Thank you all for your patience as we worked our way through the Return to Play approval process. As of this morning, we have now received OMHA/OHF approval to return to the ice, Town of Penetang approval, and the town will have the ice ready to go at some point this weekend. Barring any last minute snafus, our first groups will be on the ice on Monday, October 5th. Yay!
There are a lot of details to share about our return to play, so please read through this email fully and if you have any questions, hit reply and I will help you out. Additionally, our Return to Play plan is attached to this email and it contains even more detail than this email does.
Facility and Safety
It is imperative that our return to the ice be safe for both participants/coaches and for arena staff. There will be many new protocols in place to ensure this happens and PMHA is expecting ALL of our participants to strenuously follow them.
- Participants will enter and exit the building no more than 15 minutes prior and no more than 15 minutes after their booking
- All participants will complete a waiver with the town/arena prior to their first entry. This waiver will be valid for all future visits.
- For every booking, PMHA will be providing a list of the expected participants including coaches, trainers, and on-ice volunteers to the arena. Groups will be expected to notify PMHA of any deviations from this list prior to the ice rental.
- All participants will be required to complete an online COVID-19 screening questionnaire prior to every visit
- Upon arrival, an arena staff member will check names against the participant list and ensure that the screening questionnaire has been filled out prior to allowing entry
- Participants are to arrive at the arena fully equipped except for skates, helmets and gloves (Goalies can arrive without pads, blocker/glove, or helmet). Skate guards are recommended but not required.
- Anyone entering the arena must be wearing a face mask that fully covers the nose and mouth
- Once a participant enters the facility, they will be directed to the North or South bleachers where they will complete getting dressed. They are to stay seated with their mask on until the Zamboni completes the ice resurfacing
- Once the resurfacing is complete, players may remove their mask and go on to the ice. There are to be no line ups at doors to the rink.
- Upon completion of a rental, participants will return to the bleachers where they can remove their helmets, skates and gloves and leave the facility.
- Participants are to wear a face mask on their way out of the arena.
- There will be no access to showers or dressing rooms.
- Washroom access will be restricted but they are available in the main lobby.
- No parents or spectators will be allowed in the facility.
- Exception #1: one parent of a player who is 10 years old or under may enter to tie skates in the stands. They MUST complete the screening protocol and wear a mask at all times. Once they have tied their child’s skates, they must leave the facility immediately afterwards.
- Exception #2: one parent of a player who is 6 years old or under may enter the facility and stand in the designated area of the stands to watch the entire session. They MUST complete the screening protocol, wear a mask at all times, and stay physically distanced from other parents at all times.
It is PMHA's expectation that all groups will follow these restrictions. Should we fail to do so, we could lose access to the ice surface and no longer be able to run our program. That would leave 200+ kids without a place to play this year.
Coaches, trainers and parents will be expected to enforce these rules. Players will be expected to adhere to them. If you do not, PMHA will protect our association and we will suspend or remove individual players, parents or groups for the duration of the season.
Links to the town's waiver and online screening will be provided shortly and/or may be done via hard copy at the beginning.
Season Overview
The season will be broken into two halves. The first half will run from Oct 5 to Dec 23. The second half will run from after the holidays until the end of March. We currently only have an approved plan for the first half of the season. While we have tentative plans for the second half of the season that would include cross-association play, these plans will be very dependent on how things go in the fall.
Oct 5th to Oct 18th will be a two week development phase. Development groups will take to the ice for initial skates together so that players can shake off the rust, make sure their equipment still fits, and check out if their blades still have edges or not.
SHAMELESS SPONSOR PLUG:
Get your skates sharpened at PMHA sponsor
Olympia Sports. Open 2-6 Monday to Friday and 9 to 3 Saturday & Sunday. Sticks and Gloves are 20%-30% off right now too!
Following the initial two week development phase, we will be running a 9 week house league. During this time, teams will be practicing regularly and playing one game per week on the weekend.
Bubbles, Development Groups and Teams
All play for the first half of the season will occur within PMHA only. All players will be assigned to one bubble and only one bubble. Each bubble has a maximum of 50 players.
Within each bubble, there will be 2 or 3 Development Groups. Development Groups will be tiered to allow players of similar skill level to practice together. Players have been selected to these Development Groups by the lead coaches of each group based on prior seasons and past skill evaluations. There will be no tryouts this year.
In addition to a Development Group, players will also be placed on a separate Team made up of players within their Bubble. The teams will consist of at most 10 players, 1 coach and 1 trainer (often teams will have less than 10 players). These teams will have a mix of players from the different Development Groups from inside their Bubble. We will attempt to make the teams as even as possible and may make in-season adjustments to ensure competitiveness of each team as well.
3-on-3 or 4-on-4 modified games will be played within each Bubble. All games will include on-ice officials and timekeepers. See attached Return to Play document for modified game rules.
Age |
Convenor |
Bubble |
Players |
Development Group |
Players |
Prac Hrs/wk |
Games/wk |
Coach |
U7 |
Jeff Hamelin |
U7 Bubble |
17 |
Development Group A |
17 |
2 |
0 |
Adam St. Amant |
U9
|
Kyle Graham
|
U9 Bubble
|
32
|
Development Group A (U9) |
17 |
1.5 |
1 |
Choya Fraser |
Development Group B (U8) |
15 |
1.5 |
1 |
Shaun Laurin |
U12
|
Mike De Munnik
|
U12 Competitive Bubble
|
33
|
Development Group A |
17 |
1.5 |
1 |
Duane Homick |
Development Group B |
16 |
1.5 |
1 |
TJ Bressette |
U12 Recreational Bubble
|
31
|
Development Group C |
16 |
1 |
1 |
Trevor Reid |
Development Group D |
15 |
1 |
1 |
Jon Cundy |
U15
|
Todd Ritchie
|
U15 Competitive Bubble
|
32
|
Development Group A |
17 |
1.5 |
1 |
Charles Marchand |
Development Group B |
15 |
1.5 |
1 |
Anders Gravel |
U15 Recreational Bubble
|
24
|
Development Group C |
12 |
1 |
1.33 |
Mike Morrison |
Development Group D |
12 |
1 |
1.33 |
Kevin Blundell |
U18
|
Pauline Benkovzski
|
U18 Bubble
|
45
|
Development Group A |
16 |
1.5 |
0.8 |
Andy St. Amant |
Development Group B |
14 |
1 |
0.8 |
Shaun Desroches |
Development Group C |
12 |
1 |
0.8 |
Scott Neil |
Development Group D |
3 |
0 |
0.8 |
None |
Registration Fees
Registration fees are based on how much ice each Development Group has been allocated along with how many games will be played in each Bubble. In some cases, bubbles have an odd number of teams which will result in either some teams playing twice some weeks or one team receiving a bye. Additionally, some Development Groups have requested additional development time above and beyond the normally allocated amounts. When this has been granted, you will see an additional development charge applied to those groups.
Registration Fees are due by Sunday, October 18th.
We will be accepting e-transfer only this year. To make a payment, please e-transfer the amount due to
[email protected] and make sure to note your child's name and development group.
If you wish to pay in installments, 33% is due October 5th, 33% is due November 1st, and the remainder is due December 1st.
If you are seeking third party funding support, you MUST provide a $50 deposit and email the treasurer to let them know that you are seeking funding. The funding application is attached to this email. This is due by October 18th.
Anyone who has not paid their funds by October 18th, started an installment plan, or submitted a third party funding application will NOT be allowed on the ice past the payment due date.
To know what you owe, you need to know which Development Group you are in. See below for more details on Development Group assignments before you email me asking how much you owe.
Age |
Convenor |
Bubble |
Development Group |
Prac Hrs/wk |
Games/wk |
Add'l Dev./wk |
Reg. Fee |
Add'l Dev Fee |
Total |
U7 |
Jeff Hamelin |
U7 Bubble |
Development Group A |
2 |
0 |
0 |
$250.00 |
$0.00 |
$250.00 |
U9
|
Kyle Graham
|
U9 Bubble
|
Development Group A (U9) |
1.5 |
1 |
0 |
$350.00 |
$0.00 |
$350.00 |
Development Group B (U8) |
1.5 |
1 |
0 |
$350.00 |
$0.00 |
$350.00 |
U12
|
Mike De Munnik
|
U12 Competitive Bubble
|
Development Group A |
1.5 |
1 |
1 |
$350.00 |
$130.00 |
$480.00 |
Development Group B |
1.5 |
1 |
1 |
$350.00 |
$130.00 |
$480.00 |
U12 Recreational Bubble
|
Development Group C |
1 |
1 |
0 |
$300.00 |
$0.00 |
$300.00 |
Development Group D |
1 |
1 |
0 |
$300.00 |
$0.00 |
$300.00 |
U15
|
Todd Ritchie
|
U15 Competitive Bubble
|
Development Group A |
1.5 |
1 |
1 |
$350.00 |
$130.00 |
$480.00 |
Development Group B |
1.5 |
1 |
0 |
$350.00 |
$0.00 |
$350.00 |
U15 Recreational Bubble
|
Development Group C |
1 |
1.33 |
0 |
$315.00 |
$0.00 |
$315.00 |
Development Group D |
1 |
1.33 |
0 |
$315.00 |
$0.00 |
$315.00 |
U18
|
Pauline Benkovszki
|
U18 Bubble
|
Development Group A |
1.5 |
0.8 |
0 |
$310.00 |
$0.00 |
$310.00 |
Development Group B |
1 |
0.8 |
0 |
$260.00 |
$0.00 |
$260.00 |
Development Group C |
1 |
0.8 |
0 |
$260.00 |
$0.00 |
$260.00 |
Development Group D |
0 |
0.8 |
0 |
$140.00 |
$0.00 |
$140.00 |
Note that these fees are for the first half of the season only. Second half fees will be determined at a later date.
Development Groups & Teams
Starting tonight and to be completed by tomorrow night (Friday, October 2nd), you will receive an email from the coach leading the Development Group that you have been selected for. This will tell you what you owe and when you will practice.
Please do not ask what group you are part of unless you have not received a message by Saturday morning. I will not respond to requests about the Development Groups until then.
If after receiving your Development Group assignment, you have any concerns or questions about the Development Group selections, please contact your Bubble Convenor.
Bubble league teams have not been selected yet. Bubble Convenors will discuss the team assignments with the coaches we have for each age group next week and teams will be created. We are currently looking for 1 coach in each of the following Bubbles: U7, U12 Recreational, and U18. Please let me know if you are interested.
Once Bubble League teams are created, we will assign a Trainer to each team. If you have interest in being a trainer and have not already contacted me, please do so now so I can get your name on the list.
Ice Time Allocations
Due to facility restrictions, PMHA has some different ice times this year compared to years past. In particular:
- We will be off the ice by 10pm each night
- We will not have weekday morning ice
- We have been given access to additional Sunday morning ice this year
- We have been given access to additional Friday night ice (until the King's season starts)
- All bookings will have a 15 minute separation to allow for sanitization and ice resurfacing
As a result of these changes, we have adopted a policy of giving teams a full 60 minutes or a full 90 minutes on ice for practices. This reduces the number of bookings and the need for resurfacing and sanitization. We have also adjusted younger divisions to use weekend ice only and added additional Friday night practices that did not exist in the past.
All games this year will be played on a 50 minute booking. This allows time for a 3 minute warmup, 2 x 22 minute halves (run time) and a 1-2 minute intermission. There will be no stoppages in time even if an injury or penalty shot occurs. All teams must be ready to go at the scheduled start time and must leave the ice promptly after the completion of the game.
Please see the website for your practice schedule. The game schedule will be added shortly. Below are the days of the week that things will run (following the initial development phase).
Monday October 19th - Monday December 21st |
Groups |
U15 Rec. Bubble, Development Group C |
U18 Comp. Bubble, Development Group A |
|
Tuesday October 20th - Tuesday December 22nd |
Groups |
U12 Comp. Bubble, Development Group A |
U15 Comp. Bubble, Development Group A |
U18 Bubble, Development Group B |
|
Wednesday October 21st - Wednesday Decemeber 23rd |
Groups |
U15 Rec. Bubble, Development Group D |
|
Thursday October 22nd - Thursday December 17th |
Groups |
U12 Comp. Bubble, Development Group B |
U15 Comp. Bubble, Development Group B |
U18 Bubble, Development Group C |
|
Friday October 23rd - Friday December 18th |
Groups |
U12 Rec. Bubble, Development Group C |
U12 Rec. Bubble, Development Group D |
|
Saturday October 24th - Saturday December 19th |
Groups |
U7 Bubble, Development Group A |
U9 Bubble Games |
U12 Comp. Bubble Games |
U15 Comp. Bubble Games |
|
|
Sunday October 25th - Sunday December 20th |
Groups |
U7 Bubble, Development Group A |
U9 Bubble, Development Group A |
U9 Bubble, Development Group B |
U12 Comp. Bubble, Development Group A |
U12 Comp. Bubble, Development Group B |
U15 Comp. Bubble, Development Group A |
U12 Rec. Bubble Games |
U15 Rec. Bubble Games |
U18 Rec. Bubble Games |
Medical Info Sheets & Rowan's Law Acknowledgement
All players must bring a Medical Info Sheet (attached) and Rowan's Law Acknowledgement form (attached) with them to their first skate. Please give this to the coach of the Development Group for collection. A second Medical Info Sheet will be required by the trainer of your bubble league team at a later date.
Questions, Comments, Concerns
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know. If after reading this return to play plan, you do not want to return to the ice and play this season, please let me know ASAP so that I can update our registration list prior to making the Bubble League teams.
If you have already notified me that you do not intend to play, you do not need to notify me again. Our mailing list still includes some names of players who opted out so you may still be receiving PMHA information even though you are no longer registered with us.
Stay tuned for an email from your Development Group in the next 24-48 hours.
Thank you again for your patience as we worked through all the details on the return to play and arena reopening.
Looking forward to a great season!
Cheers,
Duane Homick
VP, PMHA