Sunday, May 17, 2009

Ghostriders AGM

AGM-
The Fernie Ghostriders are a Community owned team and at the end of every season they have an Annual General Meeting where they report to the membership and to the general public on the state of the team. The meeting was held on May 13th.

Some Money-
This ended up being a quick meeting with just a few minor things on the agenda like league expansion and scheduling. The most important information for the membership to chew on was that the season ended with a positive balance on the books of well over ten thousand dollars for the year. That was pretty good news considering attendance was down several hundred fans over the season and there were fewer playoff games.

Back to Reality-

Although it was a better than average year financially, and the team was the Eddie Mountain Division Champion for the fourth year in a row, Head Coach Will Verner tempered the mood a bit with his talk about not being complacent about winning and that the only good season is a Championship season. You just gotta like your Coach having that attitude– actually that’s really the only attitude good coaches ever have anyway. If that says anything it says that after five years in the KIJHL the Ghostriders are one of the top teams and Verner intends to keep it that way. Carry on as far as this writer is concerned.

Elections-

So with no other serious business on the agenda next up was the election of officers and for the ninth year in a row incumbent President Phil Iddon accepted the one and only nomination for President. This is a huge time consuming job to take on especially for a small business owner who already puts in upwards of seventy hours a week. The fans should all thank Phil for taking on this giant task again. -photo Phil Iddon-

The Vice President once again this year will be the all around dressing room handyman Dave Buliziuk. This will be Dave’s sixth year as Vice President.

The Recording Secretary this year is Jenny Tress and the Treasurer will be Holly Buliziuk who moved up from the stressed Billet Coordinator to the nerve racking Treasurer’s position after Anita Palmer stepped down.- See below-

The new Board of Directors are as follows, Linda Moulton, Rocky Feregotto, Rose Mangone, Darryl Hutchinson, Jerry Teeple, Grant Sigaty, Cam Kennedy, Dale Nicholson and Joe Tress.

The Keystone Cup-
After the elections it was on to new business. Coach Will Verner attended the Cyclone Taylor Cup (BC Provincial Championship) this year in Richmond where Nelson dominated until the last game. Richmond won that game then went on to win the Keystone Cup. Now Coach Verner didn’t just go to the Cyclone Taylor Cup to watch the games and evaluate the teams, he also went there to talk to the owners who have been to and hosted the Keystone Cup. He did that knowing that the first order of business for the new Executive was to decide if the Ghostriders would apply to host the Keystone Cup next April.
Ghostrider President Phil Iddon explains “You only have a chance to host this event very fifteen years and this year it’s BC’s and the KIJHL’s turn”. There are five Provinces competing and in BC we have three leagues, the KIJHL and on the coast the ,PIJHL and on the Island the VIJHL with each Province getting a turn every five years and each BC League every fifteen years”.

So after an in camera meeting it looks like the Ghostrider board will take a shot at hosting the Western Canadian Championships, or Keystone Cup next April. If they are successful it will be a great ride for the players and fans. We’ll get all the best Jr “B” teams in Western Canada right on our doorstep.

After attending the Cyclone Taylor Cup in April and seeing the eventual winner of the Keystone Cup we asked the coach how the Ghostriders would have done at the tournament. Verner said “ We were a step behind Nelson and Richmond but were right in the mix with the other teams.” Nelson and Richmond set the bar this year but if we recruit hard this summer and get some good young players and some good veteran guys we have a good chance to win at the Cyclone and at the Keystone Cup”. –photo Will Verner-

We’ll have lots more on the Keystone in future posts. No matter who gets it the tournament will be in our backyard anyway. It was in Thunder Bay Ontario this year and would have cost a fortune to go there. So all KIJHL teams will be fighting hard to either host it or just get there. Could be a good season for KIJHL fans this year.

Palmer Steps Down-
The Ghostrider organization thanks Anita Palmer for her eight years of service as Treasurer for the hockey team . Ghostrider President Phil Iddon. “Its always difficult to lose a longtime volunteer, especially one who does a specialized job like Treasurer.” Anita’s honesty and work ethic will be sorely missed and hard to replace” -photo Anita Palmer receiving the President’s Award this year-

When Anita first took over the books the Ghostriders were playing Junior”A” in the USA and it was killing the team financially. Actually the books were a blood red mess and the team was about ninety thousand in the hole. President Phil Iddon “When Anita took over the books we were in the hardest and darkest of times financially but she got us on track and made sure all of our obligations were taken care of without exception.”

Anita was Treasurer for eight years Vice President for two years and was the Sport BC Presidents Award winner this year. A pretty good hockey resume except that the Ghostriders are just a small piece of it. Palmer was also a Fernie Minor Hockey Executive for ten years and President for two, East Kootenay Minor Hockey President for five years past President for two and Treasurer for seven years. Not bad eh, now add Chairperson for the BC under 17 program for two years and the Manager of the “Team Kootenay under 17 Team” for five years. A pretty good life in hockey. We wish you all the best in the future Anita.

AND FINALLY -I personally wish to thak Dale Nicholson for the outstanding job he did speeding up the meeting. GH