The Jr. Collingwood Blues will have new rivals starting this fall.
After the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) opted to eliminate BB, CC, DD classifications for smaller hockey centres earlier this year, the Collingwood Minor Hockey Association (CMHA) had an important decision to make: move down a half category to B, or up a half category to A.
After consultation with their board, the league decided to apply to move up to the A category, which was recently approved by the OMHA.
“It’s exciting. We’ve had our most recent rebrand, which was very successful. Now, with transitioning into better A hockey, I think it’s an exciting time for our centre to be put on the map with better competition,” said Collingwood Minor Hockey Association President Dave Epp.
Starting this fall, Jr. Collingwood Blues players will likely be part of the York-Simcoe Minor Hockey League, and their new rivals will be teams from Hwy. 400-adjacent municipalities such as Barrie, Orillia and Markham.
Under the BB classification, the league was part of the Georgian Bay Hockey League, with rivals from municipalities such as Wasaga Beach, Parry Sound and Huntsville.
“Our registration numbers were adequate to fit into the A loop. We see Collingwood as having tremendous growth with families and kids being involved in sports,” said Epp. “We feel we’ve been very competitive at the BB level throughout the province. We’ve had a lot of successes. We feel our calibre of hockey is ready to take that next step.”
With a bigger league comes bigger opportunities for players, and Epp said Collingwood players will rise to the occasion. He pointed to mixed cohorts being a part of smaller centres where teams were comprised of age ranges, which meant that sometimes younger players didn’t get as much play time when they were on the same teams as older players.
Under the A classification, that won’t be an issue.
“Now, in this system, 13-year-olds only play with other 13-year-old players. Before, older kids always had a better chance to make that team,” he said. “It’s better for development and it’s better for safety.”
Other benefits include simplification of the overall system and a reduction in travel time for the players.
Overall, Epp is looking forward to the opportunities afforded by the switch. He said players that were looking to be challenged would previously have had to play for other town centres, but now, those opportunities are at home.
“I think this is great timing for Collingwood. With our growth, I think Collingwood’s the perfect catchment area to have an A team,” he said.
“This will also help retain Collingwood players who wanted to play at that higher level but over the last few years have been going to other centres to play. They’re returning to Collingwood,” he said. “We’re excited about the opportunities it provides for a higher level of hockey for our kids.”
