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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, May 16, 2013 | 30 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" OJHL for charging Tired of bleeding red, junior A teams will introduce pay-to-play model next season by Jon Kuiperij F tise for one-and-a-half hours and your game ice is $750, it adds up pretty quickly. Beaver Sports Editor "Plus, we have to pay our coaching staff and equipment guy. Our budget is nothing ans won't be the only ones paying crazy, about $300,000. But there's nothing to get into Ontario Junior Hockey coming in." League games next season. Paid attendance remains a major issue Players will be, too, after the junior A loop for the OJHL, particularly in the GTA. Even recently removed a bylaw that prevented though the Blades drew the most fans in the teams from making players pay to suit up league, averaging nearly 600 per contest, for an OJHL franchise. many of those tickets were free. A formal announcement of the change in "We're only pulling in roughly $1,200 on policy has yet to be made by the OJHL, but a game night. That's just enough to pay for league officials have confirmed to the Bea- our game night," said Harvey, who dropped ver that teams will have the ticket prices this past season right to choose what fee their in his first year as Oakville's players will pay, with no maxiGM. "That doesn't cover any mum imposed on the amount. of our practices, staff, equipOakville Blades general manment or anything else." ager Duncan Harvey said his Another challenge the squad has yet to determine OJHL faces is the lack of how much it will charge, but subsidy from higher leagues. suggested it would likely be According to Harvey, OJHL between $3,000 and $4,000 teams receive $1,500 from for the upcoming year -- in Ontario Hockey League addition to the $300 players squads when they develop a already pay to the Ontario player who moves on to the Hockey Association and $750 OHL. But OJHL teams, acto the OJHL. cording to Harvey and Savoy, "The problem we have is do not receive any reimbursethat we have three very differment from colleges or even ent distinctive business modfrom the National Hockey els in this league. You have League when players graduDuncan Harvey ate to those levels. your small towns like WellingOakville Blades general manager ton, you have more rural com"We're operating at around munities and then you have $8,000 a player. That's our the (Greater Toronto Area). cost. He plays with us, we Having one model for everybody, you can't train him up... If he gets a scholarship -- a really do it," said OJHL commissioner Marty full-ride, $50,000-value-a-year scholarship Savoy. "We need to let the onus be on the -- we get back nothing," Harvey said. "Apteams themselves to decide how to operate parently that's okay." their businesses." And business in recent years has not been Might players leave for other leagues? The OJHL's case for charging players good for OJHL owners. Savoy believes no franchise in the league turned a profit this seems clear. But how will players respond to past season. Losses for some teams are be- having to pay for something they and their predecessors have always enjoyed for free? lieved to be as high as six figures. "It's kind of a turnoff to return to that "The problem is this model," Harvey said. "The model is based on $60 an hour for ice league because it used to be free, and evand $10 wood sticks. We're paying $150 a ery year I've noticed the costs going up and stick and every kid needs six sticks (a league up and up," said Len Fabbri, a three-year minimum for teams to provide players). OJHL veteran who played last season for the Throughout the course of a season, if you Blades. "It's definitely discouraging, especially for carry 26 guys, that's a big chunk of money. Plus, paying $250 an hour for ice, you prac- the older guys," he added. "The younger The problem is this model... is based on $60 an hour for ice and $10 wood sticks. Oakville Blades player Jimmy Cusan (left) chases down Burlington Cougars opponent Jeremy Gottzmann during an Ontario Junior Hockey League game earlier this year. The league will soon formally announce that players will have to pay to suit up for teams next season.| Oakville Beaver file photo guys are used to paying to play. But us older guys feel like we paid our dues and we can use all the help we can get." It's not as though players don't have options. The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, a junior B circuit in southwestern Ontario, does not charge its players. Perhaps implementing a pay-to-play structure in the OJHL will result in a mass exodus to the GOJHL, which Savoy admits is "the strongest junior B loop in the country by far." But Harvey is not concerned that will happen. "Junior B is great hockey. If you want to go live in Stratford or Guelph, that's fine, but there's nowhere really around here for them to play," Harvey said. "And go look at who they play. This is stupid hockey math: `I don't cut a check so it's a great deal', but meanwhile mom and dad are driving all over the province to watch their kid play, and their kid is driving all over to get to games and practices... Very quickly, in the end, the costs even out. "The nice thing about the junior A loop is it's a GTA loop." Savoy, meanwhile, is confident that players will continue to choose the OJHL because of the exposure they receive. "I don't think kids want to risk not being evaluated and seen by scouts. We've gone from 37 teams to 23 teams (due to contraction that began in 2009), and our number of Division 1 rides has stayed the same," Savoy said. "If you're a kid looking to move on to the next level, you'll still play in this league. If you're not, maybe you'll go to junior B." The numbers back up Savoy's claim. According to league statistics from the 201112 season, 85 OJHL alumni played for NHL clubs during the 2010-11 campaign. Another 140 OJHL grads played for NCAA Division 1 squads and 165 suited up at the Canadian Hockey League major junior level. Savoy also justifies the pay-to-play model by pointing to quality assurances that will be imposed on teams next season. The league recently performed a 110-point audit on all its member franchises, ensuring minimum standards for all clubs to follow. Those resee St. on p.31