QRMHA - History and Background
While the concept of Regional Hockey Associations had been around for some time, it was not until the late 1980's that hockey enthusiast within the Quinte Region began to seriously consider this option. These knowledgeable individuals believed that there was a great deal of talent within our local communities and those players who wished to excel at hockey (either as a career or college goal or just wanted to experience it at another level) were being denied an excellent opportunity to experience the game at its highest level.
At that time, the OHF requirement for a "AAA" zone was a population base of approximately 200,000. While no single centre within our community had this base it was obvious that by creating a Quinte Region the local Associations could collectively achieve the requirements for a "AAA" zone.
In late March of 1990, after much work and planning, the first formal meeting was held to spearhead the Regional concept. Two major proponents Rick Thomson and Darwin Hoskin rallied together the following Associations: Bancroft, Belleville, Brighton, Colborne, Deseronto, Frankford, Grafton, Madoc, Marmora, Napanee, Stirling, Picton, Tamworth, Trenton, Tweed, and Wellington. Rick Thomson was the first President of the Association.
This group of individuals representing all of the local associations became the pioneers of Regional Zone hockey, as at that time the OMHA had not yet approved the idea of Regional Zone Teams. Since its inception Quinte has served as a model for Regional Zone Association and many other communities have followed its path. The OMHA now has accepted the concept and developed rules to govern Regional Zone Associations.
Originally the Devils colours were red-green and white chosen because of the fact that none of the member Associations used those colours and it was easier for equipment purchase if you adopted an N.H.L. team's colour scheme. Thus the Quinte Red Devils teams were born. Since then the New Jersey Devils changed their colours to red-black and white and we have followed suit.
During the 1992-93 season the Zone was expanded to include Cobourg and teams began to play and practice out of there since 1993. Eventually the O.M.H.A adopted rules to govern the idea of Regional Zone teams.