Starting the Season

Hi OCMHA Parents and Players
 

Its been a long time coming but we are finally getting back on the ice.  A tiny bit of normal in this complicated, and certainly stressful world we are in.     I’m sure everyone has no doubt seen the numbers of cases reported today and have listened to the messages from Dr Vera Etches and the updates from the Province.   At the moment there are no further restrictions on arenas or indoor sports that we are aware of.  OCMHA , District B and HEO are monitoring the situation for any updates that may affect us and will notify parents as soon as anything changes.

There has been a lot of activity getting to this point.   A shout out to a fantastic group of volunteers navigating the ever changing public health protocols to put together a program that will be both fun and safe at the same time.  To all of the conveners who’ve managed to put together bubbles and pods: U7 - Brad Carew, U9 - Shawn Barber, U11 - Cynthia Colapinto, U13 - Glen MacEachern, U15 - Katerina Daniel, U18 - Sean Lynch and U21 - Peter Smith, thanks,  a tough job at the best of times, more so this year.  To all of our executive ,we’ve had more meetings in 3 months than we’ve had in the past couple of years, a special level of dedication.   Coaches,  Trainers, Managers and the new Safety Coordinators (over 150 parents at OCMHA), no program can run without you.  And finally to parents for signing your children up, not an easy decision.

If you haven’t seen it yet, we have posted a COVID-19 Safety Guide on our website.  Please take the time to read through it, if you have any questions, please contact myself (president@ocmha.ca) or Matt Meagher (riskandsafety@ocmha.ca).  A special thanks to Matt Meagher, Cynthia Colapinto,  Elspeth Tory and Katerina Daniel for putting the guide together.

Most of the rinks we use opened yesterday.   As you can imagine, its a new process for getting in and out of the rink for everyone.  Please be patient as city staff and our safety coordinators work through protocols at the various rinks.  Most importantly, make sure to check yourself and your player for COVID-19 symptoms using the Ottawa Public Health screening tool before coming to the rink.

Be safe, stay healthy, have fun.

Dave Loehr
President, OCMHA