Jason Wild walks through the doors of Memorial Arena holding two equipment-filled hockey bags, with summer in the rearview mirror and winter that much closer.
It’s the start of a fresh season at the Penticton Minor Hockey Association and a new beginning for more than 475 local youth.
Wild, the association’s current coaching coordinator, opened those historic doors every September the same way he did 25 years ago.
He was a defenceman for the BCHL’s Penticton Panthers, playing alongside future NHLer Duncan Keith.
Before that, he laced his skates inside the Memorial Arena dressing rooms and threw on one of his hometown PHMA sweaters.
“We tell today’s kids about our glory days at the rink,” Wild said with a laugh, referring to his longtime friend and current association president Kiel Gatenby, another former Panther and PMHA alumni.
Gatenby and Wild represent two of the more than 250 volunteers in Penticton today who help keep the city’s minor hockey association functional. Half of those people, they said, grew up in the South Okanagan and once played for the association themselves.
It’s not uncommon to see a grandfather coaching his grandson, as a result.
“It takes a whole group of people to make this happen,” Gatenby added. “From coaches and safety people to coordinators and managers…there’s a lot that goes into this and it’s quite intensive.”
A new minor hockey season in Penticton doesn’t start without all that work. There are meetings to attend and ice time to schedule, even through the summer months.
Every minute of it is worth it, they said. And it doesn’t always happen in the name of loving hockey.
“We’re trying to give these kids a positive environment to not only develop as players but as people, too,” Wild said. “Giving the kids an avenue to be on the team and create bonds, friendships, and memories.
“That’s what it’s all about.”
Gatenby and Wild lived through it as local players themselves. They recalled their own PMHA coaches in the 1990s helping shape who they are as people today.
“There’s a long history of hockey and community here,” Wild said. “It’s those things that benefit you for the rest of your life.”
Enrollment for the 2023-24 PHMA season is up from the year before. Around 475 players suit up across 26 teams.
Gatenby and Wild said the association is continuing to thrive. After all, a Penticton without minor hockey is almost unthinkable, they agreed.
The female division, though, is where PHMA has seen “massive” growth over the last five years.
As of January 2024, there are around 10 female teams. In 2015, there were only four.
“A lot of people are doing a lot of work on the female side,” Gatenby said. “It’s becoming more popular and it’s growing the game even more in Penticton.”
