With hockey season fast approaching, and meat raffles happening weekly, it’s a great time to roll out our new mandatory volunteer hours/credits.
Until now, we have managed to avoid a mandatory volunteer cheque system however, rising costs and increased workload has us scrambling to cover our volunteer responsibilities and has forced us to consider adopting a system to ensure we have enough help to make our program sustainable as it stands now. We have conducted a survey
across the league and surrounding area and have determined we are one of the last hold outs to avoid mandatory fundraising and volunteering. We believe our ability to offer affordable, stable registration fees is directly linked to our ability to successfully fundraise to offset program costs such as ice time, Officiating fees, insurance, tournament registration and equipment improvement and jersey replacement (to name a few).
We appreciate everyone is busy with the competing demands of work/life balance, other extracurricular activities and caring for family members etc. We believe sharing the workload across the association will result in a more balanced, invested, successful membership.
In the past, our fundraising has been fairly simple and minimal. Pizza kits and meat raffles being the most consistent asks. Unfortunately, we continue to find ourselves scrambling or begging for help, seeing the same few families volunteering while noticing many folks electing to forgo fundraising.
Going forward, (including the 2024-2025 hockey season) Each registration will require an accompanying $200.00 volunteer fee. This fee/cheque will be returned at the conclusion of the season or when volunteer credits are achieved. If all credits are not achieved, the entire $200.00 fee will be deposited by the Association.
If this system is not something you feel able to manage or accept, a house league model where shared practice times, tournaments and extras are not part of the equation may be more to your liking.
Let us be very clear, we do not want your extra money, we want a small portion of your time. We believe this system will provide more opportunities to collaborate, build upon our amazing hockey community and result in connections between us that can be fun and rewarding. We are confident, investing your time and energy in your player’s season will be mutually beneficial for all involved.
Thank you in advance for your time, enthusiasm and cooperation! We can’t wait to see our families back at the rink!
Structure $200 per player = 4 credits per player
What constitutes a credit?
Sell 10 pizza kits
= 1 credit (more details to follow)
Work 1 meat raffle
= 1 credit
Credits can be earned for each meat raffle you help with
Assist with Jamboree
= 1 credit
Multiple credits may be earned depending on the tasks you assist with and the amount of time you help with the Jamboree
Assist at Banquet
= 1 credit
Multiple credits may be earned by working various tasks associated with the yearend banquet
Serve on Ad Hoc Committee i.e.: Jamboree planning or All-Star Game, Spirit Day for the Board
= 2 credits
Serve on a Bench for the entire season
= 4 credits
Soccer Coach
= 2 credits **must be the summer previous to start of hockey season
As opportunities to earn credits present themselves, we will post and invite folks to sign up…however, “first come first serve” applies. If someone left until March to work on credits, they may find there are not enough opportunities available to complete their credits and PEMAA would be under no obligation to create tasks to earn credits.
*If you have specific questions or concerns, please reach out to: Jane Kennedy:
[email protected]
Jane will be tracking volunteer hours and helping us ensure folks get credit for their time and or fundraising efforts. If you have an idea or talent you wish to share around how to earn credits, we would love to hear it!