Sports Column: Is it really for the kids?

It’s all for the kids.

How many times have you heard those words spoken in youth sports?

It has come up a lot more in the past year as youth hockey in Sault Ste. Marie takes what seems like a turn for the worse.

It seems the problem is that everyone who keeps saying they’re in it for the kids comes across as they are more in it for themselves and not allowing other organizations to have any power over them.

There has been talk that minor hockey in Sault Ste. Marie would be better run under one umbrella instead of having multiple organizations running their own respective leagues.

That has not ended well as it seems to continually get to the point where leagues don’t want to give up any sort of power to another organization.

Don’t believe that?

Consider that a pair of hockey organizations locally have intentions of sending large groups to the Northern Ontario Hockey Association annual general meeting, which is set to open on May 6 in Timmins.

The meeting will see the NOHA executive for the 2016-17 season set. Among those selected will be council directors for each of the NOHA’s nine districts.

In a list of executive nominations posted on the NOHA website, district 3, which includes Sault Ste. Marie, is currently the lone district at the time of writing that will have a vote as two men are currently listed. Dan Raycroft, who has been involved with the NOHA for many years, is the incumbent while the other nominee is Derek Crowell. Crowell currently serves as the Soo Pee Wee Hockey League’s NOHA contact director on its board of directors.

The fact that two organizations are sending groups to the meeting strikes me as each trying to get their way at the meeting.

I understand the premise that the groups are looking out for what they think is best for their own organization. The problem is, with all the issues that have gone on in the past season, it strikes me more as a way for one organization to make sure the other doesn’t get its way.

As those involved continue to attempt to convince the public that they are in it for the players, some of these issues strike me as strictly a power struggle.

I have to wonder how honest the statement of being “in it for the kids” really is.