100 Mile House wants junior hockey travel funding to be a team effort

Every team in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League wants to win the championship, but as the 100 Mile House Wranglers found out, winning doesn't come cheap.

As last year's champs, they represented B.C. in the Western Canadian Championship and came away with a $30,000 travel bill.

After hearing about that, 100 Mile House Coun. Dave Mingo would like each of the 20 towns and cities with a team to chip in $500 for a travel fund.

So far, his efforts to make that happen have been shut down, but Wranglers president Tom Bachynski says other cities should at least consider getting on board.

"We bring a lot of economic value to every town as well. We bring a lot of bed stays, a lot of meals, a lot of purchases from out-of-town players, out-of-town parents," he told Radio West host Audrey McKinnon.

"As soon as you hoist that championship, you start paying bills."

'Wrangler Nation' comes through

So far, Armstrong and Kimberley have formally rejected the idea.

Kimberley Coun. Albert Hoglund says his fellow councillors felt it wasn't a good use of taxpayer dollars and the KIJHL, itself, should be the organization to fund team travel.

Bachynski says he understands the logic, but many KIJHL teams are community owned, and the B.C. Hockey Association and Hockey Canada don't provide them with funding.

To make ends meet for the Western Canadian Championship, they needed some help from the fans.

"We put a call out to what we call 'Wrangler Nation' for assistance and people were coming in with $20, $100, whatever they could," he said.

"But then we had this contingent of parents and fans and friends that went to Regina to watch the games, and they kind of took over feeding the boys."

Going forward, Bachynski agrees junior hockey leagues need to work together to find stable sources of funding, so players can enjoy the sport without worrying about costs.

​With files from CBC Radio One's Radio West

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