For the first time in nearly a decade, U18 hockey is returning to MacGregor. Brett Davey, President of the MacGregor Minor Hockey Association, made the announcement on Facebook a while ago, and the organizers are now waiting to find out what league the team will be playing in.
Davey outlines why they are coming back now.
"I think it's just been the fact that we've had a group of kids now come out of the U15 age. We got about six or seven kids here in McGregor that have already hit that age group or just hitting that age group. They're not going to have a place to play. So, a couple of the parents and I have decided to look into starting this team here in MacGregor," Davey continues. "There's no high school. Hockey close by that we can affiliate with due to limitations from the High School league about the number of kids and schools that they draw. And I believe Portage is kind of in the same boat at the West Park School as well as there's kids that aren't playing the AAA program or PCI High school hockey that still want to continue their minor hockey career. So, we figured this would be a good Ave. for them to extend that career for another. 2-3 years."
Davey notes that there will be some involvement from himself, due to his family's connection to the team.
"My oldest son is at that age level where he's going to be getting into the U18 group next year, so I will probably end up being one of the assistant coaches, or one of the coaching group as well."
The team will feature a well-known logo and team name in the community, which has been used at many levels of hockey over the years.
"We'll be called the MacGregor Mustangs. We do have existing uniforms or uniforms, some teams in the past, so we do have that here and ready to go. It's just going to be deciding which league we enter or join and them accepting us. We probably won't know that until the summertime when they have their either year end meetings or maybe in September when they have their beginning of the year meetings."
Davey adds that they will hold tryouts once those decisions have been made.
"At that time, we'll be able to start tryouts depending on the number of kids. Most of those leagues only allow you to roster 17 kids, plus 2 goalies, and so we'll be limited to that number. So far, the response has been quite surprising actually. We've got about 19 kids who are tested at this time, and I think there's still a few more out there who would look to join this."
Davey also points out that the group is hoping to start a U15 Girls hockey team as well, and that any players from the region that are not playing at the AAA or High School level are welcome to try out.