Message from the President - Return to Hockey

Hello SMHA Families,

As we continue to move forward in preparation for our upcoming hockey season, I truly hope that everyone is well and staying safe in these unprecedented times.
 
Over the past few months, our SMHA Executive has been working closely with Hockey Canada, Provincial / City Health Professionals and our local rinks to prepare a plan to have hockey return for our members as soon as possible..!!!
 
We have been working around the clock, putting many of our fulltime responsibilities on-hold to ensure that we will get it right as we begin to return to normal programming here in Stittsville.
 
Many of you have relationships with other organizations & programs in the Hockey world. While each offer intelligence into what Hockey will look like next season, none of us can say with 100% certainty that our game will look exactly as it did last season.

In order for us to return to play in a safe manner, the new procedures that will be implemented will be much different then what we are currently used to.  These changes impact things like; entering a facility, dressing room usage, Covid-19 wellness checks, getting on & off the ice, along with maintaining social distancing - just to highlight a few of the situations our new hockey world will be up against.

In communications with District, HEO and Hockey Canada, a “regular season” start-up will certainly be delayed.  We also believe that a “Regular Season” commencement date before January of 2021 is highly unlikely based on discussions as we understand them today.
Over the past few days, our SMHA Council has decided to move forward with a phased approach.
Phase #1 will entail a program focused on development (Not limited to: Skating & Goalie development) in smaller groups (allowable bubbles sizes) while scrimmaging in a safe manner. This stage will continue over a rolling period until health authorities allow Minor Hockey to return to regular programming.
Phase #2 (Stage 4 – Hockey Canada) is where our regular scheduled hockey program will begin & will continue for the duration of our season.

Rest assured that SMHA will be prepared for regular programming when Provincial & Local health authorities allow us to advance into Stage 4. However, in the meantime it’s important to note that we are working to solidify a plan that will work for all levels until the time we can return to play in a normal fashion.

In closing, we have had several questions related to registration. We are confident that we will be able to open registration shortly based on having a plan in place first vs. guessing what will happen over the next few months. We are working diligently on these details over the next few days and will provide you will an update shortly.
Our #1 goal is to see our players get back on the ice.!! The success of our “return to play” will be determined by our collective efforts in working together. We are entering a new world of community sports that will take a collective effort to navigate safely and successfully.
As you can see this season will be a work in progress but I’m confident it will be a successful one for all of us. We will continue to update our membership as things advance & we hear more from HEO & Hockey Canada.
 
Should you have any questions, please feel free to let us know & we will answer them to the best of our ability.
 
Thank you for your patience everyone & we look forward to seeing you at the rink.!!!! : ))
 
Chat soon & stay safe!!
Best regards,
Scott
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Scott Phelan
President – Stittsville Minor Hockey