The Annual Meeting for the Dover Youth Hockey Association was held this past Monday, May 15th at the Dover Ice Arena.  The DYHA Board of Directors and Director of Hockey Operations gave a number of reports during the meeting, including a review of the 2016-17 season, an overview of the organization’s current finances and operating budget for 2017-18, as well as plans for organizational improvement in the coming year.  

Elections were also held to name new Board members to 3 vacated positions.  The Board thanked departing members PJ Bandouveres, Mike Aceto and Sean McIntyre for their service to the organization.  They also noted that Bandouveres will continue to serve as the DYHA Referee in Chief.  Following a nomination and vote, the Board welcomed new members Jolynn Seaver, Craig Croteau and Perry Plummer.  (Members Marc Behan, Scott Hamel, Samantha Grace and Jeremy Forest will continue their terms on the Board.)

Following the Annual Meeting the newly formed Board of Directors met to elect officers.  The executive board for the 2017-18 season is:

President- Jeremy Forest

Vice President- Marc Behan

Treasurer- Scott Hamel

Secretary- Samantha Grace

Meeting Notes:

Calling the 2016-17 seaon a year of “significant transition for DYHA”, Board President Jeremy Forest touched on a number of topics during his report to the members in attendance.  He highlighted the many changes in the organization’s leadership, which started last March when Mike Young accepted the role of Director of Hockey Operations and 5 new members joined the DYHA the 7-person Board of Directors.

He talked about the new partnerships that DYHA has formed to foster player skills development.  These include agreements with Premier Hockey to provide skating skills, Puckstoppers LLC for goaltending skills and PRVN Sports Performance which will continue to bring a ‘total athlete’ approach to player development with their dry land and synthetic ice training program.  The Board also thanked Ray Terrell, Chris Hitchcock, Zach Cobb and Fred Strum for managing the DYHA skating skill program during the 2016-17 season.

Forest also reviewed DYHA’s current finances, highlighting the work that was done over the past year to manage operating costs, increase revenue and improve cash flow.  He noted that improvements in these areas, and a focus on the collection of past due payments owed to the organization, enabled DYHA to pay off much of the debt that was carried over from previous seasons.  He also stated the Board’s expectation that DYHA will continue to move in a positive financial direction and anticipates operating with a small profit in the current fiscal year.

The success of several fundraising programs was cited as a significant contributor to the organization’s improved finances.  DYHA’s first annual golf tournament was a major success, as were the DYHA ‘Night at the Whitt’ UNH Hockey game and a new partnership that increased revenue from the Heyliger tournament.  

The organization’s Bingo game was mentioned as continuing to be a major contributor to DYHA’s fundraising efforts.  Forest noted that 2016-17 Bingo revenue far exceeded expectations.  The Board thanked Kathy Gilpatrick, Bingo coordinator, for the great job that she has done managing the program for the past 20 years.  DYHA’s bingo game is celebrating its 20th year later this month.  A celebration is planned at Seacoast Bingo over Memorial Day weekend with special door prizes and refreshments during the DYHA game days (Saturday and Sunday).

Looking to the future, Forest discussed plans for improvement in 2017-18, which include a continued focus on communication.  The implementation of SportsEngine as a tool for messaging, tuition tracking and online payment processing has been success and the Board will continue to look for ways to keep members well informed.

The plan to hire a part-time Program Coordinator to support the Director of Hockey Operations and Board was also discussed.  The Coordinator will manage a variety of administrative tasks and organizational initiatives..

Mike Young, Director of Hockey Operations, discussed the performance of our Granite State Wild and Dover Stars teams in 2016-17.  He highlighted the Stars Peewee 1 team, who won their Granite State League Championship, Dover Stars Bantams winners of their Seacoast League Division, the Wild Mite Majors and Dover Stars Mite Development White team who reached the NHAHA Mite Championships in their respective tiers, and the Wild Squirt Major team that reached the finals of the Premier Tier of the New England Premier Hockey League.  

Young also noted that participation remained consistent throughout all levels of the organization. For the 2017-18 season DYHA will again field 10 full-season teams, along with 2 split season teams (Bantam and Midget) and a Mite Development program.  

Marc Behan, DYHA Vice President and Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee, reported that there were no significant disciplinary issues during the season.  The committee did not hold any disciplinary hearings during 2016-17.

Behan also presented the DYHA operating budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year.  He reviewed the organization's profit and loss statement from the previous year and the adjustments made in the 2017-18 budget to ensure financial stability.

Finally, PJ Bandouveres, DYHA’s Referee in Chief, discussed the implementation of a new schedule management software this past season. The new system streamlined communication and provided various additional benefits for the scheduler and referees, including providing reminder notifications that helped to reduce scheduling challenges.  

The meeting adjourned with a thank you from the Board to all members who attended.