The start to this season will be like no other due to COVID-19 and the guidelines set out by the OHF and the Alliance as well as our local Health Board.
The following is the outline on how the season looks, give or take, at this point in time.
· We will be split up into 4 groups of 20-22 skaters, with 3-4 coaches, set by Alliance Hockey our Governing body for Woodstock Minor Hockey
· The first six weeks will be skill based practices, as set by the Alliance with the guidance of Hockey Canada
· Monday night power skating is on hold due to the ice availability and the restriction of numbers, based on the limited number set by our Health Board and the Alliance
· We will be using the first 6 weeks as the evaluation to help with making hopefully teams of equal calibre
· If we move to the next phase of 4 v 4 games in November or December then we will be dividing players into 6 teams of 13-15 players, this phase is determined by the Alliance and our governing Health Board for our region
· At that point, phase 4, we will be handing out the team jerseys, we have to wait till then due to health regulations, as set out by our local health board
· After January 15th, if we move on to phase 4 as set by the Government of Ontario, Alliance Hockey, and our health board, we hope to move to our full ice 5 v 5 games
· Average of 1.5 hrs of ice time per week, this is due to the lack of ice available within our city and the protocols that have been set in by the Alliance and our local Health Board to limit numbers on each ice surface to 25 coaches included
· 1 parent per player, if such parent is a rostered volunteer then that is the only parent allowed, this is a rule set out by the Arena of Woodstock
· Things may open sooner, depending on when the Government of Ontario moves into the next phase, but it is going to take the help of everyone following the guidelines set out by our local health board and the Government of Ontario, to help with Social Distancing to keep the spread down
If you have any other questions or concerns please contact myself, Ryan Harmer Director of Novice Programming at [email protected]; if you are looking to volunteer, then please let me know.