Staff
The Fort Frances Lakers are in the red after their first season of operation in the SIJHL, but team brass is confident the club will be in a better financial position at this time next year.
At the team’s annual general meeting Monday night at the Memorial Sports Centre, the Lakers reported a deficit of $18,573.59 while the current account balance is $2,646.41.
Even with the deficit, team president Milt Strachan Jr. maintained the Lakers are in better shape than some of their SIJHL counterparts.
And he was steadfast the club would be able to pay down the debt using proceeds from a slew of planned fundraisers over the summer, beginning with a golf tournament at Heron Landing on Saturday, May 8.
“We’ll get by this deficit in no time,” Strachan vowed.
Strachan also made it clear the bulk of the deficit was a result of the team’s hasty inception last summer, which left little time to plan for the 2009-10 season.
Revenue from the six home playoff games helped the cause, especially with the team only guaranteed two.
The Lakers got past the K&A Wolverines 4-3 in the best-of-seven opening round before bowing out to the Dryden Ice Dogs in six games in the semi-finals.
Attendance at the Ice For Kids Arena for Game 6 against Dryden was 683.
“If we had gotten that all year, we’d be laughing,” Strachan remarked.
However, the Lakers struggled to string together wins for most of the regular season, and Strachan acknowledged the on-ice product must be more consistent in order to attract fans.
“We have to put some people in the seats,” he stressed. “That’s our main objective.”
Therein lies a catch-22, though. When the team has more resources available, more options open up.
“The better financially we are, the more we can make improvements if we have to,” Strachan reasoned, but added that as a community-owned team, they don’t plan to “go overboard.”
He also noted the Lakers hope to dress a number of up-and-coming local players in future seasons.
In other news, the team’s board of directors also was settled at Monday night’s meeting.
Strachan stayed on as president by acclamation, Wayne Morrison was voted in as vice-president, and Yvonne Noonan took on the position of secretary.
The position of treasurer officially remains open, although Kathi Tucker has been nominated.
Filling out the board is Wade Friesen, Everett Freeman, Kathi Tucker, Wayne Allen, Wayne Herbert, Bob Everett, and Jim Fowler.
