Elections
Every Spring elections are held for officer level positions on the Bend Rapids Steering Committee. Positions run for 2-year terms commencing the first day of the month after the Bend Ice annual meeting. The 2026 Bend Ice meeting is in April, therefore positions will start on May 1. Some positions are elected in even years and others in odd years (refer to the table below).
Elections are administered by the Secretary in conjunction with a 3rd party attorney.
HOW ARE ELECTIONS CONDUCTED?
Our club uses the Election Buddy cloud based election platform. It provides a secure, effective and flexible way for organizations to conduct votes and elections with confidence and transparency. Learn more www.ElectionBuddy.com
BEND RAPIDS ELECTED OFFICERS
HOW TO NOMINATE SOMEONE
Complete this online form to nominate someone (including yourself) for any of the open positions.
In order to be included on the ballot, nominees must provide confirmation of their willingness to serve if elected, and a short bio summary less than one page in length by the deadline.
Upon receipt of a nomination, the Rapids Secretary will notify the nominee.
IMPORTANT DATES / DEADLINES - 2026
Mid February - Call for Candidate Nominations is announced.
March TBD - Deadline for Nominations
March TBD - Deadline for candidate statements
Week of April TBD - Emails sent to members with voting instructions and candidate info
April TBD - Voting opens
April TBD - Voting closes at 9PM
April TBD - Election results announced at the Bend Ice annual meeting of the members.
2026 Call for Nominations
Vice Chair
Vice Chair will be elected by the Bend Rapids membership and will lead the Coaching Committee as a tie-breaking vote. The person holding this role should have reasonable experience in the hockey community.
- Holds all powers and responsibilities of Chair in his/her absence
- Attends all Executive Committee meetings monthly
- Oversees creation/revision of Steering Committee policies, forms, releases, etc.
- Performs other tasks as directed by the Chair
- Creates and manages state-wide protocols (as needed)
- Supports other roles as needed
- Works to promote the sport of hockey and the Bend Rapids through the following:
- Coordinating with Scheduler and BPRD for free “Try Hockey” events
- Developing and distributing fliers, advertising (both electronic and paper), and handouts to communities in Central Oregon with a goal of increasing awareness about hockey and the Rapids.
- Helps to build relationships with sponsors and other businesses that will provide a benefit to BRYHC
- Works with outside hockey programs at both the local level and above to create promotional events, learn to skate camps, training camps etc as possible.
Finance Manager
- Attends all Executive Committee meetings monthly
- Establishes an annual organization budget in partnership with the Chair and with support from Equipment Manager, Tournament Director and Coaching Director.
- Sets fees/charges for organization programs, services and events and collects and accounts for all monies received by the organization
- Provides Bend Ice Treasurer with all monies collected by Bend Rapids Youth Hockey Club, with necessary accounting of funds in accordance with the Steering Committee Financial Policy and the Bend Ice Financial Policy
- Dispenses all monies received by Bend Rapids Youth Hockey Club from Bend Ice and provides the Steering Committee with appropriate documentation of expenditures in accordance with the Bend Ice Financial Policy.
- Partners with Bend Ice Treasurer to ensure l financial and accounting processes are in alignment with the Bend Ice Financial Policy.
- Follows the Bend Ice Financial Policy
BEND ICE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTIONS (2026)
Every OTHER year elections for the at-large positions on the Bend Ice Board of Directors are held. The next election for Bend Ice will be held in the Spring of 2026.
Individuals who are eligible to vote in the Bend Rapids elections are ALSO eligible to vote in the Bend Ice elections. The seven-person Bend Ice Board is comprised of four at-large positions and the committee chairs of Bend Curling, Bend Figure Skating, and Bend Rapids Hockey.
The at-large positions are also voting members and are able to assist the Board in the following areas:
- Corporate Governance
- Financial and Fiduciary Oversight
- Special Projects that may arise including but not limited to the Bend Ice Annual Fundraiser and scholarship programming
- Budgeting
- Social Media/Website Development/Google Suite Administration
- Administrative
Elections FAQs
WHERE'S MY BALLOT?
Ballots are emailed only to eligible members of the Bend Rapids. Ballots are sent approximately 2 weeks before the Bend Ice annual meeting.
Ask yourself. Which email is connected to your USA Hockey account that was used to register your athlete as a player, yourself as a parent volunteer, a coach, etc...?
- Ballots are emailed from the ElectionBuddy.com platform (@mail.electionbuddy.com) to the email address of the parent who registered their athlete at USA Hockey.
- Other eligible voters without athletes in the club receive election emails to the account on file with USA Hockey.
- Election notices are emailed from our Crossbar database via notifications@bendrapidsyouthhockey.org, posted to social channels, and to our newsletter database.
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- Check with a spouse. Maybe they received the ballot.
- Check your junk/spam folder if you haven't received it. Still nothing? Then let us know.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO VOTE?
For purposes of voting you must be a Bend Rapids member, registered with USA Hockey for the current season, in good standing (good standing means you have no outstanding financial obligations to the club), and not on any disciplinary path such such as suspension from the club, OSHA, or USA Hockey.
Bend Rapids members are defined as:
- Rostered Player.
- Bend Rapids Rostered Coach (including practice and bench coaches) who completed the season as an USAH Certified Coach.
- Steering Committee member.
- Coaching Committee member.
- Team Manager.
NOTE: Solely being a parent/guardian of a player does not entitle the parents/guardians to cast their own votes. However, because rostered players are usually minors(under 18), the parents/guardians may cast one vote on behalf of their rostered player.
VOTE ALLOCATION
Votes are allocated as follows. 1 vote per Rostered Player. 1 vote for serving as a Coach, member of the Steering Committee, member of the Coaching Committee, or Team Manager. An individual serving multiple volunteer roles such as Steering Committee and Coach does not receive 1 vote per volunteer role, but 1 vote total.
Common 1 and 2 Vote Examples:
- A parent of a rostered player who does NOT serve on the Steering Committee, as coach, or as team manager, that parent is allocated 1 vote.
- If the member serves on the Steering Committee AND is a parent/guardian of a rostered player, that individual is allocated two votes (one vote as a steering committee member and the other for the rostered player).
- If the member is a coach or team manager AND the parent of a rostered player, that individual is allocated 2 votes.
- If the member is BOTH a coach, a Steering Committee member, AND the parent of a rostered player, that individual is still allocated 2 votes.
OTHER FAQs
Is my vote anonymous? Yes. The election administrator can see who voted, but not the contents of your vote.
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