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The Altona Maroons will not be joining the Capital Region Junior Hockey League for the 2025-26 season, but all is not lot as the league will keep them in mind and could allow them to join in the near future.
President of the Maroons, Byron Loeppky, details what has been going on not just the last few weeks but it goes back further than that. "We have been talking for a while already about bringing Junior B team from the Capital Region Junior Hockey League. We've been having conversations with that league going back to a year ago. We recently heard about a month and a half ago, we heard from the league that the application we made in December was declined."
While that application was declined, Loeppky and others haven't quit, they continued to try different things but it appears as of now, nothing has changed. "We've had another three dialogues with the league taking about what seemed very promising possibilities about Altona joining the league, to them declining our application. I don't want to get into a lot of detail on the why, but I will say it had very little to do with our application. Our application was very strong, we have a lot to offer the league but there are some things going on in the league right now and they feel for the betterment of the league, this wasn't the year to accept another new team in the league. We did engage in additional conversations trying to change their mind and they've assured us for the upcoming season that it will not be a possibility. But, we haven't given up on the application yet."
Having gone through the process to this point and it appearing as though the denial has more to do with the league than the Maroons application has left Loeppky a little frustrated. "It's fair to say frustration is the word. If they came back and said they were concerned about the budget or arena concerns, or anything like that, those are things we feel like we could address. When it feels like it's things that are out of our control, it's like we're sitting back and waiting for the circumstances to be right to be able to join. That's a helpless feeling. Frustration is a good word but we're also optimistic. The league has continued to encourage us to apply again and we'll continue to have dialogue with them in the coming months, trying to ensure that if there is anything else we can be doing to improve our chances of getting in for the following season, we want to do that. We're disappointed, but we're not finished yet."
Another positive note is that Loeppky believes a lot of the preparation and leg work work leading up to them getting a team is already done, so if in the future they are allowed to join, a lot of the heavy lifting has been completed. "We really felt like we were ready to go. We had put some feelers out with a bunch of players and there was a lot of excitement not just in Altona, but from around the surrounding area. We really felt like we were ready to go. While we're disappointed with a slight delay in the start and there's no guarantee that if we apply in the following season that we'll get in on this point, we feel like that league is the best possibility to bring hockey to Altona."
Overall, Loeppky knows how important hockey is to Altona, and he as well the executive, will keep on doing what they can to bring have a CRJHL team represent their community. "Altona has had such a deep, rich tradition in hockey. Going back to the Sr. Maroons team that was the only founding Southeast Manitoba Hockey League team that actually remained through all years, until we had to take a pause last season. We know it's important to people, we know it's a gathering spot when there are fewer things to do. We don't have to win championships but we do have to be competitive. I think everyone wants to see a competitive team. This has been tough but it's allowed us to go back to our roots. The Maroons have been a grooming ground for local players and being a part of a junior B team in the junior B league, would get us back to the roots or building junior hockey players for the beyond. We would love to do that and at this point, our focus is on the CRJHL."
Loeppky is quick to say he's not the only one fighting this fight. "I can't say enough about the executive we have. They've been pushing this. There are a lot of people behind the scenes who have been working awfully hard to make this happen. We have the team to get this done, we just need the window to open to make it happen."