Good Evening,

We have some more great news to share! We have renewed our partnership with @ProHockeyLife.

Mark and his team at PHL donate thousands of dollars, give discounts and gift cards annually to help Whalers families. Please remember to support those who support us!

 Clarification on Rules Regarding the Transferring of 50/50 Credits

 In recent weeks, the Dartmouth Whalers organization has received a number of questions from parents / guardians regarding player credits from the Whalers 50/50 draws.  Specifically, parents / guardians have expressed concern with the communication from the Whalers that if their child makes a 'major' team (eg: U15 AAA) or if their child leaves the Whalers (eg: moving to another minor hockey association / no longer playing hockey) they are no longer eligible to receive the credit from their participation in the previous season's Whalers 50/50 draws.  Given these concerns, the Whalers would like to offer the following information in hopes of providing increased clarity: 

 In advance of the 2021-22 season, the Dartmouth Whalers changed its rules regarding the transfer of 50/50 player credits to ensure the Whalers organization was in compliance with Nova Scotia's Alcohol and Gaming Division Policy for Youth Sports Lotteries Use of Funds.  This policy falls under the Gaming Control Act.

 The Whalers Association provided written guidance on this issue at the end of last season.  The guidance was sent to the participants in last season's 50/50 draw who were eligible to receive a credit from their 50/50 sales during the season.  To be fair, the communication regarding the transferring of the 50/50 credit wasn't completely clear and thus, the Whalers will be tweaking the language for this season.  Nevertheless, despite the communication challenges, the province's policy is clear and is backed by law.  

 The Whalers Association has read the policy and received guidance from staff at the province's Alcohol and Gaming Division (AGD) regarding what is allowed and what is prohibited with regards to 50/50 credits.  Please see the information below: 

 50/50 credits can be used as follows:

- The 50/50 credit can be used within 'minor' hockey associations to discount the receiving player's registration for the following year.  

- The funds can be directed to a sibling within the Whalers organization but these funds must be used towards the registration of the sibling.  

- The funds can be directed to the Mary Beth Chaulk Fund (MBCF) but these directed funds can only be used to provide a discount on registration for Whalers players that qualify for assistance under MBCF.  

 50/50 credits cannot be used in the following ways:

- A player leaving the Whalers cannot have the credit transferred to them as it has to be used for Whalers registration. 

- The credit cannot be transferred to 'major' teams or to a former Whalers player who is now playing on a 'major' team. 'Major' teams do not qualify because the government policy only allows the credit to be used within a youth sports organization. The policy's definition of 'youth sports organization' states that the organization (aka: team) cannot be owned in any way by a business and must be registered with Joint Stocks and recognized by their appropriate provincial organization. Although, the 'major' teams are technically sponsored by individuals / entities outside of the Dartmouth Whalers, they fall into this category.  Thus, AGD stated specifically that neither these teams, nor the players on these teams qualify to receive the 50/50 credits from the previous year.  

- The funds cannot be transferred between minor hockey associations without prior approval from AGD (the Whalers organization does not have prior approval).  

 Given the confines of the government policy, the Whalers Board made the decision leading into last season that if a Whalers player fell into one of the  scenarios (listed above) where their parent / guardian could not access their remaining 50/50 credit, the credit would be directed to the Mary Beth Chaulk Fund.

 We hope this explanation provides additional clarity to members of the Dartmouth Whalers.

Great news! We have renewed our partnership with @StaplesCanada.

Thousands of $$ in cash & gift cards to help Whalers families offset hockey costs. The Whalers will purchase team banners, trophies, medals etc from our friends at 2 Dartmouth Staples locations. 

We have an abundance of donated gear given to us over the years, and we would love to help our Whalers families out. If your player needs gear for the upcoming season, we may be able to help. We will be available at RBC on Monday September 12 @ 6pm to offer you an opportunity to look through what we have, and take what you need. We will also accept your outgrown gear to pass along to families! We are still accepting donations of gear, all sizes.

2022 – 2023 Tryouts Update - September 7, 2022

The start dates for the 2022-2023 tryouts are as follows:

U13 AAA – Sunday September 25 (All players will get a minimum of 3 ice times)

U11 AA / A / B – Saturday October 1st

U13 AA / A / B – Saturday October 1st

U15 AA / A – Friday September 30

U15 B Only – To Be Determined (U15 B will start once U15 AA/A are completed)

U18 – To Be Determined

***Please note for U13 tryouts, only one fee needs to be paid, if player signs up for U13 AAA and is unsuccessful, they will be allocated to U13 AA/A/B tryouts at no extra cost.*** Further information and schedules to be posted once all details are confirmed, please stay tuned!

Also please note the following cut off dates for tryout registration:

• September 10th – U13 AAA Competitive Hockey Tryout Cut Off

Any players registering for U13AAA after Sept 10th will not be able to add AAA tryouts to their registration and will be allocated to U13 AA - B tryout process.This includes any players trying out for other outside teams.

• September 16th – U11 to U18 Competitive Hockey Tryout Cut Off

Any players registering after Sept 16th will not be able to add tryouts to their registration and will be allocated to recreation hockey. This includes any players trying out for other outside teams.

• September 16th – EARLY REGISTRATION Cut Off

Any players registering after Sept 16th will now have a late registration fee in the amount of $50 added to the registration fees currently listed on the website.

The Dartmouth Whalers are pleased to introduce a Goaltender Initiative.

Our commitment for this hockey season is development. One of our major focuses is goaltender development, for both new and returning players. We hope with this new initiative, we can recruit new goalies and maintain the ones we have through reduced costs and increased development opportunities.

Our new initiative is as follows:

Any U11 to U18 player that spends the entire hockey season as a goalie with the Dartmouth Whalers will receive $425 off next year's registration fees if they register and play as a goalie for the following hockey season. This initiative applies to all goalies, U11 through U18, playing both Recreation and Competitive hockey. The goalie credit is only applicable to players who have completed their first season in U11 as a goalie, and are continuing to play as a goalie.  We are pleased to share that we will be using a portion of the funds given by our sponsors to help support this initiative. Thank you to our sponsors.

We acknowledge that goalies play an essential role on every hockey team. In addition to reducing costs for our goalies, the board is also working behind the scenes to bring our goalies some new development opportunities in the 2022-2023 season. Stay tuned for more information as we move into the season!