Print this pageAugust 2009 Newsletter
Hello everyone,
Welcome to a new hockey season in Stittsville. You are getting this email because you have registered your child with the Stittsville Minor Hockey Association. If you don't wish to get any more of these, use the opt-out link at the bottom and this will be the last you hear of us.
Registration numbers are in, and it looks like we will end up with about the same number of players as last year. That's great news at a time when finding extra cash for sports is challenging for many. It shows how much we truly do love this game.
We'll be sending out a newsletter like this about once per month, but we'd recommend you check in with the SMHA website. periodically as the news gets posted there more often. We'd also love to hear from you, share you hockey stories, photos and adventures with us and we'll put them on the website too - it's really your website!
Lastly, if you have a question you can use our Question Form and someone will get back to you, or you can reach out to your convenor whose contact info is listed on the Council page. They will also gladly discuss any concerns you have about your season. These convenors are your first contact if you have concerns. Only if you are truly unhappy with the response should you escalate your concern to the Director of House or Director of Development. You should not contact the SMHA President or anyone in hockey outside of the association - the folks at District 4 and the ODMHA have a lot on their plates already. We thank you for this.
Volunteers
This is really important. Our association runs on volunteers - without them the quality of your child's experience will suffer. The more volunteers we have, the better your child's experience will be, so PLEASE THINK ABOUT VOLUNTEERING this season. We need you.
Right now we really really need a couple of FINANCE people - someone to be our VP Finance, and someone to be Treasurer. If you love numbers and have some time to help, please volunteer, this situation is quite critical right now.
We also have openings for Sponsorships, Tournaments, Ice Scheduling, and Convenors for Bantam, Midget and Atom levels. You can find more details on the website. Please consider helping.
Ice Times Coming Soon
First ice is what everyone is asking about these days. First ice day is September 1 and the initial schedules will be posted on the website as they become available. Please be aware that the first few weeks are pretty hectic and schedules change often in the beginning. Please check back often, we'll try to minimize changes but its almost a fact of life at the start of the season. Novice ice times are currently available, the others will follow in the next day or so
Calendar
A reminder of our Association Calendar that lists all the major upcoming events.
True North Project
Michelle Valberg, well-known Ottawa-based photographer and Joan Weinman, veteran writer, are heading to the heart of the Arctic on Sept. 16, 2009 for a two-week research project aboard an Adventure Canada ship that will take them to a number of key communities in Greenland, Nunavut and Nunavik. They are teaming up to publish a book that depicts the new realities of the north in photographs and stories told through the voices of a four generation Inuit family. To kick-off the project, Valberg and Weinman are launching a campaign to bring much-needed sports equipment to children in Nunavut and Nunavik. “We wanted to leave something behind that is useful to children. We have chosen to bring sports equipment because of the strong agreement across the country that community sport is one of the most positive forces in the lives of young people today,” said Ms Valberg. “It is a key contributing factor to giving children a healthy start in life and equipping them with some of the skills and the social support they need to make key life transitions successfully,” Ms Weinman added. The SMHA has thrown their support behind this project. We'll be donating some of our old jerseys that are being replaced with the new RAMS look. We'll also be donating some goalie equipment and we'll have bins at all the evaluation sessions for those of you who'd like to donate any new or gently used equipment, sticks or pucks.
Buying and Selling Equipment
If you are looking to buy some hockey gear for the coming season, check out our member classifed section of the website where I can see we have a good number of skates, goalie gear and even a RAMs jacket available for sale at great prices. If you have something you'd rather sell than donate, you can easily create your own little ad. Go ahead, give it a try.
Clinics
The SMHA is sponsoring two clinics in the next month, Intro to Coaching on Saturday September 5th, and Trainer 1 on Sunday September 6th. To learn who needs what kind of clinic, check out the Clinic FAQs. For more clinic choices you can also check out the ODHA site.
Last year in the member survey, you said very clearly that you wanted more communication from your association. Please take a minute to reply to this email and give us feedback - is this too much, not enough, missing something important? Your feedback now will help us improve sooner rather than later.
Lynda Partner
SMHA Roving Reporter