Novice Division Information for Season Startup

Good morning everyone,

My name is Ryan Casey and I am the Novice Division Manager for the Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association for the 2015-16 Season.  Our official start up dates are right around the corner and I wanted to send you a quick email to let you know about the plans that are in development for the Novice Division.  Please understand that these plans are fairly fluid at this point for reasons I will explain.

First off, dividing players into teams has not happened yet.  This is because we are still accepting registrations and as such our numbers are not fully confirmed.  As well, the AA team has not yet finalized their team.  About 2/3 of our players did not tryout for AA so we have a general idea of where things are going, but until the numbers are there, we haven't finalized lists to the point where we can send out a schedule for each player.  I intend on sending out more information Friday.  The first ice-time is scheduled for Sunday October 4, at 4:30 pm.  Some things you can do in anticipation of next week is have skates sharpened, sticks cut properly and generally check over equipment for proper sizing and protection. 

The reason I am waiting to send out more information on Friday has to do with coaches and making sure we can put our kids on the ice with proper supervision.   Our Novice AA division has their coaches set in Mike O'Meara and Chris Silvaggio.  Welcome gentlemen and good luck.  However, our A division teams will need some support and that means putting out a call for more volunteers.  I am offering to lead one team but it would be nice to have 2-3 parents help out with the programming for each group.  For this reason, I am inviting anyone who would like to help out with a Novice A team, in any capacity to join George Halliwell, CMHA President and I, at an information session Thursday evening at 7:00 at Halliwell Consulting, 51 Watts Ave., in the West Royalty Business Park to go over the plan for the Novice Division.  This meeting is not necessarily a general overview of what to expect from the season but will be more of a discussion about what on-ice development will look like.  The traditional "Parents Meeting" will happen as teams are identified early on in the season, usually at the rink during a practice.  You do not have to be certified to be a part of this group although that would be helpful.  We'll also have information available at the meeting regarding certification standards if interested.  So yes, please join us if you are interested.

In closing, I want to welcome you all back to another year of hockey.  Good luck to all players participating in tryouts and we'll see you all at the rink.  If anyone has any questions, please send me back a note.  I'll also be at the rink for each of the opening sessions if you want to have a chat.    I hope to meet some of you Thursday evening and once again, expect an email from me on Friday.

Ryan