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Important Memo for All Members- Start of the Season

Important Memo for All Members- Start of the Season
 
Welcome back to the 2021/22 Hockey Season! Through all the challenges and uncertainty through Covid, we are fortunate to have our players back at the rink practicing, trying out and seeing teammates and friends again. It is a busy time of season with school back in session, other Fall sports starting up and summer sports winding down. We are enthusiastic that this season will get off to a great start and a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to be ready.  This is a volunteer driven organization and there are many people helping out with planning, on-ice/check-in support, coaching, safety reps, the list is too long to name the number of people involved.  Please do thank our many volunteers who have already spent countless number of hours to get us to this point and will be putting in many more hours during the season!  
 
This is an important time of year, but is also a stressful time for many players, coaches and parents.  This is why it is important to keep things in perspective and appreciate that we are one of the few jurisdictions in Canada who actually got to play games last year. While we had a few pauses and disruptions, we fared much better than most and we know that everyone will do their part again this year to make the season and our health and safety even more important. We also know the key to reducing the stress is to communicate with our membership and therefore you will be seeing ongoing communications to keep you informed of the season start up process.  Stay tuned for daily updates!  
 
Try-outs will begin for some starting this week. U13 will start this Thursday, September 30th, U11 and U15 will start Oct 4th and U18 will start the week of October 18th. We will start with skill sessions for all levels and this first and only session will be players and evaluators only. No spectators will be allowed during the skills sessions as we work to make the best environment for all involved. After the first skill sessions, we will commence with inter-squad games and one spectator per player will be allowed into the rink. We ask that all spectators to use the downstairs portion of the rink only. Upstairs will be exclusively for evaluators only. This is important to ensure that the evaluators have the best sightlines and access to the players.  
 
Also just a reminder of the Hockey Nova Scotia Vaccination Policy that requires anyone 12 years and above entering the facility to show proof of vaccination. More information can be found here regarding this policy.  
 
 
You will see a separate communication this week regarding this policy and how we will manage this process.
 
Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your level coordinator or any Executive Board member.  We will send out daily communications to keep you informed. Please read these messages carefully, as they will provide you with key information that you may need as we get through the start up phase of the season.
 
Thanks for your patience and ongoing support. Let's get this season started and we look forward to seeing you all at the rink very soon!
 
Cheers
Phil Power
DWMHA President
Sep 27, 2021