HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-05-27, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2010.Ironmen’s future depends
on council decision
Sports
The Wingham Ironmen don’t have
much of a future without further
help from the Township of North
Huron.
This was the situation painted by
President of the Ironmen Bill
McGrath at North Huron’s regular
council meeting on May 17.
“It’s been a couple of rough years
for most teams in this area to raise
money and the junior team is no
different,” he said.
McGrath was seeking aid from the
town as, to make this year happen,
the group needs the town to take a
wait-and-see approach to getting the
funds from the organization for ice
time.
Currently the team is
approximately $9,000 in debt
according to Director of Recreation
and Facilities Pat Newson.
“Some of that debt is from [2010],
and some of it is from 2009,”
Newson said, explaining that, last
year, the team had split its payments,
some towards the remaining debt,
and some towards icetime in the
2009-2010 season.
“The problem is that they are
increasing their debt and we don’t
want to set them up to fail,” Newson
said.
The balance from the 2008-2009
season was $7,244.47, added to
2009-2010 rental costs of
$12,988.46, the final amount due at
the end of last year was $20232.93,
of which, the Ironmen paid between
$10,648.43 and $12,248.83. There
were discrepancies between what
had been paid out and what had been
received between the Ironmen and
the Township. Either way, the debt
was growing.
“Add on to [the existing debt]
another $13,000 approximately, and
then the Harmonized Sales Tax, and
the debt is going to continue
growing,” Newson said. “And we
want to make sure the taxpayers
aren’t paying for the debt of any
group.”
The Ontario Hockey Association
needs a schedule of icetimes to
prepare the 2010-2011 Junior season
in early June, according to McGrath,
and he didn’t want to book icetime if
existing stipulations remained on the
team.
McGrath said that it would be
possible for the team to nearly pay
off its future expenses and current
debt if fundraisining and sponsors
were lined up as the team hoped, but
was hesitant to provide a business
plan outlining estimated revenues.
“It’s easy to say we hope to get
$20,000 from our fundraisers,
sweater sales and home-game
sponsors, but things don’t always go
that way, especially with economics
the way they are now,” McGrath
said.
“We’re asking council to bear with
us this year,” McGrath said. “We’ve
put together a list of volunteers,
several fundraisers and packages to
find season and sweater sponsors,”
he said. “But it is very tough to ask
for sponsors when we don’t know if
we’ll have a facility to play in.”
McGrath was speaking to the fact
that the Township had previously
stated, in correspondence, that the
team would not be allowed on the
ice until bills were paid.
“We’re not talking about 12
months worth of ice time in advance
here,” Newson said. “We’re asking
to have the money for rentals by the
end of the month preceding the ice
time.”
McGrath said that, even if they
could raise the money, they won’t
see the funds from sponsors until
September and reiterated that the
OHA needs to know “two and a half
weeks” from the date of the
meeting.
The fundraisers the team is
planning on running are a ball
tournament in early July and a
barbecue and auction in late July, as
well as, in future years, picking up
the minor hockey school currently
run by Wingham Minor Hockey.
McGrath said the team would also
try and pull more players in from
local centres, including Blyth,
Brussels, Teeswater and Howick, to
try and generate revenue from
sponsors in those areas.
Councillor Archie MacGowan
said, in response to McGrath asking
for council to work with the
Ironmen, that they had been working
all along.
“We have been trying to work
with you,” he said. “And in light of
us trying to help in the past, I would
like to see a business plan outlining
how you expect these events to go.
“I don’t want the team to get
further behind,” MacGowan
continued. “Get the information in
as soon as possible, including
projections from the fundraising and
the gate.”
When asked if the team could
completely pay off the debt this
year, McGrath said that it is possible
if they make playoffs.
“The Ironmen have been here for
37 years, and we’ve had bad seasons
before, but it’s a great tradition,”
McGrath said in his closing
remarks. “Even in a tough year, the
Ironmen were able to pay $10,000
back to the town.”
Reeve Neil Vincent said that
council will revisit the matter at a
later date.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Liftoff
Holly Howson clears the high jump bar during Blyth Public
School’s track and field competition, held May 18.(Denny Scott
photo)
U16 Boys start with
a win and a loss
The U16 boys have started their
2010 soccer season recording a loss
and a win. The first game they
played was in Goderich on May 5
against a team that just came to the
game a little sharper, faster and very
well positioned.
Blyth could not shut down their
aggressive shots on net and seemed
to struggle to gain control of the
ball. Goderich outplayed Blyth and
walked away with a well deserved
win by a score of 4-0. On May 12,
Blyth travelled to Clinton to play
against Clinton I and played a much
different game of soccer. After a
solid practice and some players
shuffling positions the Blyth U16
boys came to see how they would
fare against their next opponents.
Blyth came out strong and outshot
their opponents in the first half, but
Clinton’s goalie kept making the
saves and stopped Blyth from
scoring.
Blyth had a chance to regroup and
catch their breath at the halftime
mark and in the second half, forward
Skylar Geddes passed to Greg
Roetcisoender who shot the ball into
the net and scored Blyth’s first goal
of the season.
Blyth then took advantage of a
corner-kick opportunity and sent the
ball in front of Clinton’s net. The
ball was touched by several different
players, before Blyth’s Murray Dale
connected with the ball that was in
midair and headed it into the net for
a final 2-0 score..
Keeper Wyatt Bearss did an
awesome job in net and earned a
shutout. Defensive players Zach
Drost, Micah Nonkes, Matt Porter
and JanPaul VanDorp had a great
game clearing the ball out of their
end and limiting the shots on net.
Murray Dale, Joel Pizzati, Nate
Plunkett, Kody Tacheur, Greg
Roetcisoender and Leendert
VanDorp did a great job in sending
the ball up the field to the forwards.
Forwards Hunter Broda, Derek
deBoer, Marc Dery and Skylar
Geddes showed nice ball control.
A leg up
Kaylin Campbell gets a leg up on the high jump competition
during Brussels Public School’s track and field competition
held on May 18.( Denny Scott photo)
Splashdown
Justin Gibbons sends the sand flying during a jumping
competition at East Wawanosh Public School’s Track and
Field event on May 19. (Aislinn Bremner photo)
Co-ed Slo-Pitch
Tournament
June 4, 5, 6
ETHEL
First 12 teams
accepted
Sponsored by
“Kyotes Ball Team”
Call Steve 519-292-1163
K