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Whitby Fre Press, Wednesday, May 12, 1993, Page 23 LETTER: Frustrated over lack of ice time To the Editor'. I arn wrting in response ta Carol Parker's letter Of frustration (The F'ree Press, May 5 issue) about the hockey registration policy. Ms. Parker cannot be as frustrated as the volunteers who serve the community by running a hockey program in the first place. The frustration should be directed at the Town of Whitby for the lack of ice time available ta our children. I have just completed my fourth year as ice scheduler with the hockey association and se I may have a few interesting farts for Ms. Parker. We have over 1,100 children re* stered with our association agd we accommodate as many as physicaliy possible. I have negotiated with the Town for as much ice as is available, but we need more. Our teams are forced te use 6 te 8 a.m. ice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the winter seasen. Would you like being up at 5 a.m., or carlier, on a Monday morning, mid-winter, ta take your son to hockey arnd then rush him home se that he can go ta school? Oh, and you may need te get yourself ta work as well. Our teams aise start practising at 4 p.m., five days a week, necessitating car pools, as how many of us are home at 4 p.m.? We practise until il p.xn., so by the time our children are home and in bed it's easly midnight on a school night. And our weekend ice starts at 5 a.m. Only se many hockey players can be on the ice at one time, and we only have se much time. Therefore, at the end of a season, we give our players a registration forrn ta pre-register for the next year. Many familles do not take advantage of this and se they must line up for open registration in August. Everyone has the opportunity to line up and register, but we only have se xny vacancies because the Town cannot provide us with enough ice time. Imagine the frustration for parents whose sens have played for four years and they line up for August registration and are told that we have filled our registration but wiIl put them on COME IN FOR A PLEASANTLY SURPRISING DEAL! 1993 Plymouth Aeclaim G ET 5.9% Oldest Established Chrysier Dealer In urhm1Rgio a waitng Iist. The blame is not with the volunteers who do the best they can. We have over 1,100 familles in our association and every year at the annual meeting, we are lucky to get an attendance of 20 to, 50 people- Unfortunntely, many pel are quick te complain before understanding the situation. Our 1,100 familles should be making a noise ta get a new ice surface.* Leslie Tackney Brooklin-Whitby Minor Hockey Association I..THLETI.. C0 STEEL 4*LASCOj NINEHOLE SCENIC EXECUTIVE PAR 29 GOLF COURSE TORM NT WLsME-sULY STOC ED ROSHO (at 2:3Opm there wiII be a short game seminar) For more information cail: 433-1506 or 885-8639 875 Taunton Rd. W., Oshawa Just west of Thornton Rd.