By Marcia Love
Cypress Cyclones fans may be disappointed by the leave of absence the team is taking this year, but the board of directors are hopeful the team will be up and running again the following year.
The board made the decision to disband the team for a year at a meeting on June 16.
Blair Holmes, president of the Cyclones, said board members were facing challenges in organizing fundraising events for the team.
“We have enough board members, but we were getting burned out,” he explained. “It takes a lot of work and it’s a lot of fundraising.”
The Cyclones began playing in the Prairie Junior Hockey League five years ago, but Blair noted because it took two years to organize the team some board members have been on the committee for seven years.
“They just get tired when they’re doing (fundraising) year-round,” he said.
Fan support was also a factor in the decision.
“The fans were down quite a bit this year,” Holmes said. “If you don’t have fan support, you have to do more fundraising. It all adds up in your bottom line.”
Bob Dybvig, president of the Prairie Junior Hockey League, said there was a league-wide dispersal draft of the Cyclones players at a scheduling meeting on June 27.
As the 12 board members step down, discussions on the team returning in 2011 are in the works.
Al Fournier and Sean Chapman hope to take over the position of president and vice-president of the team.
“We’re planning to take it over and try to form a new executive,” Chapman explained. “Anything further than that is still being worked on.”
Although he is disappointed by the teams leave of absence, Holmes said it is a necessary step.
“It would be nice to keep it going continually, but sometimes you just can’t,” he said. “But we’re very positive. (Fournier and Chapman) are hopeful they can get something together, so it’s looking good.”
Chapman said anyone interested in sitting on the executive committee can contact him at 662-4543 or Fournier at 662-2871.