Message from the Rangers Chair – May 2010
It is with great enthusiasm that I take on the position of Chair of the Gloucester Rangers. For some of you I may be the new ‘face’ of the Rangers but for others who have gotten to know me over the years this is another role in the organization I have taken on. The Rangers have been my second ‘family” for more than six years now (maybe it is seven… lose track when you are very involved!) and along the way I have held a lot of different positions… tournament director, public relations, hockey operations and now Chair. In addition to my work with the Rangers, I have also been involved in AAA hockey with the Ottawa Jr. 67’s and as the Pee Wee House league Convener in Leitrim. It has been quite a journey and along the way I have been building what I believe is a solid foundation of ‘hockey’ insight and knowledge.
I have been privileged enough to work with three different people in the role of Rangers Chair and have acquired skills and knowledge from each of them that I bring with me to this new role. I have always said that I ‘bleed green blood’ so it is not my intention to fundamentally change the program or how we administer it. What I do hope is to continue building on our successes and applying the lessons learned from previous seasons so that we maintain the momentum.
Here are my Ranger goals for the next two seasons:
- Updated emphasis on skill development - thanks to Endeavour Sports Group we now have one of the best coach mentor programs in the City. Let’s use that program as the building block to the next step which is a refreshed skill development program to keep building our hockey program. We have great coaches who can teach and are willing to learn - let’s leverage their skills and abilities and give them an updated, common yet flexible, skill and development framework within which to work.
- Building better relationships with our partner organizations – the challenge for us is how we balance our work with our partners both at AAA and Rep B. On one hand we act as the feeder organization to AAA - in the middle we have our own core program – and on the other side we are the feeder organization for Rep B. We have made good strides in connecting with the 67’s and we now need to work more closely with the Cyclones and Rep B. We need to have a better sense of how our respective programs can complement one another so that we can improve affiliation, develop players to move up to AAA, keep our core group of Ranger players improving and in turn developing players to move up from Rep in to the Rangers. The key element in all of this is regular and increased communication - something that I am committed to working towards.
Of course, none of my goals will be possible without the support and guidance from the other members of the Ranger Board… “The Ranger Team”. I will count on their skills and experience to help me along the way… without them, there would be no Rangers program! I won’t forget that there is no “I” in TEAM…
I look forward to meeting and talking to players and parents this coming season and wish all of those players trying out the best of luck!
Jenn Primeau
Chair, Gloucester Rangers Minor Hockey
chair@gloucesterrangers.com