Golden Suns preparing for tryouts next month

By Cole Parkinson
Taber Times

While summer is still here, Taber and surrounding area hockey players are chomping at the bit to get back on the ice. Come early September, the Taber Golden Sun ‘AA’ hockey teams will be hosting their tryouts for the 2023-24 season.

This year, the Golden Suns will welcome a new program — the U11 ‘AA’ team. Hockey Alberta worked with minor hockey leagues across the province to operate this new program for the new season and they announced the category of U11 AA, officially, for 2024-25 and beyond.

The first iteration of the team will see Braden Dyck as the head coach. Dyck was born and raised in Coaldale and has coached throughout the past 15 years from U7 to U15. Tryouts begin for the U11s on Sept. 4 and Sept. 6 from 6-7 p.m. The tryouts will then resume on Sept. 7 from 9-11 a.m.

This year’s U13 team will see Josh Wiest take over as head coach. Wiest hails from Enchant and has been a coach in the Vauxhall Minor Hockey system for the previous six years. Tryouts for the U13s begin on Sept. 3 and Sept. 5. Group A goes from 6-7 p.m. while Group B follows from 7:15-8:15 p.m. Both groups then take to the ice on Sept. 7 from 11:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Groups for U13 will be announced before Sept. 3.

Jeremy Kenyon returns to the U15 Golden Suns for his third season. Kenyon has coached for both the U15 and U18 ‘AA’ teams in the past along with the Coaldale Copperheads Junior ‘B’ team from 2014-2017. U15 tryouts start on Sept. 4 and Sept. 6 from 7:15-8:15 p.m. The team then heads back out on Sept. 7 from 2:45-5 p.m.

The U18s will see a familiar face return to man the bench this season as Lynn Degenstein is back for his ninth season. Degenstein has coached all three levels in the past, this being the fourth at the U18 ‘AA’ level. U18 tryouts kick off on Sept. 4 and Sept. 6 from 8:30-9:30 p.m. The tryouts wrap up on Sept. 7 as the team hits the ice from 5:15-7:45 p.m.

This season, the Golden Suns will play in the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) after previously being under the South Central Alberta Hockey League. This change comes after it was announced Hockey Alberta had been working alongside minor hockey associations in the province — the Northern Alberta Hockey League, South Central Alberta Hockey League, Hockey Calgary AA League, and the AEHL — to unify the three pre-existing AA leagues under the AEHL.

“The expansion of the AEHL to include AA in the elite model is due to the collaboration and engagement of associations and members in the Hockey Alberta system,” said Aaron Rawlake, Elite Commissioner in a press release. “The AEHL is excited to welcome the AA stakeholders and players to the AEHL with a commitment to exceptional service. Hockey Alberta will continue to provide the premier destination for all levels of elite hockey in the province and we look forward to continuing work with our innovative partners to continue to grow our game.”

For more information on the AEHL, visit https://www.aehl.ca/