Welcome everyone to the 2021/22 hockey season, we are happy to be returning to a more normal season than last year. Our plan is to return to Rep hockey and Local League games within the EOMHL and ICHL as we have enjoyed pre-pandemic. If you have been following our Facebook page or watching our website you will see that plans have already started for the season with our Rep pre-skates set to begin this week. They are currently full and are set to begin on September 9th in the Wellington Lehigh Arena. If you would like to be on the waiting list to see if we can offer more, please email us.
We are also happy to be offering our body checking clinic again this season. It is important that everyone entering Bantam Rep level learns to give and receive a check safely. This clinic will be run by our new development coach Ryan Milanovic. Space is limited so sign up on our website to avoid missing our clinic.
As we remain required by the local health unit to adhere to COVID protocols, we will be once again entering the rink 15 mins prior to our ice time until further notice. This means those with younger ones who are not fast dressers may want to come partially dressed to the rink. The good news is we are allowed to have some spectators in the stands this year. We are excited to slowly start to see increases in the amount we can have in the rink and on the ice and will keep everyone informed as the County, Health Authorities, etc., alter occupancy policies.
We are currently working through the announcement that has come to us from the OMHA. They have implemented a vaccination policy requiring all participants to be fully vaccinated by October 31st. The OMHA is implementing this policy to allow kids to have a full season without interruption and to keep everyone safe in doing so. The policy requires that all vaccine eligible players born in 2009 or earlier, game officials, OMHA officials, instructors, Association officials, team officials and Volunteers are vaccinated. At present this does not apply to spectators. Please be patient as we adapt to the new policy and ask that we all be understanding to the volunteers who are working through this information. This is as new to us and it is to you and it is not something that PECMHA has done in isolation, rather we are working within the guidelines of the governing bodies of Minor Hockey. If you have any questions please direct them to [email protected].
We are also working through the realization that our Milk Tournament, that many of us love and support, will be put on hold for another year. This is not something we took lightly and are very sad to make the announcement. We pride ourselves on an amazing tournament for our Kings as well as all the teams we bring in to visit us. The decision was made as we would not be able to both ensure a profitable event nor offer the same caliber of tournament with current pandemic restrictions and limitations this year. We will be very happy to welcome back this important fundraising opportunity in the 2022-23 season! With this loss of revenue we will be requiring our Rep team families to pay an additional $150 per player to offset the additional costs associated with representative hockey. We understand this is not ideal but in order to keep our representative programs running it will be required. This fee will go directly to the ice allocations and game lengths that are typically offset by the revenues from the Milk Tournament. This payment will not be required until December.
We currently have some vacant positions on the executive that are in need of filling to make the season run smoothly. Our executive is not large so this is very taxing on the few members who are currently covering more than one position. Please think about joining this great team. Contact anyone on the executive team to learn more. Our local leagues are a big part of our association and need both a senior and junior coordinator to ensure they run smoothly. The season is starting soon and we hope these roles can be filled immediately.
Your minor hockey executive team is very excited to see everyone back at the rink and on the ice playing the sport that we love. Please get your players registered so we can kick off this season.
Watch our website and facebook page for updates as they become available.
See you at the rink!
Heather Zantingh
PECMHA - President