The Sherwood Parkdale Rural Minor Hockey Association and the Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association have officially merged for the upcoming season.

Keith Ford, co-president of the newly formed Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association, said the merger has been in the works for a few years.

He said it will help maximize ice time and balance out team rosters. 

"Before, say in Sherwood, if someone wasn't using ice time, it would go unused," Ford said. 

"Now where we're both one association we can…