The rivalry between Yorkton and Melville is no more 鈥� in female hockey at least.
The Melville Minor Hockey Association and Yorkton Minor Hockey have joined forces and have announced the Parkland Female Hockey Program.
The two programs have combined into one in order to offer continuity to the female athletes and their teams.
Fred Schrader is the vice president of Yorkton Minor Hockey and one of the coordinators of the Parkland Female Hockey Program.
鈥淸The teams] have operated independently up until now,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his will give a smoother transition between age groups.鈥�
The Parkland program will include the PeeWee Parkland Fire, the Bantam Parkland Crushers and the Parkland Midget AA Lions.
Schrader said the plan for the female program has been underway for a long time, but has come into fruition over the past few weeks.
In the past, the female teams have been governed by parents who had to organize the team. Schrader said having this official program will give players and parents a unified place to come and seek information about their teams.
The hope is to maintain long-term sustainability and stability for the local female hockey program. A press release from last week stated that both associations (YMH and MMH) believe it鈥檚 important to offer a combined program, and to work in conjunction with the Melville
Prairie Fire Midget AAA team. This will ensure the Parkland Female Hockey Program feeds into the Prairie Fire program. Everyone sees this as a win-win situation.
The Parkland Female Hockey Program will consist of players not only from Melville and Yorkton, but from other centres in the surrounding area.聽 All female players are invited to register and participate with the program.聽 Affiliate player opportunities are also available.聽聽聽 聽
聽The Parkland female teams will be playing out of the 麻豆传媒AV Saskatchewan Female Hockey League.
