Hello Gan Islanders Families,
Thank you for your continued patience over the past few months. Your GMHA Executive and its Return to Play (RTP) Committee have been working hard behind the scenes to put together a plan to get our players back to playing hockey safely this coming season.
As September 1st approaches and we move into Stage 3B "Return to Practice and Play" of the OHFs Return to Play (RTP) Framework the GMHA Executive wants to share the following information with you at this time.
Stage 3 B Effective September 1 means:
Registration may continue with payment effective immediately.
Registration falls in line with the 2019-2020 association or a return to their home association. (There will be no new NRP player movement in 2020-2021). The 2020-2021 year will not be considered as counting toward the two seasons defined under Policy 4.1.b (Reg. 3.5)
Maximum of 30 participants on the ice including instructors (9 players/1 goalies/5 instructors max per team). Players are only allowed to play on 1 team as per the OHF with no affiliation.
Physical distancing is required for individual and group training.
As previously stated using the OHF RTP Framework programming plan GMHA is required to draft and submit a return to play program to our OMHA Regional Director for review and approval.
The program will require declaration of cohort/bubbles for all teams.
Cohort/Bubble - Players are to be grouped to a maximum group of 50 (not including bench staff) or less depending on the Public Health Unit (PHU).
What will hockey look like in Gan this season...........
- During Stage 3 there will be no traditional Rep Hockey & no team tryouts.
- GMHA is drafting an "in-house only" system/program for approval
- Players will be assigned and placed within the cohort/bubbles for practice and play.
- Goal is to commence on ice activities by September 19th
- GMHA will be required to implement a two week development phase for programs and following this 3v3 or 4v4 game play may commence with no physical contact hockey.
- All game play must occur within our PHU and we are not able to cross over into the HEO league.
- All game play will be conducted in conjunction with the local PHU and facility rules for sanitation and physical distancing.
- Families will be required to complete a health screening prior to each on-ice activity, along with submitting contact information required for contact tracing
GMHA hopes to offer additional skill development sessions to those interested players at an additional cost.
OnLine Registration is once again open and fees will commence effective September 1st.
Please direct your queries regarding registration/payments to
[email protected].
Registration numbers will dictate our ice requirements and number of teams in each division, therefore it is imperative that if you are thinking of registering to do it now. Thanks to the players/parents that have already registered.
If you completed the "COVID-19 Intent to Register form" you are considered registered but if you are are unsure of what the next steps are please email
[email protected].
Families will have the choice to either make a one time payment or set up monthly payments. The monthly payment option will run from September 1st through to January 1st, with payments coming out on the 1st of each month.
The Executive has determined with our expenses (ie. ice, refs, timekeepers and additional personal protective equipment) registration fees will remain as established (refer to REGISTRATION tab for costs). Please understand our ice, referee, timekeeper, insurance costs will not decrease with an in-house system.
We continue to await the information from the Town with regards the safety protocols which we will need to follow. Please note these protocols will need to be adhered to for us to continue to offer our programming.
We understand this is an unusual year, but our goal as the Executive is to provide the players with some normalcy, friendships and physical fitness by getting them back onto the ice within our community.
It will be important for parents and players to be flexible in their thinking and in their expectations this season, more than any other. Please stay patient and remember that the Executive and the RTP Committee Members are volunteers and are doing what we can to get things up and running when safe to do so.
Should you have any questions regarding our plan please direct them to Robb Bowman President GMHA @ [email protected]
Stay safe and we will see you at the rink in September!!
