Greater Miramichi Female Hockey Association gets more help on the ice

(Photo courtesy/ Dax Silliker)

MONCTON -

The Greater Miramichi Female Hockey Association is winning more than just games right now after receiving a $25,000 donation to help their club.

It’s a welcomed boost for the teams that is still sinking in for Dax Silliker, the Greater Miramichi Female Hockey Association President.

“When I received the news, I was at school and I got the email that said we were in the running, then I got a phone call from the same lady that said ‘congratulations you won,’ which was only a couple of hours later, and I’m like ‘what!’ and then my brain went ‘$25,000! Wow this is amazing,’” he said.

The grant came from the Kruger Big Assist program, which is designed to subsidize player enrollment fees and get more athletes out on the ice.

Six associations were chosen.

"Sports, and especially hockey in Canada, hold significant value in the overall growth and wellbeing of our children, which is why we’re thrilled to support more Canadian families and help kids participate in the game they love,” said Susan Irving, CMO of Kruger Products in a press release.

Right now the Greater Miramichi Female Hockey Association is made up of 75 players with a U11, U13 and U15 division.

Silliker says registration fees climbed $100 this year due to rising costs and he is always looking for ways to provide financial help.

“I took the 75 girls, divided by $25,000 is about $400 a girl or so,” he said. “So at least it will help the families and that’s the biggest thing.”

He says he never realized the sacrifices his parents made as a hockey player growing up.

Now a father with kids in hockey he is happy to find a way to make the sport more accessible for everyone.

He says with the price of almost everything on the rise, it’s a really big help.

“People might say it’s only $25,000 or it’s only a couple hundred dollars per player, but you have no idea how much that helps people when families are dishing out $6,7,8000 to have their girls play,” he said.

The money is earmarked for registration costs and Silliker says the association still needs to figure out all the details.

However, he says first thoughts is to give it to the players who will be returning from this year.

“It’s a short term solution to the situation of our economy right now, but it also makes us look long term a little bit more,” Silliker said.

“It makes us look to be like ‘we have to try get as many possible grants and things that will do just that. That will support our girls development’ and the way that we support our girls development is getting them into hockey, keeping them in hockey, making it easier for families to get their girls to the rink,” he added.

While winning the $25,000 was almost unbelievable, there is another $50,000 on the line through the same program called Second Assist.

The Kruger Big Assist program will pick from the original six recipients, including The Greater Miramichi Female Hockey Association, on April 13th.  

“if we ever were fortunate enough to get that, we’re going to have a lot of different areas that we work on like purchasing equipment for girls that don’t have equipment that want to try hockey, because that’s one of the biggest up front costs,” said Silliker.

He says he also wants to bring in more female officials and coaches, clinics and finding a way to get more first nations players involved.

“I told our parents a couple of weeks ago, to me, our association is the best model there could be for any minor hockey association simply due to the fact that we have the best of both worlds,” he said.

“We have a program that we don’t have cuts, everybody that signs up can play, we’ll put the girls on a team so we have a big range of abilities,” Silliker added.

While the money is exciting news for the association and the families, Silliker says the girls are most excited to showcase their club and be on TV through a promo they shot with TSN, which is expected to air on April 4th.