WFHA Members:  -

As you know, this past spring the West Fargo Hockey Association (WFHA) hired Jason Gregoire to be the first ever Hockey Director.  He brings not only a new type of hockey knowledge and experience to our program, but is also working to improve the operational excellence of our organization. The following outlines the new structure of our organization under Jason’s leadership, including new committees and roles.

Scheduling & Curriculum for Games, Practice, Tournaments & Camps:  To better ensure the season’s schedule fits the objectives of the program, maximizes our ice time and aligns to the needs of varying age levels, Jason has assumed all responsibilities for scheduling, including practice, camps, tournaments and coaching curriculum. 

New Hockey Operations Committee: This new committee will assist Jason with the hockey program and it will be led by Ryan Endres, VP of Hockey Operations.  Also participating will be one association member and coaches from each WF high school program.  The main objective of this committee is to deliver the best possible experience for your hockey player(s).  Watch for more information in the coming weeks about this season!

New Tournament Committee: This new committee will assist Jason with tournaments and it will be led by Corey Moos, Director of Tournaments. Several association members will also participate on this committee who’s long term goal is to increase the number of tournaments hosted by the WFHA.

The above operations were previously led by Tim Capouch and Ryan Griggs.  Tim will continue a long-dedicated contribution to the WFHA by representing West Fargo High School on the new Hockey Operations Committee.  Ryan will be leaving his role as coordinator, coach and camp director to pursue hockey interests outside the WFHA, including programs such as the NDAHA Tier program.

New Dryland Training:  To better leverage our resources and provide the kids with 360-degree coaching by transferring on-ice observations to off-ice training, Jason has created a new dryland training program that utilizes each team's existing coaching staff. 

This aspect of our program was previously administered by Parker Metz.  Parker has shifted his athletic training skills to programs outside of WFHA such as the NDAHA Tier program.

Like Jason, several of the new WFHA Board Members are just getting started on taking the plan for operational excellence to the next level:

Fundraising & Gaming:  After a flurry of activity with the Elk and Gun Raffle Eric Nelson, Director of Fundraising and Gaming is in full swing.  Jason Campbell, Gaming Manager for the WFHA, and the gaming staff have been instrumental in assisting with Eric’s transition.  Many people are unaware, but our gaming staff consists of 40-45 employees for the WFHA.  Eric will be reaching out this fall for volunteers to join a committee in this area. 

Facilities & Equipment: Brent Kuehne, Director of Facilities & Equipment has been busy since taking office and has formed a new Facilities & Equipment Committee.  This committee includes WFHA Board and Association members who have spent a considerable amount of time working with West Fargo Parks and will have some exciting news coming soon!  Brent is also meeting with West Fargo Public Schools to make sure we are completely aligned with both facilities on program objectives, how we promote our partnership and promote our community and hockey program. 

Business Operations: Anthony Houkom, VP of Business Operations, has now assumed all responsibilities for day-to day business operations.  All these business management duties were previously the responsibility of Mark Lester.  After years of dedicated service to the program, Mark will be moving on this summer.  If you ask around, there are very few people who have worked for the WFHA as long as Mark.  His presence is visible in almost every aspect of the organization from the SportEngine contract, to our Cloud-based server, to billing, taxes, dasher board advertising and more.  We thank him for his significant contributions over the years.

Treasurer:   Previously Thomas Elliot of Thomas Elliot and Associates acted as the organization’s both accountant and treasurer.  With Josh Benson now acting as the organization’s treasurer, Thomas will be moving on to activities outside the WFHA but will continue as the interim accountant as we finish transitioning to the new operational structure.

The plans set in motion by the 2017-2018 Board of Directors to focus more on “volunteers” to run the operations than “paid” personnel are now in full swing.  Those plans also included the re-direction of operational funding back into the hockey program.  The organizational changes included in this announcement have now fully funded the Hockey Director position and align to non-profit best practices.

We want to thank those volunteers who have already stepped up to help facilitate many of the action items listed above and stress how important future involvement is by all WFHA members.  With participation like we have seen over the summer, we will achieve new levels of success.

One last note: the fact that just a handful of employees and volunteers were managing all these day-today operations, was a lot to ask...  especially in an organization that has grown exponentially so quickly.  Throughout the rapid growth, they kept all the youth that chose to play for the WFHA on the ice and we thank them for it.

Thank you,

Rob Otterson

Director of Marketing & Communications