September 25th 2021
The Wellington Dukes and the Quinte Red Devils AAA Hockey organization have a long history of collaboration and partnership. This new agreement builds on that existing relationship and ties these two successful organizations together as they move forward to expanding and improving their collective organizations.
“We are very excited to complete this agreement with the Dukes,” said Tyler Longo. President of the QRD organization. “The board of directors was impressed with the concept of this relationship and really believes that recent events in minor hockey reinforced the need for this association between these two great organizations.”
OMHA recently approved open borders for all players above minor bantam which puts the onus on the AAA organizations to ensure that their organizations are elite in all aspects in order to not only retain elite players but to attract elite players who want to be part of a professional and first in class hockey club.
With this agreement the Dukes will provide on and off ice development of players and coaches, as well as assistance with sponsorship, fundraising, marketing and promotion of the organization via the Total Sports Media platform owned by The Wellington Dukes organization.
Kelly Martin, Director of the Wellington Dukes marketing said. ”This partnership will allow for the QRD volunteers to focus on the core needs of the organization and delegate out those roles that are difficult to execute on inside a volunteer group structure. The Wellington Dukes have built and continue to build a robust sports marketing infrastructure that can assist these types of organizations such as the Quinte Red Devils by allowing the volunteers to focus on the core of their organizations which are the kids.”
In return the Dukes will be able to assist with the development of these young players as well as foster the professional development of the coaches inside the QRD organization. Led by former NHL player Derek Smith, the Dukes will be intimately involved in coach mentoring, player development and organizational counselling to ensure the level of excellence developed by the Red Devils continues to improve and exceed expectations.
“The Dukes are committed to developing young local players as it only benefits our own organization. The more local players we assist with development the better our teams will be in the future. ”Smith said.
The Wellington Dukes have a rich history of moving on players to OHL, NCAA and NHL, as well as other professional ranks. Recent examples of Ben Roger and Zach Uens both graduated from the QRD organization before joining the Wellington Dukes ahead of being drafted to the NHL from their teams in the OHL and NCAA respectively.
“We feel that the Quinte Red Devils organization has made incredible strides over the last few years with incredible volunteers and supporters. This partnership with the Wellington Dukes will push us even further into the upper echelon of AAA organizations in Canada, “said Longo.
For more details please check out the recent podcast of Total Sports Quinte featuring an interview with Tyler Longo and the Total Sports Quinte team.
PODCAST INTERVIEW
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-a4fdh-10eb057
Kelly Martin /Director of Marketing /Wellington Dukes Jr A Hockey Club /Total Sports Quinte