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(Image Credit: Vaclav Volrab/Dreamstime)
Receives two-year conditional sentence

Medicine Hat woman ordered to pay close to $33k in restitution in hockey fraud case

Aug 20, 2026 | 9:54 AM

A Medicine Hat woman has received a two-year conditional sentence after pleading not guilty to multiple charges related to a youth hockey program.

Nola Besplug was sentenced on a charge of fraud over $5,000. The sentence allows her to remain out of jail, but includes house arrest conditions.

She must also pay $32,757.20 in restitution to families who paid to register children in the hockey program, along with a $200 surcharge.

Besplug was the manager of the Southeast Selects hockey team when offences occurred between April 2024 and March 2025.

The team was a member of the Premier Hockey League, which operates outside of Hockey Canada, and the Selects had a U16 team for one season in 2023-24.

Expansion to multiple age groups was planned for the 2024-25 season before the program folded without playing that season.

Medicine Hat police began investigating in January 2025 after concerns were raised about money collected for the program.

Besplug was charged in September 2025 with fraud and theft over $5,000, as well as possession of proceeds of crime.

Court documents show the theft over $5,000 and possession of proceeds of crime charges were withdrawn during court proceedings on Aug. 12.

Police said multiple victims came forward from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Montana.