There will be games each day this week and next week in the U15 and U10 age groups as the Yorkton Ball Hockey League is officially underway.
A complete schedule can be found at the www.pointstreak.com web site as well as some player listing. Games tonight (Wednesday) include Jolt (white) vs Soundwave (grey) at 7 p.m., at Kinsmen, followed by the Rampage (black) vs Red Alert (red) at 8 p.m.
Teams have been designed and are available online, says Dean Crossland, president of Saskatchewan Ball Hockey.
Players can keep track of their own statistics throughout the season, says Crossland via email to the paper.
Scheduling has the U-15 league playing their games between 7-9 p.m., on Monday and Wednesday nights and the U-10 league will be playing between 6-8 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Crossland said he is still looking for coaches and timekeepers, which is a paid position.
He said the league's start date had been pushed to this week from its original start date which had been slated for last Monday night at Kinsmen Arena.
Says Crossland: "This (has been) our biggest problem and up until today we were under the impression jerseys would be ready for Monday (May 2). After speaking with our sponsor, due to suppliers' issues and screenprinting, will push our start date to May 9."
He added that he felt it was important to not start the first games in Yorkton without fully dressed teams in uniforms, adding that "starting the league without uniforms would be unprofessional".
He said the league games should be a start for this week.
"Although we were set back a week, it is important we have everything organized and in place to have a well-structured, organized and fun first-year league."
With things seemingly ready to go, Crossland said he is still hoping for a few more coaches to help out. Three teams are still without coaches (U10 Pitbulls, U15 Red Alert, U15 Jolt, U15 Rampage).
He noted that coaching in ball hockey requires much less work then its ice hockey counterpart.
"Ball hockey is much different then ice hockey in terms of coaching. There are no practices and much less responsibility, which includes: being an adult presence in the bench, making sure the kids are getting equal floor time and having fun, explaining some hockey knowledge to kids who aren't quite sure yet (i.e. offside).
Crossland requests that anyone looking to help out by becoming a ball hockey coach can send an email to [email protected], putting 'Yorkton coach' in the subject line.
In regards to timekeepers, Crossland says timekeepers are expected to put in eight hours a week and he is looking for 1-2 individuals to help to work the clock and input stats (very easy). Saskatchewan Ball Hockey is paying $13/hour to start.
