News

By Michael Hayakawa

Mike Humphreys has a plan.
Given time, the Stouffville Spirit director of promotions and game day manager, remains optimstic his vision will benefit the Ontario Junior Hockey League club.
While Humphreys would like to raise the club’s profile within the boundaries of Whitchurch-Stouffville and through cyberspace, he hopes it will translate into additional funds to enable it to operate near or above the break-even point.
For most tier two junior A clubs, that would be a welcome sign.
Rejoining the Spirit for a second tour of duty during their playoff run last season, Humphreys received the green light from the current ownership group to implement some initiatives.
That was a far cry from when he first served with the Spirit from 2000-05 as a director and assistant general manager, he said.
“In the past I always had a number of ideas, but not all of the owners were on the same page,” said Humphreys, who was Whitchurch-Stouffville Minor Hockey Association president for four years. “Now, all of the owners are letting me do what I feel is right. They’re allowing us to work with a plan.
“And right now, I have a three-year plan in my mind where I think it can go.”
Among some ideas he incorporated included the debut of youth hockey camps during the Christmas holiday school break and another one during the upcoming March break.
At those camps, Spirit players, members of their coaching staff and other specialists from outside the organization, interact on and off the ice with campers who might have aspirations on one day playing at a higher competitive level.
Based on what transpired at the Christmas holiday camp, Humphreys was quick to note they did not lose money.
Earlier in the year, the club was involved in the Terry Fox run and staged a fundraiser that featured guest speakers that included TSN radio personality and Stouffville native Mike Richards and Markham minor hockey coach Paul Titanic.
During the school year, several Spirit players worked with elementary school students by reading to them in the classroom or by walking groups to school.
The club’s on-ice success has also helped in Humphreys’ grand scheme of things as he said attendance at the Stouffville Arena is up close to 20 per cent as compared with a year ago.
He also revealed marketing sales has jumped to $80,000 from $36,000.
In attempting to raise the club’s awareness through cyberspace, Humphreys reported the club revamped its website and has close to 1,600 individuals on Facebook and just over 300 on Twitter.
“That allows us when we have games, to Tweet scores and other statistics like shots on goal and if there’s been any scheduling changes,” he cited as examples.
The club has compiled close to 1,000 e-mail addresses, which it can use to inform people of any club happenings.
While Humphreys is just in the first year of his plan, he was pleased with what has transpired thus far.
“Sure, there’s a few areas where we have some challenges ahead of us. But we have something things we hope to put into place moving forward,” he said.
The ultimate objective though, is to assist the club from a financial operating perspective.
“If we can get things to where the club isn’t losing as much money, it would allow us to reach out to the break-even point that’s our objective – to enjoy the game we all love.”

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