Good day everyone! My name is Mike Smith and I am the newly appointed President of Listowel Minor Hockey (“LMH”).
Just a quick note, on behalf of the Board of LMH, welcoming you back for another season of hockey. At this time, we’d like to extend a sincere Welcome for those who are new to Listowel or new to LMH. LMH is very proud to be part of the Listowel community and want to extend our thanks in advance to the countless volunteers, referees, coaches, team managers, board members, parents, and most importantly the kids, for making hockey their choice to become socially and physically active throughout the 2013/2014 winter months.
The winter hockey season is a long one and we hope all of you have had some time to recharge the batteries, be involved in other activities, and enjoy the summer months.
The Board wants to advise you of various upcoming events:
(i) LMH Hockey School dates have been confirmed with August 27, 29, Sept 3, 5 and 7. If you have not signed up for this Hockey School, please contact Registration Director, Sherri Coombs through the website (About Us Tab, Executive Member link) prior to these dates.
(ii) Rep Tryout dates will begin Sunday September 8 with a minimum ice time of the first 2 scheduled tryout sessions for each attending player. These times will be posted on the website calendar as have been in the past.
(iii) Final Registration is set for Saturday, September 14 upstairs in the Listowel Arena. Times will be posted on this same site. For those who are interested in attending tryouts for the Rep Teams, and have not yet registered with LMH, please contact Registration Director, Sherri Coombs through the website (About Us Tab, Executive Member link) prior to September 8..
(iv) A recent decision at the Hockey Canada General Meeting to move the introduction of body checking from Peewee to Bantam has been confirmed. The priority which outweighed all others was player safety, providing young athletes with the opportunity to best develop and acquire skills while keeping as many players in the game as possible. This has been a polarizing subject throughout Minor Hockey Organizations.
(v) LMH has developed a Friday Night Skills Development Clinic “pilot project” to trial this season for Novice and Atom age players. This will be our next progressive step in our expansion of the Grass Roots Development Strategy creating an impact at the Mite, Tyke and now the Novice & Atom age groups.
LMH is particularly proud of numerous things that took place during this past hockey season:
(i) The number of individuals volunteering for LMH continues to increase. It is always encouraging when parents take an active interest in the sports development of their children.
(ii) Our Mite and Tyke Development pilot project with the third party provider THE ZONE was a positive first step. We learned a lot, appreciated the feedback we received and we remain committed to improving the foundations of LMH through the use of this third party.
(iii) Through the tireless efforts of the Grass Roots Committee, continued progress is being made in, not only exposing more of our Community’s Youth to this great game through Registration gains but in giving these same young players the skills required to enjoy and play the game long after their Minor Hockey careers are past. Thanks to these members as well as the Business Community which supports the initiative. We can not stress enough, how important these funds are to not only give the opportunity to “try the game” but to gain the skills & confidence to continue to play the game.
(iv) For the third consecutive season, we are utilizing the Executive Liaison for each team in lieu of Parent Rep. This has been met with positive reviews and has created an openness which will benefit the Organization going forward. Many suggestions were put forward regarding how processes could be improved, with some implemented into this year’s Coach’s Handbook. One example is the clear definition regarding dressing room responsibilities. Please feel free to pass on any improvement ideas through this channel. We’re here for you.
(v) New home jerseys, in the colour black, were a reality late last season due to the diligent efforts of Bob Balthes and Chad Yungblut. These very sharp jerseys will be worn as our Home Jerseys for the upcoming Season.
In closing, I want to personally thank each and every one of the Board members for the significant contributions they provided LMH over the last year. In addition a special thanks to the individuals whose Board terms have ended: Jeff Sippel, Bob Balthes and Allan Jacklin,
Sincerely
Mike Smith
President - LMH
August 2013 President Message.doc