Spring Tryouts
Have I got your attention?
As a board, we are constantly entertaining new ideas and
taking initiatives to make improvements for the players and coaches involved
with the Listowel Minor Hockey Association.
A number of years ago, Alternate Entry
(AE) teams were introduced as a means of offering an increased level of hockey
to a greater number of players. This was a major decision and fortunately, has
proven to be the right one.
More recently, the position of “parent
reps” was discontinued and “executive liaisons” were introduced. This has also
been beneficial as it has kept the board members more in touch with the teams
and parents. We have
had a great number of conversations at our board meetings over the past year
regarding “spring tryouts”. If implemented, it would mean that tryouts would
take place in April for the following hockey season, however, payments would continue to be due as per usual in the fall.
The Ontario Minor Hockey Association continues to
move dates forward for which coaches and trainers must have completed their
certifications. This makes the window very tight for the volunteers to meet the
requirements in the fall.
Entry into tournaments is often very difficult in
September or October. Selection is often very limited as many have been booked
up since the summer.
Team numbers have to be registered with the OMHA in
the spring in order to participate in the league. Spring tryouts would give us,
as an organization, accurate numbers to register our teams in a timely fashion.
We also feel that players, having just completed
the season, will be more comfortable trying out in the spring and these early
try outs may help to relieve any anxieties that players feel during the summer.
These are only a few of the reasons for pursuing
this option. Although there may be negatives, we don’t feel they are
substantial enough to outweigh the positives.
We are interested in hearing your comments,
please send me an email or talk to a board member.
Regards
Randy Bauman
President
Listowel Minor Hockey Association
