Our first ever virtual Annual General Meeting was held on November 5th.
Dana Harvey was elected Director of Tournaments. Alison MacDonald (Director of Volunteers), Jorden Sleeth (Treasurer / Secretary) and Mark Thompson (Director of House League) will serve for another term.
Dear Hornets families,
Our first ever virtual Annual General Meeting for the 2019 / 2020 season was held on November 5th. I would like to thank all members for their participation in our programming from Tyke to our Ladies division, from House League to our High Performance Program!
The 2019 / 2020 season will be remembered by many as the season that was ended by a pandemic. The season we did not see our tykes skate out to celebrate their first year with the Hornets on Championship Day. The season our House League teams missed their Championship Day and many of our rep teams were qualified for Provincials and the Lower Lake Championship Weekend's that never were. It was the season no rep tryouts were allowed. We appreciate and share in the disappointment and frustration this has caused but that was not all this season was!
Let's take a moment to remember some of the achievements and highlights of the 2019 / 2020 season:
- Our Junior Hornets won the 2 Nations Cup and all our graduating seniors went into university opportunities with one of our players choosing to play rugby instead of hockey! 4 of 5 of this season’s seniors chose to return to the Junior Hornets and one of them opted to start university early.
- Our 42 House League and Development Stream teams enjoyed hockey with their friends and success at many tournaments.
- Our 24 rep teams represented Oakville from Novice B all the way to Senior AA medaling in many out of town tournaments.
- Our Harvest Classic tournament was, once again, sold out early and the largest rep girls only tournament in Canada.
- Our House League tournament was, once again, sold out early and the largest girls only House League tournament in Canada.
- Our Best of the Nest (Bantam AA and Midget AA) showcase was, once again, sold out early and visited by scouts from Canada and the US.
- We were proud to host the Professional Women's Hockey Player Association (PWHPA) during our House League tournament with many National Team players from Canada and the US in attendance. Sixteen Mile Sports Complex's olympic size rink 1 - the location of last season's preparation games for the World Juniors - was filled to capacity demonstrating once more the interest in and potential of women's professional hockey. The Hornets would like to thank the PWHPA for allowing us to host this game and are hoping to see you return as soon as we're allowed to host tournaments again.
- Many of our teams hosted and participated in charitable events with local partners like Kerr Street Ministries, Hockey Cares or the Oakville and Milton Humane Society. We were joined by Grindstone Award staff at our House League tournament and were able to collect enough donations to fund two full grants for girls to play hockey this season.
- Our membership remained stable at just below 1.200 members - thank you for joining us on the ice and for over 60.000 likes and comments on our social media channels!
- Our volunteers were, as always, the heart and soul of our association. From assessment skates to tournaments - thank you, we could not run this association without you!
Dana Harvey was elected Director of Tournaments. She joins us with many years of experience in minor hockey and tournament organisation. Alison MacDonald (Director of Volunteers), Jorden Sleeth (Treasurer / Secretary) and Mark Thompson (Director of House League) will serve for another term.
Please join me in congratulating Dana and thanking Alison, Jorden and Mark for agreeing to serve for another term. My special thanks go to Barry Gervin for serving on the Hornets board as Director of Tournaments with so much success for four years. In addition to this role he also served as convenor and has been a strong advocate encouraging our U18 (Midget) aged players in taking on roles as coaches for our younger age groups.
My sincere thanks go to our membership, coaches, staff, officials, volunteers and my board members for helping me close out a successful 2019 / 2020 season and navigating into uncharted waters with much confidence in this season amidst a pandemic.
Mike Turczyniak
President of the Oakville Hornets
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Dana Harvey's bio:
I come to the Oakville Hornets from the Oakville Rangers Hockey Club. I spent 12 years organizing their annual Christmas Rep tournament, 5 years their January House League Tournament, and was on the Board of Directors for 6 years. I was also a Rep manager for 9 years in addition to being a Hockey Mom. Before that, I was on the Board of Directors of Skate Oakville for 6 years, 3 of them as President. I have spent a lot of time at the rink! I’m grateful to the Hornets for giving me the opportunity to share my tournament experience.
