The incredible string of success for the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association (SOMHA) continued this past weekend as BC Hockey held its annual general meeting at Sun Peaks and named the SOMHA as the very best in the province.

The SOMHA was awarded the Frank Spring Minor Hockey Association of the Year Award for 2014-2015. The award was presented at the BC Hockey Awards Banquet along with other top provincial awards.

Past president Dean Maynard, and vice president Jason Bartsch attended the banquet to receive the award on behalf of SOMHA.

Bartsch was thrilled to have captured the award and gave a heartfelt acceptance speech in front of more than 500 minor hockey delegates at the Sun Peaks Conference Centre.

“On behalf of the players, coaches, volunteers and members of the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association we would like to thank the Executive Committee and the Awards and Nomination Committee and all the members of BC Hockey for this incredibly prestigious honour,” he said. “Our association was forged out of a collaborative effort of two associations over 30 years ago and tonight we wish to thank all the members current and past that have provided the framework and the manpower over the years to allow us to reach this point tonight.

“To say that this year was a success for South Okanagan would be an understatement. We have achieved phenomenal on-ice success and have had equally great success off the ice. All of our Representative teams reached the pinnacle of their achievement by winning their respective leagues, OMAHA playoffs and all three Rep levels participated at the BC Hockey provincial championships.

“The SOMHA’s success at the Peewee, Bantam and Midget levels were unprecedented for our area and will forever be known locally as the year we achieved the Tier 3 Triple Crown. In addition to the success of our established programs, we moved into new territory for our association in forging our first-ever female only hockey program. Our team competed at the novice level this year in a variety of exhibition and tournament games with phenomenal success. As a result, more girls in our communities are interested in playing hockey for the first time. We couldn’t be more excited to grow our female program following this exceptionally successful beginning.

“Our association has always considered itself as a grass roots program first, with tremendous emphasis on making hockey as affordable as possible to as many families as possible. As we all know, the No. 1 reason kids don’t play hockey is because of cost. It is our vision to provide opportunity to as many kids as possible regardless of means to ensure the game we all love lives on in the hearts of Canadian kids everywhere.

“As a result of our efforts to adhere to this vision, our membership has been steadily increasing year over year with an increase in registrants of 11 per cent since 2013.

“Most of this growth is occurring at the Initiation level and as such, for the first time ever, we carried three teams at the novice level and expect to repeat that this year with a likelihood of also carrying three teams at the pre-novice level for the first time as well.

“Our teams achieved tremendous success on the ice, but they’ve done so with disciplined and professional hockey. South Okanagan has received an unprecedented number of accolades from other associations and recognition from BC Hockey officials regarding their standard of play. The SOMHA executive has made a conscious effort to emphasize safety and fair play in all our communications with coaches and players. Our number of high-risk penalties is at an all-time low and that has clearly translated to our success at every level. Thank you again to BC Hockey for this incredible honour.”

Being able to display the trophy and banner handed out by BC Hockey at the Sun Bowl Arena is something everyone who plays minor hockey in Osoyoos should be very proud of, said Bartsch.

Several minor hockey associations have had to deal with declining registration the past few years, but that isn’t a problem  in this part of the South Okanagan, said Bartsch.

“The future looks very bright for our association and young players,” he said. “We look forward to more success.”

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times