Puslinch will not be providing a subsidy to the Guelph Jr. Gyphons Girls Bantam A Hockey.
Team manager Nadia Tonin had written to council requesting a 50% subsidy of rates to use the gym at the Optimist recreation centre.
Tonin stated the Guelph Jr. Girls Hockey Association Bantam A team is a team of 13 to 14-year-old Guelph girls.
“We believe that young girls benefit from organized Sports like hockey. It helps to instill confidence, respect for themselves, teammates and opponents, responsibility and pride as representatives of their home city, Guelph,” the letter stated.
During a June 7 council discussion councillor Matthew Bulmer said that in the past, council approved subsidies for teams that largely serve the local community.
“I am not quite sure how this meets with that test,” he said, adding the Gryphons were associated with the University of Guelph and Guelph Sports teams.
Mayor Dennis Lever agreed the correspondence does not indicate this is a local group.
Councillors did not favour the subsidy.
Lever suggested there may be Guelph facilities where the city may choose to subsidize the team. He said Puslinch rates are reasonable and suggested the request may have been motivated by lower rates at the Optimist gym or the team being unable to rent city facilities.
