Lucas Punkari
The Fort Frances Girls & Women’s Hockey Association put the wraps on another season Friday night at the Memorial Sports Centre.
“It’s bittersweet, in a way, to have this year come to an end,” FFGWHA president Ron MacKinnon said during the annual awards ceremony.
“We’ve had a really good year and are numbers are growing to around 130-140 players this year, which is up about 15-20 players from last year,” he noted.
“And we also had a lot of success for our girls playing around Northwestern Ontario and northern Minnesota.
“To hear about the teams coming back from all of the tournaments, in all age levels, and to hear about the success that they all have had this year is pretty unbelievable,” MacKinnon enthused.
In addition to the players, two of the association’s long-time coaches were honoured Friday evening as Stuart McIvor and John Pierce were awarded the Tracey Coran Builder Award for their contributions.
“They are two guys that bring everything they have to the league, and their love for the game comes through even if they have no ties to the league,” MacKinnon explained.
“Like they said during their speech tonight, they get more from the girls than anything else,” he noted.
“And they go about the house league games the right way by promoting such things as fair play.”
Both McIvor and Pierce, who split the coaching duties for the Super 8 PeeWee team, expressed surprise at being honoured with the award.
“It was completely unexpected, and it was not something that either of us really expected to be chosen for,” McIvor remarked.
“We don’t define ourselves by whether we win or lose, but how we progress during the course of the year, and that is what keeps us both coming back,” he stressed.
“We both really enjoy the interaction and the opportunity to teach and mentor the kids,” Pierce added.
“One of the things that is most satisfying for us each year is not only to see the girls progress their hockey levels, but also their leadership and their character levels,” he said.
Two players came away with multiple awards Friday.
Abby Plourde picked up a pair of PeeWee MVP accolades from Super 8 and the NorFab Flames competitive squad.
Bantam player Hailey Beaudry, meanwhile, took home the most dedicated player honour for the BDO Stars as well as capturing the most improved player award for the Fort Frances 14U Leafs competitive squad.
The rest of the MVP winners were as follows:
•Fort Frances Timbits (Novice)—Lauren Penney
•Calder Legal Eagles (Atom)—Kamryn Singleton
•Rolling Lake Lightning (Atom)—Meghan Bruyere
•Fort Frances Kaemingh Esso (PeeWee)—Emma Noga
•Lakewood Tire Eagles (PeeWee)—Annalise Hayes
•BDO Stars (Bantam)—Kate Parsons
•Skates & Blades (Bantam)—Madisyn DeGagne
•Fort Frances 14U Leafs (Bantam competitive)—Jessica Coran
•Pharmasave Wildcats (Midget)—Allison Brown
•ACO Electric Chargers (Midget)—Chantal Jodoin
Preparations already are being made for the next FFGWHA season, with the annual general meeting set for next Tuesday (April 10) at 6:15 p.m. at the Ice For Kids Arena boardroom.
“We put out the invitation twice tonight [Friday] for people who want to come out to attend,” MacKinnon noted.
“A lot of people have a lot of opinions on what they would like to see done,” he said. “But when they have an opportunity to have heard their voice heard, they don’t take advantage of it, which is why we’re opening it up for people to come and attend.
“I don’t expect there will be a lot of big changes, but you never know,” added MacKinnon.
