Nipawin Hawks board member Tom Barrie chaired the organization's annual general meeting Monday night. (Clark Stork/northeastNOW Staff)

By Clark Stork

In the black

Nipawin Hawks in ‘solid’ financial shape; organization looks ahead to new season

Jun 22, 2022 | 4:11 PM

The last Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) season didn’t go as planned for the Nipawin Hawks on the ice but off it, the club is on “solid” financial ground.

That is from President Scott Anderson’s report during the team’s annual general meeting held Tuesday at the Centennial Arena.

Highlighting the agenda was the financial report that showed the club finish the 2021 season with a profit of just over $25,000 despite the club missing the playoffs. Secretary-Treasurer Tom Barrie said the organization’s financial outlook is stable even after COVID-19 and the missed playoffs.

“We squeaked out this year, we’re in decent shape and the projections for next year are very solid,” Barrie said after the meeting. “Like all team’s inflationary pressures are hitting our organization, our costs to operate go up probably 15 per cent per year. We’ve taken all of that into account and we’re solidly fundraising for next year.”

Highlighting the organization’s fundraising is the agriculture project that people and corporations donate to. Crops are planted with the team receiving the proceeds. In 2021, the initiative raised just under $80,000.

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The team also started a Christmas raffle that netted the club over $66,000. Their annual fishing tournament is back this summer after it was cancelled due to COVID.

Going into the summer and the start of the season the Hawks’ board of directors will turn their focus to six large fundraisers.

“Those are key to our organization, we just have to optimize them, especially in these inflationary times,” Barrie said.

The Hawks’ annual comedy night will be a mainstay on the Nipawin schedule as will a more formal banquet and the Pattison Media Radio Auction.

Knowing the team isn’t on thin ice financially and having Tad Kozun signed on as head coach and general manager, Barrie said there is eagerness for the season.

“We’re really excited, Tad is excited, he has a really good core group of kids coming back and he has a lot of kids coming to the community. He has a lot of ideas on how to engage these young men in the community,” Barrie said.

Kozun mentioned in his coach’s report that he hopes to have an assistant coach announced soon.

He also said the season will start the weekend of Sept. 16 and 17. The SJHL will release the full schedule soon.

Two new board members were also acclaimed at the meeting, Ryan Haight and Ashley Sproat joined the executive.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork