The Battlefords AAA Sharks, pictured here in action. (File photo/battlefordsNOW)

By Martin Martinson

Hockey business

Battlefords AAA Sharks looking ahead to AGM this month

Jul 2, 2020 | 2:26 PM

The Battlefords AAA Sharks will hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) July 14.

Taking place via the online platform ZOOM, the meeting will cover customary topics outlining the financial standing of the team over the last fiscal year, while the club will also be taking applications for additional board members.

While official financial numbers have yet to be released, Sharks director Dave Amson said he’s been very pleased with the team’s ability to run a compelling on-ice product while staying within budget.

“Our treasurer is still working through [the numbers], but we’re definitely going to be in the positives, we’re not going to be in the negatives,” Amson said. “Some of the other teams are probably the other way around, but I think we have had a really good returning management group, so I think we managed the team exceptionally well. Our manager watched expenses very well so we were well within budget all the time.”

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Staying within budget is no easy feat for any AAA hockey organization, and it is perhaps made more impressive considering the increased schedule the team had to account for last season.

The Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League (SFU18AAAHL) moved from eight teams to seven ahead of the 2019-20 season, with the subtraction of Melville. This led to each remaining team picking up an additional two games to account for scheduling purposes.

Despite a bit of a rebuilding year that saw the Sharks post a 7-20-3 record on the season, Amson said the team was confident heading into the playoffs. The group was hungry to make a run and finish the season strong, prior to the postseason cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All expenses considered, the organization may have saved some money due to their run being cut short. However, Amson said given the circumstances, the team decided to use some of their savings to partially reimburse the players’ parents/guardians.

“We saved on some [potential] practice times, busses, hotels, and meals, so we actually reimbursed all the parents some of the money,” he said. “We don’t run a zero budget, but we just thought that was the right thing to do.”

The start of the upcoming SFU18AAAHL season is still to be determined, but Amson said he would not be surprised at all to see the season start a bit later than usual.

“We’re thinking that it’s probably going to be getting pushed back a month at least,” he said. “Even our fall camps are supposed to be in August that we’re sort of planning, but it sounds like now the earliest that would be is maybe September, but nothing’s definite yet.”

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1