ESTEVAN — The Estevan Minor Hockey Association is grateful for the support it receives from small businesses in the community.
President Stephen Truman said the organization receives a lot of donations from small businesses every season.
"We need to support our local small businesses, and in turn, we hope they support programs for our youths that are going to help grow our youths and foster those youths in becoming good employable adults. And from there, maybe they return the favour by becoming a small business owner themselves down the road," said Truman.
The most high-profile way in which small businesses support minor hockey is through the naming rights for teams. But the business community also provide merchandise for teams such as hoodies and jackets that foster camaraderie, and these community leaders support tournaments by providing food and drinks for teams, and coupons for visiting families. Companies also provide prizes for tournament raffles.
"There's lot of stuff behind the scenes that, unless you're involved in the EMHA event, you might not realize how important our businesses are to all of us," said Truman.
A lot of the team sponsors are small businesses, too. Truman said they're very fortunate to have support from the local business community.
Earlier this year, the EMHA announced a naming rights campaign for its house league teams, starting with the U9 division. Within a couple of weeks, all seven of the teams had a sponsor for a five-year commitment.
"It went very well, probably better than I expected. We're very pleased, so now we're focusing our attention on finishing some of the other divisions for next season."
Teams in the U9 division will be known as the Estevan Cubs and will be differentiated by the team's corporate sponsor. Those in the U5 and U7 divisions will also carry the Cubs name. House league teams in the U11 and U13 age groups will be the Bears, and the U15 and U18 teams will be the Bruins.
Truman said the EMHA can never thank the business community in Estevan enough for all of their hard work. They recognize these businesses are spending their hard-earned dollars to support local minor hockey teams and other organizations.
"Very rarely do we get turned away from businesses in Estevan. It's an incredible place to live and do business," said Truman.
