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Dear South Calgary Ringette Association Members,
Welcome to the 2014-2015 Ringette Season. I am thrilled to see so many new families joining the association this year as well as the returning families who have supported SCRA for so long.
There was a new program introduced at the U10 level and below with the intent to strengthen development and competitive equity between southern and northern AB. While it started off poorly for a few of our teams at the U10-1 level there have already been some refinements made by Ringette Calgary to make it work more smoothly. Please take the time to review the Ringette Alberta (RAB) site for more details on how the former U7 to U10 divisions have been re-aligned.
SCRA has grown dramatically over the past few years. This has been accomplished through the exceptional work of the numerous volunteers that have spent countless hours running the various program areas that allow our teams to play at a high level on the ice. From the coaching staffs, the evaluations team, ice coordination, player and coaching development, the volunteer coordinators and the many others not mentioned – fantastic work. It takes an entire team of dedicated volunteers to make it all come together. I am very proud of the work that is done by these people and ask that others who want to get involved do so and ask about positions that need to be filled as soon as possible.
Our association was able to secure an important sponsorship agreement with Valentine Volvo and a sports grant from the Calgary Parks Foundation this past summer. These generous donations have allowed us to acquire new jerseys for almost all of the SCRA teams and provide better equipment at all levels. Their support is very much appreciated and greatly assists SCRA in keeping registration costs affordable.
The new junior coaching program recently launched in Alberta has already been paying dividends. I encourage all players 14 years and older to consider paticipating in the program – our younger players are thrilled to see our more experienced players out there assisting the coaches and these junior coaches will take this experience back to their own teams with them and have a better understanding of what it takes to manage and coach a team on the ice.
For those of you that attended the first annual Spring Shaker fundraiser - thank you for your support. It was a huge success and was an excellent opportunity for parents of all age groups to meet in a social setting and have some fun. A special thanks to the organizing committee. We are now accepting ideas for the next event and of course volunteers to run it. The planning and organization needs to start as soon as possible to ensure the Board approves the overall theme and a venue is secured. If you are interested in volunteering for this event please submit your name to the SCRA Volunteer Coordinator's.
Lastly, I would like to take the time to thank a number of people that have recently left their positions with the SCRA board but have remained active with their daughter's teams or assisting the transition of the new Board members. Jackie Pinsky, April Mazur, Marilyn Wilkinson and Dominique Stadel have been instrumental in the success of the board’s activities these past number of years – efforts that are generally behind the scene but have been to everyone’s benefit. To our former President, Jeff Pfeifer, who represented SCRA at the Ringette Calgary and Ringette Alberta with passion and commitment - thank you! Your dedication and strong leadership was the impetus behind our overall success and growth as an association. We all look forward to your continued participation on the Board as our Past President.
Myself and the SCRA Board look forward to working with everyone in the association to continue this fine work to ensure we have a great future in Alberta ringette community. Have a great season.
Sincerely,
Garry Kane