it also states that Selwyn Minor Sports Organizations are encouraged to use weekday 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. ice times as much as possible to meet ice needs so that all user groups can be accommodated as much as possible.
Coun Mary Coulas moved a friendly amendment to the staff recommendation stating she believes this policy should be a pilot policy for one year rather than a straight adoption.
Coulas said, “Because of the complexity of this and the history, I’m suggesting that we actually pilot it for a year, instead of fully implementing it. I feel like there’s going to be learning curves in this and I just don’t know what the full effects are going to be from all user groups.”
Her recommendation would see the ice allocation policy be implemented for the 2025-2026 season as a pilot process, followed by a report to council and thereafter be considered for institution by Council.
Coun Brian Henry seconded the motion and it was carried.
