A Message From the SMHA President

Hello SMHA Families,
 
Hope you're having a great morning.
 
First & foremost thank you to those who have taken the time to populate our survey. In the past 72 hours, we have received over 550 submissions. A great response in the short period of time.!!! The survey will close next Friday (October 30). Your feedback is extremely important to us, so please take time to populate it. Results of the survey will be posted to our website upon closure.  At a high level, I can share that over 85% of our membership (while not being able to play games) would like hockey to continue even in this modified format and are very thankful that our young players are engaged in a sporting or recreational activity. The decisions made in our Management Council meetings are made directly from our membership’s input, so thank you..!! : )
 
Since March, our Management Council have been meeting on a regular basis to build a program that follows local & provincial authorities all with the safety of our membership in mind. As COVID-19 evolved, so did the hockey world..!!! 
 
We appreciate your patience as we move through this difficult time.
 
As stated in August when registration opened, “as the situation with this pandemic continues to be fluid, our programming will also have to be adaptable in a constantly changing environment. What we can offer and when we can offer it may change over time as restrictions are eased or tightened.”  Our goal was to keep our costing structure as flat as possible to ensure minor hockey was affordable for our families. The cost of Ice (Between September & December), Insurance (Players & Volunteers) & other fixed costs (GoalLine Website, Banking fees, Storage locker) all played into building our registration strategy to offer a "cost recovery" model.
 
As many of you are aware, the City of Ottawa has recently mandated a maximum allowable participant size of ten (10) on the ice surface located within the City of Ottawa.  That said, it’s important to note that SMHA is unique in how we operate geographically. Based on where Stittsville is located, our rinks fall into two (2) separate Health Authorities, both of which have different policies & regulations related to how they operate (Ottawa Public Health and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark Health Units). Our association carries ice contracts in the City of Ottawa & Beckwith township facilities and we are working with both health units to provide a hockey experience that is safe for our members at the various levels. For example, at U7 & U9 in Beckwith we are dividing our teams in two (2) groups which exceed the requirements of the Leeds, Grenville & Lanark Health Unit.
 
As mentioned previously, what this new City mandate has done is force us to reduce the total number of ice touches from what we originally designed at the beginning of the season down to approximately one (1) ice touch per week for next few weeks until at least Nov 7^th, at which point we are expecting further direction from either or both of the Provincial and/or City.
 
Going into this pandemic our Executive & Volunteers knew that we would have to pivot at some point, and it wasn't going to be easy. As we move into the second half of the season we will pivot again, and do our best to continue to offer the absolute best value we can given the limitations we are faced with.
 
As we continue to navigate through the next few weeks, our financial health will continue to be challenged. Operating with 8 or 9 players on a full ice surface within the city of Ottawa boundaries will be difficult but we remain hopeful regular programming will return shortly.
 
As we learn of new developments, we will continue to provide with the most current information and will be fully transparent with our members on our findings. Should you have any questions, comments or concerns - please feel free to reach out to our Executive. We truly value your input..!!!!
 
***Please continue to follow the directions of Ottawa Public Health. We must all do our part in getting through this together. This is extremely important in keeping our Families healthy & our kids on the Ice.!!!!
 
Stay Safe & Best regards,
Scott
 
--
Scott Phelan
President - Stittsville Minor Hockey (SMHA)