Board Member Reports

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Huntsville Girls Hockey Association
2025/2026 Season

As the 2025/2026 season comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on another exciting and successful year for Huntsville Girls Hockey.

First and foremost, I would like to thank our players, families, coaches, managers, volunteers, sponsors, and Board members for their dedication, passion, and commitment throughout the season. Our association continues to grow because of the incredible people who give their time and energy to creating a positive experience for our athletes.

This season brought many accomplishments both on and off the ice. Across all divisions, our players showed tremendous growth in skill, confidence, teamwork, and sportsmanship. It has been amazing to watch our athletes continue developing their love for the game while representing the Sting with pride.

Our Board spent a great deal of time this season working collaboratively to strengthen the association and continue building for the future of girls hockey in Huntsville. We worked on improving policies, reviewing procedures, supporting our teams and families, and finding solutions to challenges as they arose throughout the season.

We were also proud to continue offering a variety of programming opportunities for players at all levels, including FUNdamentals, House League, Competitive hockey, First Shift, development opportunities, and Senior C programming. Providing pathways for girls and women to participate in hockey at every stage continues to be an important goal for our association.

A huge thank you goes out to all of our volunteers. From coaching and managing teams to helping at tournaments, fundraising events, timekeeping, and behind-the-scenes work — our association could not operate without your support. Your efforts make a meaningful difference in the experience our players have each season.

I would also like to recognize and thank our sponsors and community partners for supporting Huntsville Girls Hockey. Your contributions help us continue to grow the game and create opportunities for our athletes.

As Interim President, I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside this Board and be part of the continued growth of Huntsville Girls Hockey. While there are always challenges in minor hockey, I am proud of the work that has been done this season and the commitment shown by so many people who care deeply about this association.

Finally, thank you to all of our players. Your hard work, determination, resilience, and love for the game are what make this association so special. We are proud of each and every one of you.

We look forward to another exciting season ahead for Sting hockey! 🐝💛

Sara Plant\

REGISTRAR’S REPORT
Huntsville Girls Hockey Association
2025/2026 Season

The 2025/2026 season was another strong and successful year for Huntsville Girls Hockey, with continued growth across several areas of our association.

Our association rostered a total of 213 players and goalies during the 2025/2026 season, an increase from 198 players in 2024/2025. Tryout registrations also saw significant growth, increasing from 138 registrations last season to 191 this season.

In addition, our association had approximately 113 rostered staff members supporting our teams this year, compared to 91 the previous season. This continued growth reflects the dedication and involvement of our coaches, managers, trainers, and volunteers who help create a positive experience for our athletes.

The 2024/2025 season included 10 House League Teams, 2 Competitive Teams, along with 1 Senior C Team and 1 U15 Dual Rostered Team, while the 2025/2026 season expanded to 5 competitive teams along with 9 House League Teams. This growth highlights the increasing interest and participation in girls hockey within our community.

This season also continued to showcase the importance of programs such as FUNdamentals, House League, Competitive, First Shift, development programming, and Senior C opportunities in helping provide pathways for female athletes at all stages of the game.

I would like to thank all of our families, volunteers, coaches, managers, Board members, and players for their patience, support, and cooperation throughout the registration process this season. Organizing registrations, transfers, tryouts, rostering, and team setup takes the support of many people working together, and it is greatly appreciated.

We are excited to continue building and growing girls hockey in Huntsville and look forward to another successful season ahead! 

Sara Plant

• Dawn and I hosted a coaches meeting early in the season.  It was a great way to connect and align our values and expectations to our staff.  It was at this meeting we heard a resounding call for a single unified logo across all teams in the HGHA.  We presented that to the BOD at the next meeting, and had great support in favor to make the change for the 26/27 season.  Thanks to Mike for the support and putting together the mock ups and getting the ball rolling with GSW.

• With the help from our past Secretary, we wrote and achieved BOD approval for a new House League Policy.   This will help build structure and consistency for the House League division for years to come.
   
• Initiated talks with a couple of town councilors with ties to the Sting, to revisit an outdated Town of Huntsville Ice Allocation Policy.  While this process is slow, the seed has been planted and work will continue to advocate for fair ice time for Girls hockey
   

• Held early coaching selection interviews for the 26/27 season.  With the intention of getting our House League teams rostered early to optimize August ice times, and help give the HL team staff the advantage of booking tournaments as soon as they are posted. This will ensure they don't miss out on the early season, and preferred tournaments and hotels in these towns.  

• This also allows ample time to make sure team staff, and potential team staff can get their certifications and VSC's in order well before the rush

• Recently secured (with BOD approval), the opportunity for HL Head Coaches to select their team trainer right away when possible.  This helps with a rostering technicality to ensure preparedness, early season pre skates, and ease of burden on the Registrar during the busy time of year.

• We had great engagement from our members and I am happy to report that almost every HL team has a coach secured for next season.  Announcements will be made soon.

Director of Communications Update - 2025/2026 Season

This season, my focus as Director of Communications was improving communication, member engagement, and the overall online presence of the Huntsville Sting organization.

Communications & Social Media

Throughout the season, I worked closely with team managers, coaches, and board members to ensure consistent, timely, and positive communication across our Facebook and Instagram platforms. This included promoting team accomplishments, tryouts, tournaments, events, sponsorship recognition, player development opportunities, and organization-wide initiatives.

Key accomplishments included:

• Increasing overall social media traffic and engagement by approximately 1200%
• Creating and managing regular content updates across Facebook and Instagram
• Promoting a positive and professional online presence for the Sting organization
• Monitoring social media activity to help ensure comments and discussions remained respectful, productive, and appropriate
• Supporting team managers with sharing team content and increasing visibility for all divisions within the organization
• Helping improve communication consistency between the board, teams, and membership
• Assisting with promotional materials, announcements, and graphics throughout the season

Board & Organizational Support

As part of the board, I also participated in discussions and collaboration surrounding organizational improvements, policies, communication strategies, and member engagement initiatives throughout the season.

Additional areas of support included:

• Assisting with competitive coaching announcements and communication
• Supporting tryout communication and scheduling updates
• Promoting player development initiatives such as First Shift
• Assisting with sponsor recognition and community engagement
• Helping create a more connected and supportive Sting community culture

I am proud of the growth we saw this season in communication, engagement, and overall visibility for the Huntsville Sting organization, and I look forward to continuing to support the association moving forward.