HMHA would like to provide an update regarding the 2020-2021 hockey season.
We know there are many questions regarding the upcoming season - please be sure to regularly check this website and to sign up for Alerts for the Organization Home Page. This is where all up-to-date information will be posted for our families.
The end of the 2019-2020 season and the planning for the 2020-2021 have been far from normal, beginning with the suspension of all hockey activities by OMHA on March 12th. Since that time, we have all entered into an unprecedented era with life as we know it undergoing drastic changes with such things as the closures of schools, businesses, churches, stores and any activity that requires people to be in close contact with anyone outside of those they live with being shut down around the globe. Terms such as "physical distancing", "the new normal", "we are all in this together", "stay home, stay safe", "flattening the curve" to name a few are repeatedly reported on a daily basis by the media and the general population.
At this time, specific details are not yet determined for the upcoming season. HMHA must wait for the directives given from our governing hockey bodies (which include Hockey Canada, OHF, OMHA and MPS) and they must wait for directives from the Provincial and Federal Health Officials and Government.
The following are a few points of interest:
-in March, Spring tryouts were all postponed (this relates specifically to AAA, AA, A tryouts)
-Municipally, virtually all Arenas (including ours) were closed down in March and currently remain closed
-HMHA postponed its AGM that was scheduled for April until we are permitted to have large, in-person gatherings-currently, the 2019-2020 Executive have remained in their positions to help with the transition until we can have an AGM and vote in the Executive for the 2020-2021 season - many thanks to all these members for their continued support of our HMHA players. There will come a time when we will need to vote in a new Executive, so please give consideration to any position that might be appropriate for your skill set as we will need volunteers
-on May 5th, the OHF put a temporary stop on any hockey tournament planning for the upcoming season-this does not mean there will be no tournaments in the upcoming season, just that the planning of tournaments is currently on hold until more specific details are determined for the upcoming hockey season
-the OMHA AGM (which was scheduled for early June) has been tentatively rescheduled for August 22nd
-normally, we would open our Registration at the beginning of June - we have temporarily postponed this until we have more information to share regarding what the upcoming season will look like
-there are meetings taking place remotely with all the governing bodies - HMHA members have been participating in online Zoom Meetings and through email/telephone correspondence with members of OMHA, MPS and HMHA as well
-there has been an accommodation for Coach Recertification to happen online with the suspension of all in-person clinics currently - a large majority of our coaches' certifications expire on August 31, 2020 so it is of utmost importance for our coaches to update their qualifications so that they are eligible to coach this season
-normally, coach applications for our Representative teams would have been posted by May with interviews taking place around this time - this has also been put on hold currently
We hope to soon have some answers for our membership regarding the upcoming season and we will share that information on our website once we have it. We are doing our best to plan to be ready for the season once we are given our directives on timing and specifics. At this point, we assume a regular timeline until we are told differently. As change is the common place in this climate, we will endeavor to do our best to provide our players with the best season within the parameters and guidelines we are given to work within.
I hope that all our families are safe and healthy and have found some time to reconnect with family and found some positives in the slowdown this virus has forced on all of us.
Many thanks to all the front line workers in healthcare and all other essential services and for all those doing their part to help keep everyone safe.
Hope to see you at the rink soon!
Kelly Farnsworth - HMHA President/OMHA Contact