Aug 18, 2014 | RichF | 1723 views
Welcome to the 2014-2015 Season
On behalf of the North Central Ontario Hockey Association Executive I would like to welcome our players and families to what should be an exciting and fun hockey season!
A new feature on our website this year will be a monthly newsletter that will appear on our site during the first week of each month. This newsletter will feature information about NCOHA initiatives and team and player accomplishments. The purpose of the newsletter is to keep our families informed and up to date on current issues that impact our programs.
All six of our clubs have begun preparations for the coming season. It is great to see the kids back on the ice and being given the opportunity to get their legs back so that when the regular season begins...they will be ready.
The OMHA mandated "Respect in Sport Parent Program" is a real positive step in reminding parents of our vital role in mentoring our children in the many life skills that are nurtured through sport...it also serves as a good tool in pointing out to us all the responsibility we have as parents to serve as a good role models. Thank you for taking the time to complete it.
Our Association is very excited to be hosting the Eastern Triple A (ETA) Minor Midget "Showcase" December 6-7 at Orillia's Rotary Place this year! Our executive, led by the efforts of Roger Crandell and Al Scott put together a business case for hosting this prestigious weekend and with a resounding 11-2 vote by ETA member associations were awarded host honours. The showcase features all 13 ETA minor midget teams along with an all-star team from the Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA). Scouts from every OHL club attend to further identify draft eligible players. We would like to thank the Orillia Minor Hockey Association and the Orillia Figure Skating club for working with our association to make Rotary Place available for the weekend. Much more will be shared about this event in the coming weeks and months. For any business owners looking for an event to sponsor, our organizing committee has an opportunity for you to become one of the Showcase's major sponsor. If you are interested, please contact Al Scott or Roger Crandell.
Our association made a huge investment in technology during the season last year. State of the art video equipment and a flat screen TV are housed at our home rink in Rama. A videographer will be hired to video each of our teams' home games at Rama so that our coaching staff can use this resource as an instructional tool for their players and as a way to use the data the video provides to help plan their team's next steps to improve.
Along with the approximate 160 minutes of practice our teams average a week, we have committed to hiring specialized instructors to work on hockey fundamentals and to address other team/player needs in consultation with our coaching staffs. Teams will rotate on a three week cycle (once every three weeks). Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00 pm have been booked at the arena in Bala. A request for tenders will be put out to prospective instructors in early September and a team consisting of executive members and coaches will select the most qualified instructor(s). These "development" sessions will begin in late October.
Please feel free to contact the executive at any time with suggestions or comment on association level decisions/initiatives. As I have said on many occasions, our association is a cooperative venture....families, team staff members, executive and players are all working toward providing our kids with a positive hockey experience. Let's work hard to make this season an enjoyable one!
Thanks.
Rich Foshay