Message re U15 and U18

U15 and U18 players and parents:

As I mentioned in my email on Saturday, the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Ottawa is a concern for us all. As a result, the Province has set new restrictions that impact hockey, specifically, games and scrimmages are not allowed for team sports for the next 28 days.

Due to the new restrictions, we have made the following changes to the program:

1. Reduce the # of ice times from 2/week to 1/week.
2. There will be no scrimmages.
3. Coaches will run fun competition based drills to create an enjoyable session with physical distancing in mind.

In addition to the changes noted above, we are also making the following changes to reduce the # of contacts at the rink:

U15 - Our original plan had 5 pods of 8 skaters + goalies creating a bubble of ~43. Instead, we will pair up pods to create 2 bubbles of ~21/22 that will not mix for the next 4 weeks. Katerina Daniel (U15 convener) will follow up with pod information in the next day or two. U15's first ice time will be Saturday Oct 17th.

U18 - Our original plan had 4 pods mixing each ice time to form a bubble of 40 players. Instead, we will pair up 2 pods and they will remain paired for the next 4 weeks, creating bubbles of ~20 players.

The schedule on ocmha.ca will be adjusted this evening to reflect these changes.

We will return to our original 4 and 5 pod/ ~40 player bubble format when we return to scrimmaging.

These changes will remain in effect until Nov 9th.

We are planning in a constantly changing environment and will continue to review the total ice time allocated to U15 and U18 throughout the fall session so that families receive value for their registration fees.

We recognize that this is a significant change to the original plan, however we feel we can still provide an enjoyable program. If you have any concerns, please contact your convener, or myself. Thank you for your support. Fingers crossed we will be back to scrimmaging soon.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

David Loehr
President, OCMHA