Dear Mary-Margaret McMahon City Councillor, Ward 32 and the Ted Reeve Arena Board

I wish to express my disappointment and confusion at the Ted Reeve Arena Board’s recent decision to allocate Monday evening ice time to the North York Hockey Association at the expense of The Ted Reeve Hockey Association.

Young people between the ages of 16 and 18 are traditionally underserved in this area. This is a critical time to keep young people off the streets and participating in healthy programs; however, as a result of this decision, 128 young people in our community will be without a place to play hockey and will lose touch with the community organization they’ve grown up with.

The arena board’s suggestion that this age group could play on Sunday mornings is unrealistic. 58 Years of experience serving this age group has taught us that most of them have part time jobs and can’t play on Sundays. In 2012/2013, we were expanding this division from six to eight teams due to increased interest in the community. Moving to a Sunday morning will kill the program as quickly as had the arena board offered no alternatives.

Furthermore, the loss of 128 places in the Ted Reeve Hockey Association will threaten the sustainability of the entire hockey league. Already a volunteer run program, the hockey association simply can’t recover from losing 128 places – 128 registration fees. It is unconceivable that one of Toronto’s most historic leagues could fold after 64 years because of one bad decision.

We should be choosing to support true community organizations like Ted Reeve. Not dismantling them through short-sighted and arbitrary political decisions that affect our young people in the worst possible way. We urge the City and the Arena Board to reconsider do what’s right for the future of the young people in our community.

Our children aged 16 to 18 are asking for their ice-time back and we support them. Please reverse this decision and give our kids a place to play.

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