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Update on Stage 2 restrictions
2020-10-16Programs paused until midnight on Nov 6th - please read for details
Hi OCMHA Players and Parents
Our executive board met last night to review the new modified Stage 2 restrictions put in place on October 9th and further clarified on Oct 14th. We support the Province and Ottawa Public Health's return to the modified stage 2 restrictions to try to curb the rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa and will continue to work within their guidelines.
With this in mind, we have decided to pause OCMHA programs until midnight on Nov 6th.
This short pause provides several benefits, which include reducing our contacts (always good given the current climate) and providing us with time to try to put together a new plan to return to the ice, even if we remain in stage 2 after Nov 6th
A return to ice under stage 2 would require a rework of our pods and approximately 30- 40% more volunteers than we have now. On the financial side the cost of ice per player doubles. To compensate, we would have to reduce the ice times to 1 time per week to keep the costs within the current registration fees.
Conveners will be following up soon to see if more volunteer coaches and trainers are available to help on the ice and provide information on certification requirements.
We will provide details on our new return to play program in the coming weeks. We recognize that players and parents may not want to participate in a stage 2 program and will provide withdrawl and refund options as part of that plan.
Please Note: Ottawa Public Health, Hockey Eastern Ontario, District B (Bytown) and the OCMHA Executive are strongly discouraging parents from renting ice outside of the city to avoid restrictions. Any ice bookings are not sanctioned by the OCMHA as we do not want to be responsible for causing an outbreak in a facility outside the city.
Stay safe, stay healthy and for now, keep your stick on the shooting pad, we will get back on the ice as soon as possible.
David Loehr
PS. In my message on Wednesday, I characterized the latest restrictions as imposed by the city, they are in fact part of the modified Stage 2 restrictions set out by the province, and clarified by the city on Wednesday.
This short pause provides several benefits, which include reducing our contacts (always good given the current climate) and providing us with time to try to put together a new plan to return to the ice, even if we remain in stage 2 after Nov 6th
A return to ice under stage 2 would require a rework of our pods and approximately 30- 40% more volunteers than we have now. On the financial side the cost of ice per player doubles. To compensate, we would have to reduce the ice times to 1 time per week to keep the costs within the current registration fees.
Conveners will be following up soon to see if more volunteer coaches and trainers are available to help on the ice and provide information on certification requirements.
We will provide details on our new return to play program in the coming weeks. We recognize that players and parents may not want to participate in a stage 2 program and will provide withdrawl and refund options as part of that plan.
Please Note: Ottawa Public Health, Hockey Eastern Ontario, District B (Bytown) and the OCMHA Executive are strongly discouraging parents from renting ice outside of the city to avoid restrictions. Any ice bookings are not sanctioned by the OCMHA as we do not want to be responsible for causing an outbreak in a facility outside the city.
Stay safe, stay healthy and for now, keep your stick on the shooting pad, we will get back on the ice as soon as possible.
David Loehr
PS. In my message on Wednesday, I characterized the latest restrictions as imposed by the city, they are in fact part of the modified Stage 2 restrictions set out by the province, and clarified by the city on Wednesday.