Hello Warrior families,
The season is off and running, and we have been so fortunate to see our kids return to normal hockey activities, and to reconnect with our hockey community as we come and go from the arenas. While there have been a few positive COVID cases, each case was handled appropriately and no teams nor facilities have been shut down thus far!
While most of our participants have been respectfully adhering to each facility’s COVID protocols, there have been some reported incidents of push back. Once again, I’d like to remind you that we expect that all volunteers, and arena staff are treated respectfully, and ongoing issues may result in sanctions. Thank you to all who have, and continue to follow posted protocols.
We are quickly approaching the end of the seeding round, and can look forward to the release of the regular season schedule in the coming weeks. Expect Regular season games to begin the week of December 6.
This may feel different to many families, who recall the Regular season beginning at the kick off of Esso Minor Hockey Week in early January. During the 2019/20 season Hockey Calgary Operations Council undertook a study to improve upon the delivery of the Minor Hockey program, and a key recommendation was to shorten the seeding round, and extend the regular season as well as provide more defined tournament windows. The advent of COVID at the end of that season vastly overshadowed the roll out of these recommended changes, and continued to overshadow our communications at the outset of this season. To read the complete announcement, please follow this link:
Hockey Calgary continues to put the safety of our athletes as a top priority, which includes their mental and emotional well-being. This week they announced a new partnership with ‘I Got Mind’ and will be offering minor hockey leaders an opportunity to participate in seminars on managing the ‘power differential in sport’. The Northwest Warriors board encourage all of our hockey leaders to participate in opportunities such as these that further our mission to provide a program encompassing social, emotional and physical growth for our participants.
And finally, we encourage all players, coaches and parents to remember that our hockey community includes the referees who make fair game play possible. The Central Zone is experiencing a significant shortage of qualified referees this season, due to the inability to run intake clinics during the COVID shutdown. Please be patient, and respectful of our referees as many of them are very new, and others are stretched thin trying to ensure that all of our games have appropriate officiating. Whether you are a current U15 or U18 player, or a former player, if you have ever considered picking up the whistle, and donning the stripes, there is no better time to get in the game. For more information visit www.czrc.ab.ca
See you at the rink! Go Warriors Go!
Janis Rogers, President
Northwest Warriors Hockey Association
