AA AAA Restructuring Continues
As part of our mandate to keep everyone informed of the upcoming program changes, the committee formed by Hockey Winnipeg to restructure the AA and AAA programs has worked diligently over the past few months to propose and pass eight significant motions leading up to the following changes for the 2024-25 AA/AAA hockey seasons:
The first, to use established area brands, the naming for both the AA and AAA teams will be Bruins, Thrashers, and Wild within the following zone structures:
- Bruins –Transcona, St. Boniface and St. Vital
- Thrashers –St. James, Seven Oaks, Lord Selkirk, and River East
- Wild – South Winnipeg, Fort Garry North, and Assiniboine Park
The second, the number of teams per zone has been set at:
- (1)-U18 AAA, (1)-U17 AAA and (2)-U15 AAA
- (2) –U18 AA, (4)– U15 AA and (4) –U13 AA
- Fourteen teams per zone in total
The AA/AAA committee will review the number of teams and zone structures on an annual basis and may alter the results based on the number of player registrations provided from the previous year. The goal of the committee is to create an integrated high-performance hockey program that will allow for all players to play at the appropriate levels.
The third, is that a coach’s selection committee has been formed and has started the process of identifying coaches that are currently involved in the AA/AAA programs. In the coming weeks, the formal coaching application process will begin, and an online application form will be hosted on the Hockey Winnipeg website. Individuals are encouraged to complete the application process promptly as final coaching selections will be announced in early May.
The fourth, is tryouts will continue in a similar fashion as previous years, starting with the U13AA, U15AAA, U17AAA and U18 AAA teams. Once these team’s progress through the selection process, U15AA and U18AA tryouts will begin. Coaching staffs will be responsible for their own teams’ selections and will work with the coaching selection committee to ensure the number of players, number of teams and coaching staffs are following the Hockey Winnipeg guidelines on finalized roster cut off dates.
The fifth, see’s the Coaching and Development committee working hard to ensure in-season development will be provided to all teams as part of the overall program, with the exception of U18 AAA and U18AA. Development sessions for the U13AA, U15AAA, U15AA and U17 AAA teams will be part of their in-season practice schedules and will be focused on overall player development.
The sixth, a sub-committee has started negotiations with key area/zone facilities to put ice requirements in place for the upcoming season. With both the AA and AAA programs working together, this combined approach will allow for substantial game, practice, and skill session schedule improvements. The goal being to establish fixed dates and times for both games and practices to allow for better family planning, tournament play, and other sports commitments. The number of games and practices will be similar to existing programing and the committee will constantly review the overall commitment by team, age, and zone.
The seventh, is understanding what the base budgets will be for all teams for the upcoming season. Once the base budgets are approved, each team may supplement their overall budget for increased number of practices, cost of travel (accommodations, meals, buses) for out-of-town games or tournaments. Maximum tournament costs, locations, and entries will be established and communicated to coaching staffs prior to the season start. Each team will be responsible to set up their own bank account under a master account for that is set up by the Committee Treasurer for each division.
The eighth, request for proposals (RFPs) have been sent out for equipment, and financial services for the AA teams. Each proposal will be reviewed in the coming weeks with commitments being made by the middle of March. The colour schemes, logos, and uniforms are based on the current AAA colour palette and new uniform mockups will be provided in the next communication.
As always, additional volunteer support and committee participation is needed to ensure a seamless transition to the new structure. Committee members may contact current volunteers to gauge their interest in being part of this exciting new program council.
As the AA/AAA Committees continue to harmonize the programming and more details confirmed, a new update will be published to help keep the general public informed as to our progress and when actions will need to be taken to register for the 2024 – 2025 season.
