The Altona Minor Hockey (AMH) Association held its Annual General Meeting earlier this month.

AMH President Jason Pilkington said successes for the season included good tournaments and strong participant numbers.

"We've been able to have teams at all levels, right up from initiation at 5 and 6, all the way up to our bantam program. Unfortunately, we didn't have a midget team this year, but were able to have some players join a Morden team," said Pilkington.

He noted there were roughly 160-170 participants including the novice, midget, and initiation group.

"That's probably the way it's been for the last few years, and staying steady if not growing a little bit, which is exciting for us," said Pilkington.

There were a few changes that set the year apart.

"This year we started with having the novice half ice program that ran from October to December, that was a change," Pilkington said.

He adds the coaches did a great job understanding the setup and making it successful for the kids.

"The other piece was adding a referee mentor program to our novice and atom ages," said Pilkington, adding it's good for new and young refs to have support when it comes to dealing with coaches and parents.

Pilkington said they're looking at making this mentor program run even smoother. Another item will be to make the canteen run as smoothly as possible as well.

"Previously teams were responsible for a certain number of games to find parents to work (the canteen)," said Pilkington. This past year, however, all parents were put on a list and scheduled at random.

This system worked well for the most part, but it was hard to find replacements when a volunteer wasn't able to make it. Another issue included parents being scheduled to volunteer the same day their child had a tournament.

As for this upcoming year, Pilkington said spring registration will start in June.

Incorporating development and fitness skills is also being discussed. Aside from basic hockey skills, Pilkington wants to incorporate more injury prevention training and learning how to take care of your body during a long season.

In terms of costs for the upcoming year, the AMH hasn't made a decision on their fees yet.

"We realize that hockey is an expensive sport," said Pilkington. "We're always looking for ways to keep it as low as possible."