Welcome to Mainstream Hockey - Reminder to new Novice Players, News (Tillsonburg Minor Hockey Inc.)

Welcome to Mainstream Hockey

This is a list of helpful tips and time lines for your child’s hockey experience when he/she enters mainstream hockey.

• Moving from IP to Novice you need to rely on the website for most information.
• Registration for the 2015/2016 hockey season will take place online in the month of June with payment drop off dates set and listed.  You want to register in this time frame to take advantage of the $100 discount.

Time Line of What to Expect

Tryouts

• Your child will attend a series of skates that will allow coaches to select their teams for that season.  Representative teams take anywhere from 12-14 skaters and 1 or 2 goalies.  In Novice it is at the discretion of the coaching staff to work with the skaters on which position they will play.
• Coaches will communicate with the children via a process of their choice to let them know if they have made or did not make the team.

Representative Hockey

• Once selection is complete, the coach will typically hold a team meeting in early September before the season, outlining the following:

1)      Tournaments and Costs

2)      Fundraising and rules around it

3)      Team Dress code

4)      Dressing room expectations

5)      Coaches expectations of the players

6)      Coaches expectations of the Parents

7)      Ice time and Fair Ice – see attached Fair Ice Policy

8)      AP policy – how they will handle Alternate Players

9)      Team Staff Duties – responsibilities of coaching staff

• Representative game referees are paid directly out of the revenue from the gate entry costs which are currently $4 per adult per game.
• Tournaments will be booked in advance of the team being selected and payment will be required by parents to cover those costs and will be due October 31^st. Player costs can range anywhere from $150-$250 typically

• REP fees are due to the manager of the teams by September 30^th to be paid to TMHI. These fees are currently $100 per player, and go towards extra morning ice time and the issuance of two gate passes to each player.  Each gate pass allows for up to 10 adult spectator entries into home games. This is subject to change from year to year.
• Morning ice is a required attendance for all Novice REP players in TMHI.  We are focused on player development and this ice is the most time effective and cost efficient for that use.
• Our REP team plays in two leagues, OMHA and Southern Counties.  Schedules come out for Southern Counties league beginning of October and run until March, with breakdowns for A/B side during the season.  Southern Counties holds a final weekend in the end of March/Beginning of April for A and B side finals
• OMHA Play downs are a best to 6 point series starting typically in mid January and running until the team advances or looses out.  This could run as long as the end of March and include games during the March Break
• Silver stick is a tournament through the Christmas break held in Pelham Ontario Dec 27-30^th.  REP teams participate and winning this regional tournament leads to an international tournament held in St Clair Shores Michigan mid January – Passports will be required

* If the player wishing to move up is in the Tyke division, the following rules will apply:

As per OMHA and Hockey Canada Guidelines, Tyke hockey is defined as 7 year olds and IP program is below 7 years old. TMHI will allow 7 year olds to try out for the Novice Rep Team, if they are clearly belonging on the team as deemed by the head coach.

Novice LL

• Season start date is mid- September.  Important to watch the website for dates/times for evaluation skates.  Evaluation skates are used to measure the abilities of the players, in order to prepare the rosters for Team selection.  This will allow a proper balance of teams and abilities.  If there is only one LL team, these skates will be used as practices.
• We are always actively looking for Local League coaches we will/may still be looking for a coach at this point in the season.
• Once teams are divided coaches will hold a parent meeting outlining the following :

1)      Tournaments

2)      Coaches expectations of parents and players

3)      Fundraising

4)      Team staff Duties

• LL team(s) play in the “Intertown Local League”, which is administered by OMHA, against centers in the area. Schedules are made by a central league along with representatives from Tillsonburg teams.
• Tournaments will be at the discretion of the coaching staff.
• Player participation in games is determined through generally equal ice time for all players.

FOR ATOM AND ABOVE

Additional Entry (AE) Team Specific

• Silverstick is held in Wellesley/ St Clements at the beginning of December
• Tournaments will run approximately $150-$250 per child
• There are less teams in the AE loop for each division so travel for league games will be more
• Finals are held at the same time in March/April for Southern Counties as REP finals
• REP/AE fees - collected by the manager and due September 30^th.
• Player evaluation and participation in games is at the sole discretion of the coach.

*****  All of this information can be found on the TMHI website under the Operations tab on the bottom left hand side.  The operations manual covers all bi-laws and rules governing TMHI as well as all policies and procedures for all Minor Hockey activities.