Wheatley Sharks In Deep Water
Centre ice in Wheatley, home of the Sharks – Photo by Shelly J Quick
Organizers of the meeting have been attempting to drum up interest in the meeting through social media this week. The following is a portion of one such message, originally posted by the Wheatley BIA.
“There will be a special meeting regarding the future of the Wheatley Sharks Junior “C” hockey team Thursday, February 19th upstairs in the Wheatley legion at 7 pm. If you have an interest in helping in any way with keeping this team in the village of Wheatley then your attendance at this meeting is strongly recommended,” said the post on the group’s Facebook page.
The Wheatley Sharks prior to this season, switched their weekly home game night from Monday to Saturday in hopes of sparking an attendance boost. That attempt failed, as the Sharks finished last in Great Lakes Junior C attendance numbers averaging only 172 fans per game.
On the ice, the Sharks didn’t fare much better this season, finishing with a 17-20-0-3 record in the regular season, good for 7th in the Great Lakes before being swept by the Amherstburg Admirals in the opening round of playoffs.
Although original calls were not immediately returned, speculation has been growing that without community support, the Wheatley Sharks may be on the move to another community as early as next season.
CKSN.ca will continue to update this story as more becomes available.