President's Update

**Please forward this to your 'last year's team contact list to give it the widest distribution, I apologize for any duplication..
Sue

Presidents Update;
July 29th, 2010
 
Greetings to all players, coaches, referees, parents and volunteers. It is hard to believe that in less than a month we will be back on the ice at Seaparc. I am starting to get excited about the new season and below provide an update of some of the things happening in the off-season and in early season.
 
1.     Dressing Room Upgrade: Seaparc is expanding and building two new and larger dressing rooms in the arena. Construction has just started and will be on-going through the hockey season. There will be minimal disruption to the existing four dressing rooms but the officials room will likely be out of commission for a good piece of the season. We are working with Seaparc on a temporary solution for the upcoming season and they are confident that our referees will be taken care of. This expansion is well needed and will be of huge benefit for many seasons to come so I ask for your patience if there are minor inconveniences.
2.     Jersey Upgrade: Our existing jerseys are beginning to wear and at the older age groups this is particularly a problem.  The executive has therefore approved a jersey replacement program. We will begin this year by replacing the midget jerseys and in subsequent years move down the divisions to replace the jerseys. The style of the jerseys have been slightly changed but the existing Thunderbird logo has been retained on the home jerseys. A new logo has been placed on the away jerseys. The executive put a lot of time, effort and thought into the new jerseys and I am sure you are going to be impressed.
3.     Early-Ice: The early ice that is offered at Seaparc is bonus ice that allows returning players from Atom up to get their skating legs back prior to try-outs. Three days of ice have been booked from Tuesday August 31st to Thursday August 2nd. Please see the SMHA website for details.
4.     Try-outs: Try-outs for representative teams will begin immediately after the Labour day weekend. The try-out schedule and process will be posted on the website by August 15th.
5.     Coaching Applications: The executive recently passed a coach selection policy and in keeping with last year a coach application is posted on the website in the coaches corner tab. If you are interested in coaching this year please fill in the application and forward the application to our head coach, Randy Bouvier as soon as possible.
6.     Volunteers: Our organization and parent organization (Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey Association-VIAHA) are only as strong as the volunteers that support us. We are looking for two commissioners to help run the Vancouver Island Amateur Hockey leagues and are also looking for divisional coordinators in  both Atom and Pee Wee boys divisions here in Sooke. I strongly urge you to consider volunteering.
 
See you in a few weeks!
 
Gordon Sleivert
President
Sooke Minor Hockey Association