The NexSource Centre in Sylvan Lake. (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

DEMAND EXCEEDING AVAILABILITY

Sylvan Lake sport associations seek solution to ice time shortage

Feb 13, 2025 | 11:06 AM

Sport organizations in Sylvan Lake for hockey and lacrosse are seeking assistance from the town and town council to address a shortage of ice and recreation space.

Three letters were presented to council during its Jan. 27 regular meeting on behalf of the Sylvan Lake Minor Hockey Association (SLMHA), Sylvan Lake Recreational Hockey Association, and Sylvan Lake Lacrosse Association.

In their letter, the SLMHA suggests transitioning the current curling rink in the NexSource Centre into a third sheet of regulation hockey ice as a potential solution to the availability issue.

The group adds that it is already at capacity and, rather than turning kids away from registering, is trying to share ice where possible — causing a trickle down effect to lower tiers — and relying on rinks in other towns to support its AA program.

SLMHA says utilizing the surface currently used for curling could help it accomplish the following goals for the community:

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1. Allow SLMHA to offer the proper number of ice times at full capacity for development members.
2. Allow SLMHA to house all West Central Tigers (WCT) AA practices in Sylvan Lake during the week. This year, the group has been spending about $600 per week on ice rentals outside of town for its AA program.
3. “Bring the girls home,” giving the Wildcats a permanent home in Sylvan Lake and stability in their program. There are currently six Wildcats teams, who would account for 12 practices per week and about $1,350 of revenue for ice rental.
4. Offer home tournaments to SLMHA teams, which would fill an estimated 16 weekends of ice on the additional sheet alone, as well as drive money into the local economy to hotels, restaurants, etc.

The Association states it would be willing to commit $25,000 up front to the project, with a further commitment from a group of associations to fundraise another $100,000 over the first two years.

Sylvan Lake’s Recreational Hockey Association also says it is facing challenges in accessing adequate ice time, preventing it from expanding its services and properly aligning with Alberta Hockey’s recommended guidelines of an ice-to-practice ratio.

The group adds that a lack of adequate ice times affects player confidence, agility, ability and learning the fundamentals of play. Altogether, the result has been resistance from coaches, decreased support from families and players not attending scheduled ice times, leading to financial losses for the league, it says.

The Sylvan Lake Lacrosse Association’s letter echoed the call to convert the curling rink as a potential solution to “the massive shortage of facilities” available for youth sport leagues.

On behalf of the association, Chris Jervis says Sylvan Lake Lacrosse is currently a leader in the Central Alberta Lacrosse League (CALL) in growth and player development, and had nearly as many registrants as Red Deer last year. As a result, Jervis says the group has been recognized by CALL as a front runner for a new hub team in the A division, an expansion that’s projected to occur in the next three years. Without adequate floor space, Jervis fears Sylvan will be bypassed for this expansion.

The association is prepared to financially contribute to a solution, whether that be a new arena, field house, or multisport ice covering. Jervis says it has also joined the coalition between the figure skating club, recreational and minor hockey to raise an additional $100,000 over two years if a transition is announced.

The president of the Sylvan Lake Curling Club, Wanda Moon, responded to this joint request with her own letter to council and the mayor on Feb. 10, reminding them that the club contributed more than $600,000 to the development of the NexSource Centre through grants, donations and a conservative land sale.

She also noted the club has been around since 1928, making it one of the oldest in the country.

Moon says curling attracts anyone from ages eight to 88 and is much more affordable to lower income families than minor hockey, which she adds is often given precedent in ice time allocation.

The club already loses three weeks of its season to bull riding and, due to a lack of staff, ice is frequently unavailable on its contractually set dates, says Moon.

“The request to have the Sylvan Lake Curling Club removed from the facility without any intention of reinstating us elsewhere signifies a lack of attentiveness or involvement in the interests of our community,” Moon states in the letter.

The Club holds nothing against minor hockey and hopes a general resolution can be met, Moon concludes.

Council has asked administration to compile information to inform further decisions on this matter, including usage statistics, revenue and loss comparisons, relevant historical information and details on past agreements.

Sylvan Lake Mayor Megan Hanson says this conversation is in the very early stages and no action can be determined yet.

“These types of decisions are planned out many years in advance with a whole lot of data and thought behind them, and we’re certainly not making any big moves in the current time,” she says. “We don’t have anything budgeted for any changes to our ice services in town here over the next number of years, and we do our capital planning at least five years out.”

Hanson adds that the town knows it needs to increase ice surfaces to accommodate population growth, but the data will show when the right time for that expansion is, especially given its current capital priority of upgrading water infrastructure.

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