New Hamburg hockey team a catalyst for age limit change on charitable lottery rules

The minimum age requirement for youth amateur sports teams to apply for charitable lottery licences has been raised across Ontario.

All players on a team now need to be 21 years or younger for their organization to apply for a charitable lottery licence. That's up from 18 years old, which proved too low in the past, according to New Hamburg Firebirds President Gord Mills.

"It was two seasons ago that we ran into issues," he said. "We were alerted that we didn't qualify for licensing."

Before yesterday's changes, the Wilmot-based hockey team ran into problems from the gaming commission to host events like fundraising charity auctions and 50/50 raffle draws.

This was especially tough on community-owned teams like the Firebirds where about 25 per cent of funds come from lottery fundraising, said Mills.

Without the changes, Mills said "we would have totally had to change our process."

WATCH | New Hamburg Firebirds to take advantage of raised age limit on charitable lottery licences:

"If we didn't have the financials in place, we couldn't operate the same way as what we do today," he said.

"We have been successful. We get great crowds. We're a big part of this community and it would be a big stumbling block if we couldn't have continued on doing what we were doing."

The change initiated by the Firebirds who were directly affected by the lower age limit. When issues first arose, they contacted Wilmot council, they were then granted a temporary licence by Red Tape Reduction Minister Mike Harris, and now they're a catalyst for change across the province. 

"We're very thankful that we can continue on and concentrate on hockey and our players and our community instead of worrying about this," said Mills.

Mike Harris made the announcement Monday at the Wilmot Recreation Complex. He said that teams like the Firebirds are generally older than they used to be.

"When you look at what's happened through the pandemic you're looking at a lot of extra eligibility for players," he said, adding that it's raised the average age across all sports.

"We're going to see something that was sort of born and raised here in Wilmot Township be able to proliferate and help minor sports, minor hockey in particular."