THE HISTORIC GOHA CONTINUES STRONG AFTER 40 YEARS

OUR HISTORY

I have been asked over the years how did the Grimsby Oldtimers Hockey Association come about.

In the Fall of 1983 Jim Wright, the Director of Parks and Recreation approached groups of ice users to see if there would be enough support to keep the old arena open. Many groups stepped up to take ice in the old arena. A meeting was held at the home of Don Wilson to discuss a plan going forward.

The individuals involved were Bob Harrison, Jim Henderson, Mike Lipischak, Ron Weaymouth and Don Aindow. Jack Lovett was added to the board of directors in 1986. It was decided at this meeting that two groups would evolve playing Tuesday and Thursday night for a total of 8.5 hours.

The two groups formed were the Grimsby Oldtimers Hockey Association and the Grimsby Peach King Legion Oldtimers. Our mandate for the Grimsby Oldtimers Hockey Association was to provide a fun but competitive drafted league for the residents of Grimsby. This group was led by Bob Harrison President and Charlie Larson Treasurer. The other board members were Mike Lipischak Vice President, Don Wilson Secretary, and Jack Lovett.

The Grimsby Oldtimers had only one sponsor the Jaskula family and they were a great fit with us for over 38 years. In April of 2022 Ted and Sandy sold their property and Simon Duong stepped in to continue the legacy of Teddys and be our sponsor.

The Grimsby Oldtimers played their first games in the old Barn as it was affectionally known on January 10th, 1984. The timekeepers that night were Frank and Denise Schilte and Dennis MacPherson. Dennis is still with us today. The arena staff that night were Bob Liddle and John Speedy Prevost both legends around Grimsby.

The GOHA has grown from a six-team league of every calibre of hockey player to 14 teams. Today we have three divisions with 210 players all playing on Tuesday night. The divisions are the All-Pros 35+ competitive, Silver Elite 45+ a little slower and Legends 55+ competitive mixed skill levels.

Bob Gibson put our first GOHA website together in the late 90s.John Mogford revamped the web site over the past few years. Prior to these two gentlemen getting us into the modern age my wife Sue was the go-to person for spread sheets and schedules.

The organization has had only 3 Presidents over our 39 seasons of operation. Bob Harrison 1984 to 1999, Dave McConeghey 1999 to 2014, and Craig Broijer 2014 to present day.

The rest of the board is composed of Sean Woolvett VP Operations, didn’t want to be referred to as Secretary, Charlie Larson Treasurer, Blair Gentle Registration and John Mogford Web Master. Vaughn Warrington, David Harrison, Rob Jaques and Don Prodeus are the Division convenors. Kelly Droughan is the Referee in Chief replacing the legend, Danny McDonnell.

Fast forward to 2024 and Phil Somers is now our head referee. There are so many other people who have assisted our league over the years and to them Thank You. Volunteers are our greatest assets and make this such a great league to play in.

Yours in hockey,

Charlie Larson

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