Westfort Hockey held their Annual Meeting on May 29, 2025. Thank you to those who attended.
I’d like to express my appreciation to all who contributed to making the 2024-25 season one of growth and prosperity for our Association.
The 2024-25 season saw a change in the minor hockey landscape in the city of Thunder Bay, with almost all the associations that were operating under 7 through under 13 hockey programming becoming members of the Port Arthur Minor Hockey Association. It was a season with many successes and collaboration. The members have begun the process of reshaping the delivery of minor hockey programming through collaboration and consensus. Work has begun to build the policies for hockey operations and there is a lot of work ahead as we standardize under 7 and under 9 programming among the most important projects. Westfort is an integral member and leader in the process in building the foundation of what will become the most important hockey Association in the city.
In November we hosted our annual tournament, the IceBreaker. It has become the unofficial kickstart to the Thunder Bay Hockey Season and was once again a great success. U18AA was introduced to the IceBreaker and quickly became a success with 5 out of town teams participating. We will attempt to add the U15AA division again this year, with a Winnipeg organization offering to send 3 to 6 teams to participate. .
In late Summer of 2023, we launched the Junior Director program offering opportunity for individuals 15 to 24 years old a chance to work alongside our executive and learn the back room operations of Minor Hockey. Westfort is committed to finding the next generation of leaders and the Junior Director program has been a huge assist in this endeavour. Thank you to William Genyk and Aimee MacArthur for their contributions this season and will be returning for the 2025-26 season.
Also congratulations to Merissa Currie for taking a Junior Director role and will be an on ice assistant with the organization in 2025-26.
Our First Junior Director, Kyle Costa assumed the Association Clerk role in 2024-2025 and will be the Vice President - TBMHA division in 2025-26. Thank you for stepping up Kyle and Congratulations.
Following our growth by 3 teams in the 2023-24 season, Westfort Hockey Association grew by two teams in the 2024-25 season. Our growth came and the foundation as we operated 4 teams in each the Under 7 and Under 9 division. Strength at the beginning age groups is critical to the growth of an organization. We must express our gratitude to those stepping up to volunteer as Managers and coaches. Thank you to the new faces to the organization. These groups complemented our returning volunteers that provided stability and strength. Operating 14 teams made Westfort the largest organization among PAMHA and TBMHA members.
Thank you to the parents, guardians and supporters of our teams during the 2024-25 season. Thank you for your faith in the Westfort hockey Association to provide your player an enjoyable hockey experience. The prime objective is to instill a love of the game into players that drives their desire to play the next season.
Thank you to our incredibly dedicated Association executive. Countless hours go into planning and preparing a season of hockey. I have been blessed to work with an incredibly competent team, a pillar of strength in the hockey community.
Welcome to our new executive members: Vincent Riccio, who will be assuming the role of Association Clerk. Mark Shedden will bring his expertise to Westfort, adding the Tournament Director to his portfolio.
Tim Dowling and Ken Ritson join the board in Director roles
Special thanks to our outgoing board member, Vice President Eric Donaldson who has served many roles with Westfort, the last two as our Vice President - TBMHA division. Thank you for your countless hours over so many years that contributed to building Westfort into the association with a solid reputation that it has become.
We look forward to continuing our successes in 2025-26
Thank you,
Lex MacArthur