Impact on Boundary Review on GHC

I have received a question regarding the impact of Hockey's Calgary review and subsequent proposal on the realignment of hockey associations within Calgary. While the boundaries of GHC are not impacted by the proposal as our athletes are drawn from all communities within Hockey Calgary, there are however questions on how it will impact the availability of ice for GHC and how will it impact those hockey associations who have hosted our novice or atom teams in the past.

As associations have grown over the last five years our ability to secure host associations has been increasingly difficult and as an outcome of this proposal more associations will grow including Crowchild, McKnight, Westwood and Lake Bonavista who have all been great host associations in the past for GHC. Will these associations be willing to continue to sponsor female teams is not clear as they themselves are not totally clear on their enrollments for 2009-2010. This is not uncommon as we normally don’t receive commitment from Host Associations until late in the summer when enrollment numbers have firmed up.

Before we get overly concerned, it is important to understand that the guiding principle of the boundary review is to ensure equitable ice for all players including the female stream therefore any change will ensure GHC has access to ice. I have attended all the boundary review meetings and I can assure you the members of committee support Girls Hockey. The GHC board members are working diligently to ensure we have access to ice for GHC for next year and years to come. We are currently talking to both Crowchild Hockey Association and East Calgary Twin Arenas to identity opportunities to secure additional ice for GHC in those parts of the city. We are also talking to Hockey Calgary regarding access to ice for all our teams and Hockey Calgary is committed to the female game and will ensure we have the ice necessary ice to support both our community and elite programs.

Over the next number of weeks, we will continue to work with both Hockey Associations and arena facility operators to firm up our plans for next year and communicate the information to our membership at our Annual General Meeting.

Another Update on Bantam AAA

While progress has been slow we have been steadily moving forward on the creation of the Bantam AAA League. Hockey Alberta has officially received expressions of intent from the following communities.

a. Edmonton

b. Lloydminster

c. Grande Prairie

d. Spruce Grove

e. Sherwood Park

f. St. Albert

g. Red Deer

h. Calgary

i. Lethbridge

j. Okotoks

Last Wednesday Hockey Calgary's Board of Directors approved our participation which opens the door for further talks. The next meeting of the interested associations will be this Wednesday where the league structure and time line will be discussed. In addition GHC continues to have discussions with Hockey Calgary and other Associations with the objective of securing the appropriate amount of local ice to support our participation. I will keep you updated on our progress over the next month as we should have some firm details to share.

Bullying, Harassment & Abuse

Girls Hockey Calgary like all hockey associations in Canada strongly opposes all forms of bullying and is committed to stamping out Bullying, Harassment and Abuse. This is a Zero Tolerance item and will result in immediate suspension. As a parent it is important that we understand the signs of bullying, harassment and abuse and take time to talk to our daughters so they may understand their rights and responsibilities. I have taken an excerpt from the Hockey Canada Parents Guide and also provided the link to the document. I hope you find this information helpful.

When is my child unsafe?
Young people are unsafe when someone uses his or her power or position to harm them either emotionally, physically and/or sexually.

These types of violence can be bullying, harassment or abuse. It can happen between peers, between younger and older youth or between adults and youth.

BULLYING

What is bullying?

Bullying is intentionally hurting someone in order to insult, humiliate, degrade or exclude him or her. Basically it is "mean" behaviour. It involves three groups of people: the bullies, the bullied and the bystanders.

Hurtful actions may be:

Physical (used most often by boys)

• hitting

• shoving

• kicking

• spitting on

• grabbing

• beating others up

• damaging or stealing another person's property

Verbal
• name-calling
• humiliating
• degrading behaviours
• may happen over the phone
• hurtful teasing
• threatening someone
• in notes or in person
• through text messaging or chat rooms

Relational (used most often by girls)

• making others look foolish

• excluding peers

• spreading gossip or rumours

• this may happen in person, over the phone, through text messaging, or over the computer

Cyber-Bullying (includes the use of email, cell phones, text messages and internet sites)

• Pretend they are other people online to trick others

• Send threatening or harassing emails

• Spread lies and rumors about the people they are victimizing

• Trick people into revealing personal information

• Send or forward mean text messages

• Post pictures of people without their consent

What is the role of the person who is the bystander?

People who are bystanders or witnesses play a role in the bullying world. Their reaction or lack of reaction often influences the outcome of the interaction:

• a passive response give the person who is bullying a theatre to cause hurt and a sense of reinforcement as there is no opposition.

• a supportive response gives the person who bullies positive attention, alignment, power and social status. The person who is the bystander may also increase their own social status.

• a negative response supports the person being bullied and may stop the bullying; it may also put the person who is the bystander at risk to become the next victim.

Parents Guide to Speak Out!

Update on Fair Play.

I recently received a question asking for clarification of how to address a situation where players don't attend practices but are able to attend all games. This is a challenging question to answer as each situation has unique circumstances that must be taken into consideration. I do know for certain that Hockey Calgary and Girls Hockey are both strong supports of Fair Play! Hockey Calgary has numerous pages within the rule book explaining Fair Play including Fair Play codes for players, parents, coaches, spectators and league administrators. Under player discipline they address the question regarding missed practices. The rule states; " Coaches should use discretion to sit a player for the first period, or portion thereof, of a game in the event a player has developed a habit of missing practices within a set reasonable limit or arriving late for games. The requirements to sit a player should be documented and if repeated occurrences are considered necessary, the reasons should be reported to league administrators." Girls Hockey rules state that; "Head Coaches are permitted to bench an athlete member for misconduct, unsportsmanlike behaviour, and abuse to any official, unexplained absences or any other conduct that is deemed to be detrimental to the well being of the team and/or organization. Benching may be done for any portion of a game, to a maximum of two periods. " The Girls Hockey rule covers a much larger concern regarding the safety of all participants and while it includes the unexplained absences it doesn't address the specific issue regarding practices vs. games. Based on the feedback we have received clarification of this rule should be considered for the 2009-2010 season.

At the start of each season, the Board of Directors of Girls Hockey Calgary asks the coaches to have a team meeting with their players and parents and establish the team rules that include the expectations regarding attendance and participation at practice and they should explain the consequences for missing a practice. GHC does not demand our athletes to play only hockey and refrain from all other sports or extracurricular activities, however we do ask the parents and players to recognize they are playing a team sport and their attendance and participation in practices is an important part of being a member of a team. The team rules should be signed by all participants, both players and parents and submitted to the Girls Hockey office for review. The rules cannot be harsher than the rules set out by Hockey Calgary or Girls Hockey and they must be applied to all member of the team fairly. In my experience where we run into trouble is when the issue is not addressed in the team meeting, the expectations are for total dedication to hockey or when the rules appear to be arbitrarily applied.

In summary, coaches can sit a player for all or a portion of the first period (not the third and not overtime) when the team rules are broken.

Hope this helps.

Don O'Grady
President Girls Hockey Calgary

Update on AAA Bantam

The Board of Directors of Girls Hockey Calgary has voted to formally express an interest to Hockey Alberta to join nine other draw zones within Alberta to create a Bantam AAA league for the 2009-2010 season. The league will consist of the 10 draw zones as established by Hockey Alberta in the Female Elite Hockey Development Model. (http://www.hockeyalberta.ca/UserFiles/File/Female%20ADM%20Elite%20Hockey%20Document-%202008.pdf) Each draw zone is required by February 20^th to identify their intent to participate in the new league. After that date, it will be decided by the representatives of each draw zone if the league should be formed or deferred.

The Board of Directors of Girls Hockey Calgary has voted to have one team from Calgary participate in the league and the remaining Bantam A teams continue to participate in a four team league within the Hockey Calgary structure. The Board has placed one condition on our participation, that being the availability of ice for this team. Girls Hockey Calgary is currently searching for additional ice and if we can secure contracts for this ice we will proceed; otherwise we will delay our participation for a year. The Board unanimously agreed that we would not take ice from any other program to support this new initiative.

After Feb 20^th the league structure and rules will be developed by the participating zones. I will update everyone shortly after the 20^th.

 

Don O'Grady
President Girls Hockey Calgary

Midget Nationals (ESSO Cup)

The first ever Female Midget Nationals will be held in Calgary from April 19^th to April 25^th and one of our three Girls Hockey Calgary teams will be participating as the Host team. The Calgary representative is determined by the team that advances the furthest in the provincial playoffs and the Calgary Bruins and Calgary Flyers meet in the second round of the playoff starting this weekend with the winner of the 5 game series becoming the Calgary Host team at the Nationals. Unfortunately our third team the Calgary Chaos lost out in the first round and have been eliminated from the competition. Come cheer on our girls and get a sneak preview of the exciting hockey that will be played at the Nationals with teams from Ontario, the Maritimes, Prairies and Pacific regions. The playoff series between the Bruins and the Flyers begins this weekend at Max Bell arena. For details on game times and locations visit www.ammfhl-hockey.ca. Reminder; we are still in need of volunteers, both players and parents to help at the Midget Nationals. Wouldn't it be fun to be part of history!!!

Volunteering

Calgary is known throughout North America as a city of volunteers; Calgarians reaching out and supporting the community, making it a better place for all residents. Girls Hockey Calgary (GHC) has been the benefactor of this volunteer spirit for many years and through the hard work and dedication of these volunteers we have grown to the largest female hockey association in Western Canada. Thanks to the parents and non parents volunteering as coaches, managers, coordinators and board members we have been able to provide a program that is envied by cities throughout the west. However, I am seeing a trend that if not addressed may jeopardize our ability to continue to be successful in the future. The number of volunteers at GHC is growing dangerously low. Over the past three years the Board of Directors have responded to the feedback from parents and players and implemented an organizational structure that has intentionally minimized the impact parents and coaches have on which team and level their daughter is placed. Creating this needed transparency and removing any actual or perceived favouritism has dramatically reduced the number of complaints and concerns raised by our membership; however it has also created a situation where parents find it difficult to understand how they can give back to the Girls Hockey Association.

We have 600+ athletes playing at our association and I believe we have 1200+ parents and grandparents who attend our games regularly cheering on their daughters and granddaughters. I am asking each family to look at how they can volunteer even a few hours to help. GHC has a number of events remaining this year and we need your help to ensure their success. Volunteering at the Provincial Championships, the Midget Women's Nationals and the Spring Banquet are great events that bring our teams together to celebrate female hockey. Look for how you can give back to the association that doesn't directly impact your daughter or her team but builds a strong association that your daughter will benefit from in the future. Calgary has grown to a large and busy city and the residents of Calgary have very busy lives. Having you and your daughter take a few hours and volunteer together at an event is a great way to help our young athletes learn the responsibilities of belonging to a community.

Please call the office (403) 278-9223 or email ghockey@allstream.net

Thank you

Don O'Grady

President Girls Hockey Calgary