It's been an eventful month for Penetang Initiation/Tyke and I'd like to share a few of the highlights with you and update you all on what's to come in the final 4 to 6 weeks that we have remaining in the season.
Good morning everyone,
It's been an eventful month for Penetang Initiation/Tyke and I'd like to share a few of the highlights with you and update you all on what's to come in the final 4 to 6 weeks that we have remaining in the season.
Mite Jamboree
On Saturday, January 13th the Penetang arena was taken over by 5 & 6 year old players from Penetang, Oro, Midland, and Wasaga for what hopefully will become an annual Mite Festival. The teams enjoyed a day full of hockey, a pizza party, watching (or participating!) in the Atoms vs. Kings game and lots of other goodies organized by our awesome jamboree committee (photo booth, t-shirt, medals, etc...). Unfortunately, I was out of town and unable to attend, but a few board members were able to stop by in my absence and I was able to chat with some of the other team's coaches and all of them had nothing but great things to say about the day.
Thank you to our Jamboree Organizing Committee - Liz, Jon & Cheryl for their dedication to getting this event to happen. It took a lot of time and energy behind the scenes and they delivered a tremendous day for the Mites.
The committee also asked me to pass on a huge thank you to Coach Chris, to Trainer Jeff, (we have the #bestcoaches!) to our parent volunteers: Jessica, Melissa M, Stacey, Melissa D, Sean, Mandy, Niki, Alanna, Kathy King (from the atom rep team), Sharon, Joanne, Meghan, Jenn, Jeff, Trevor, Mike, to our student volunteers as refs and time-keepers as well as to all parents and grandparents who came to show their support and in turn making this day exciting and enjoyable for the Mites!
Innisfil Fun Festival Champs!
This past weekend, the Penetang Tyke team travelled to Innisfil to compete in the IMHA Fun Festival against some of the best Tyke teams in the our area including the top two teams from Three Country Local League - Sturgeon Lake 17-1-0 & Kawartha 16-3-0 - and the top two teams from the Simcoe Region Local League - Nobleking 9-1-0 and Innisfil 7-1-0.
After going a perfect 4-0 in the round robin, the tykes faced off against Sturgeon Lake (also 4-0) in the finals. After conceding the first goal to fall behind 1-0, the tykes reeled off 6 straight goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead and were up 7-2 to start the third. Following another Flames goal to make it 8-2, Sturgeon Lake responded with 2 goals late to make the final an 8-4 Flames victory!
Our two goalies (Jake & Spencer) accepted the Tournament Trophy on the team's behalf as they epitomized the teamwork and sportsmanship that the Tykes displayed all weekend long.
The coaches and parents couldn't be prouder of this hardworking group - now please stop singing Christmas Carols in the dressing room!
Mid-Term Survey
Thank you to everyone that filled out the mid-term survey. We had 54 responses - which is a significant number of our players/parents!
The feedback we received was great and will help us improve our program over the final 2 months of the season and for years to come. The vast majority of the feedback was very positive which was great to hear. In particular, we heard that almost every player plans to return next year which is a huge metric for us and we hope that will prove true during registration in the spring/summer.
There was also some critical feedback shared which we will take to heart and use to improve our offering. As difficult as it can be to hear some of that feedback, it's important for us to listen to it so that we can do better.
I remind everyone that you don't need to wait for a survey to share your thoughts and feedback with me and the coaching staff. Please feel free to do so regularly so that we can ensure every kid is getting the best experience possible.
Also, coaching is a very difficult task and I believe this age group with its varied skill levels, aptitudes, and dedication is in fact the hardest level to coach. So while you may have critical feedback to share, please do so constructively and with possible solutions in mind. Please also take the time to thank your coaches and the on ice volunteers so that even if you have suggestions for improvement, they know you support the work they are doing and understand that they are trying to do their best each and every time on the ice.
Our association is entirely volunteer run and I encourage everyone to get involved as much as they can.
Intro Final Day
The intro program is set to end on March 3rd. We will work with the coaching staff to do something fun that day. While this will mark the final day on the ice, there will be some sort of party/banquet planned for a later date. We will share more details once we have them worked out. We are still very early in the planning stages of that.
Mite/Tyke Final Day
The Mite/Tyke programs are set to end later in March - either the 18th or 25th. Again, we will work with the coaching staff to do something fun on the last days. There will also be some sort of party/banquet for these groups as well. Stay tuned.
Ice Time Totals (through Jan 30, 2018 - 21 weeks)
Tyke - 59 hours (2.8h/wk)
Mite - 45 hours (2.1h/wk)
Intro - 21 hours (1h/wk)
[Note:Includes Family Skate, Tournaments/Jamborees & Away Games]
Next Week
Fri, Feb 2 (5pm) - Tyke & Mite Practice
Sat, Feb 3 (7am) - Mite Practice
Sat, Feb 3 (1155am) - Tyke & Intro To Hockey Practice
Sun, Feb 4 (2pm) - Tyke Home Game
Sun, Feb 4 - Mite @ Oro Away Game
For Mite Away Game Times, please check with Mite Team Managers
Questions, Comments, Concerns
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please let me know.
Cheers,
Duane Homick
Tyke/Initiation Convenor