N.H. AMATEUR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION GENERAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING HOLIDAY INN, CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2017

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1 I. ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 9:30 am. Delegates Present: Delegates Absent: Berlin N.H. East Eagles Backbay Concord N.H. Jr. Monarchs Henniker Dover N. Cyclones Keene (excused) Hanover Nashua Oyster River Hollis Plymouth Twin Valley Flyers Kearsarge Rochester N.H. Avalanche Lakes Region Seacoast Lightening Mt. Washington Valley Upper Valley Manchester Flames Officers Present: Paul Comeau Mike Durant Chris Cooper Kevin Fascetta John McKenzie Matt Roy Cam Stoddard Joan Strogen President 1 st Executive VP & Interim Treasurer Women s VP Webmaster Mites Divisional VP Bantams & Midgets Divisional VP Secretary/SafeSport Coordinator Pee Wees Divisional VP Guests: Larry Rocha NED Coach-in-Chief II. OPENING REMARKS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Paul Comeau thanked everybody for coming. NHAHA s contract with SportsEngine ends in April. NHAHA is already talking with a number of vendors regarding the new contract. Contract pricing will be based in part upon the number of associations planning to use the new vendor for their association websites. Associations that are not using SportsEngine now but may in the future want to use the new vendor should let Paul know as soon as possible. There will be a $500 add-on fee after the contract has been signed. There have been discussions in the past about changing to 8x11-sized game sheets. Paul will look into pricing for this size for next season. (Page 1)

2 Out-of-state to in-state releases for players are being suspended. For example, if players from Massachusetts want to play for New Hampshire teams, releases will no longer be required. NHAHA has not been approached by any of the affiliates from other states regarding reciprocal agreements, but is open to the idea. In-state to in-state releases for players are still required. III. Treasurer MONTHLY STATUS REPORTS Mike Durant handed out copies of the most recent financial report. The new fiscal year just started, and there have not very many expenses yet. Mike does not levy fines. He just invoices them. Fines are levied by Kevin Fascetta and the divisional VPs. Please reach out to Kevin or your divisional VP if you have questions about fines. If you are interested in this position, as Mike is serving in an interim capacity, please reach out to Mike for more information. First Executive VP Mike Durant announced that NHAHA has processed 574 in-state to in-state player releases so far this season. The divisional VPs will report on movement. The boy s festival will be on November 19 th. Currently there are only seven U15s, six U16s, and nine U17s registered. There are no U14s registered. Please help him get the word out about this event, so that more boys will have the opportunity to participate. At last month s meeting, the body voted to approve some GSL rule changes. One of the most significant changes was the requirement for the reporting of game misconducts within 24 hours. There is a fine of $ for not reporting game misconducts within 24 hours now. A form will be posted on the website to help facilitate this new reporting process. Another significant change involved running time. There is no exception to this rule. Once a game has six goals, it is just running time despite any agreements that coaches may make with one another. Registrar Paul Comeau announced that Deb Powell is still filling in for Mike McCullough on an interim basis. If you have any questions about rosters, please reach out to Deb. Please be mindful of deadlines. For example, the deadline for split-season team rosters (October 31 st ) is quickly approaching. Referee-in-Chief Paul Comeau announced that David Maxfield is concerned about the shortage of refs. This is a problem countrywide. Hopefully something can be done to make ref certification easier, especially for Level 3 refs. Meanwhile, please help NHAHA get the word out about the shortage. Women s Divisional VP (Page 2)

3 Chris Cooper announced that girls Select tryouts are November 5 th in Hooksett. The deadline to sign up online is October 28 th. Signups at the door cost more. Please sign up online by the 28 th if you can do so. Signups are low right now. Please help him get the word out about this event, so that more girls will have the opportunity to participate. The 14Us Tier 4 girl s division is a go, as there are now four teams available to play. They will have a state tournament at the Super Site. Pee Wees Divisional VP Joan Strogen announced that the Pee Wees have not played a lot of games yet. There have not been any late game sheets yet, and game sheets have been filled out completely. Approximately $ in fines has been levied so far this season for games being played without rosters. Please send her your temporary rosters before playing. She is watching a couple of teams in Tier 3 which may be moved eventually, if need be. Tomorrow is the deadline for schedules. Please send any outstanding schedules to her before the end of the day tomorrow. Final rosters are due December 31 st. Squirts Divisional VP Joan Strogen announced that Stephanie Laurin is concerned about game sheets. Not all are being submitted to her filled out completely. Please fill out game sheets completely before sending them to her. Bantams Divisional VP Matt Roy announced that he is also concerned about game sheets. Not all are being submitted to him filled out completely. Please fill out game sheets completely before sending them to him. He has received requests to move teams. He cannot move teams until they have played more games. The date games must be played by has been extended to February 18 th. Midgets Divisional VP Matt Roy announced that most of the Midget games have been played, and that play downs are being scheduled for the independent teams. If you are interested in hosting a play down, please reach out to him. Webmaster Kevin Fascetta announced that he has made some changes to the front page of the website. For example, he has added a list of New England rinks and their GPS addresses. Since the GSL rules change last month, missing games are fined. He generates a games report on Tuesdays, and Mike uses that to levy fines. Please get your games in on time to avoid fines. (Page 3)

4 SafeSport Coordinator Cam Stoddard announced that the SafeSport modules will be offline from November 1 st to November 6 th while changes to the modules are made. Please complete your SafeSport modules prior to November 1 st if it is possible to do so. Paul Comeau noted that SafeSport complaints increased in New Hampshire last year by approximately 400% although valid SafeSport complaints may have actually decreased. SafeSport has been misused in some instances to retaliate against coach or associations. This season, USAH began handling complaints that are physical and/or sexual in nature. NHAHA will not be handling this type of complaint moving forward. Mites Divisional VP John McKenzie announced that there has been a lot of interest in full ice Mites, which begins on January 1 st. Twelve, possibly more teams, will be participating. Each will play a 5-game season ending with a tournament and a pizza party on February 10 th, 11 th, and 12 th. The cost for full ice Mites will be picked up by the state, and teams must be in good standing to participate. Paul Comeau noted that he received a call from a Mites association president last weekend. A Mites parent had been threatening a coach at a jamboree. The president asked how best to handle the situation. The jamboree was not a USAH-sanctioned event, and there is nothing NHAHA can do. Unfortunately, the team had broken a GSL rule. He informed the president that the team may have violated USAH s non-sanctioned play rule. Teams are not in good standing when this rule is violated, and can be pulled out of the GSL for doing so, pending a hearing. Please keep this rule in mind when scheduling events. Joan Strogen moved, seconded by Joe Haley (Nashua), to accept all of the above monthly status reports. The motion passed. IV. Tournaments UNFINISHED BUSINESS Mike Durant announced that there will be a tournament directors meeting in the next month or so. Tournament information is being posted on the website as soon as it becomes available. Kevin Fascetta noted that he needs contact information for the tournament directors, so that he can set them up with tournament access on the website. They will need to have a SportsEngine account linked to the website in order for him to set them up. Paul Comeau noted that schedules for regionals and sectionals are due tomorrow. V. NEW BUSINESS Player Release Policy (Page 4)

5 Players cannot be placed on rosters until they have been released. Players who have not been released will be redlined, because they are considered ineligible. Paul Comeau is struggling to understand why players who have not been released yet are still being placed on rosters, as this is not a new policy. The turn-around-time for a release is not instant. There is a seven-day window for each release. If the other team does not respond within seven days, NHAHA can then approve a release automatically. NHAHA has processed 574 in-state to in-state player releases so far this year. Larry Rocha NED Coach-in-Chief Larry handed out copies of a document entitled Coaching Guidelines It is broken down into three sections entitled What a Coach Needs to Coach a Team, Coach s Check List, and Avoiding the Coaching Cliff, respectively. This document is available on the NED website. Please ensure that your coaches have a copy of this document, and that the second section (page 4) is completed for each coach. The third section (page 4) explains what coaches must do before they are placed on rosters. The completion of age-specific modules for age groups being coached is a new requirement this year. Please be mindful of deadlines. The clinic deadline for regular-season coaches is December 31 st ; for coaches of split-season teams, October 31 st. These deadlines are up to the associations to enforce. Please ask coaches not to wait until the last minute to sign up for clinics, because NED rarely issues temporary cards or waivers when coaches cannot complete clinics on time. The last temporary card was issued a couple of years ago to a coach who was deployed by the military during the clinic season. It is also difficult to obtain waivers. He has to seek approval from USAH before issuing waivers. Waivers can only be issued for Level 2 or above. USAH has been working closely with some of the Finnish teams, and one of their suggestions for American teams was to improve their off-ice (a/k/a dry land) training programs. Off-ice training programs help players develop athleticism, and may include exercises such as jumping over benches, skipping, hop-scotch, jumping jacks, synchronized jumping, etc. Coaches at Levels 1 through 3 will now be exposed to off-ice training concepts during clinics. Please help spread the word about off-ice training. There are off-ice training cards available on the USAH website. These cards are age-specific. There are also videos floating around about Finnish off-ice programs. USAH is still offering the Coach for Free program for new coaches that are coaching 8U and below. This allows them to try coaching out for the first year with minimum requirements, such as completing their SafeSport modules and a background check. After their first year, a Level 1 clinic will be required. It is up to the associations to monitor coaches in this program, and to ensure that they are completing Level 1 clinics after their first year. To encourage new coaches to come back, associations might consider doing whatever they can to make new coaches feel appreciated, such as thanking them for a job well done and paying for their Level 1 clinic. There have been a couple of significant USAH rule changes this year. For example, icing is prohibited at the 14U level and below now. This rule is intended to help players improve skills (Page 5)

6 such as puck possession. A member from one of the associations asked if this rule affects the length of the game, because some rinks in New Hampshire are curfew rinks. Larry said that was a great question. Al Bloomer (Minnesota) has had a local rule prohibiting icing in place for a couple of years, and has documented that the rule may add a minute at most. There are two goalie symposiums coming up. They are in Vermont on October 21 st and in Connecticut on October 22 nd respectively. The first is not a one-up. At least that is his understanding of this offering. The second is. This means that a coach cannot become Level 1 or 4, but, if already a Level 1 a coach can become a Level 2; and if already a Level 2, a Level 3. As a reminder, those who just attended a Level 2 clinic earlier this year cannot use a one-up as a pathway to Level 3 this year. Phil Osaer offers monthly goaltending webinars for anyone who is interested. If you him at posaer@usahockey.org, he can add you to his distribution list for the webinars. Paul Comeau asked if anybody is interested in hosting a goaltending clinic, because Rob Day is planning to finalize his goaltending clinic schedule for New Hampshire teams. All coaches must be certified. It does not matter whether they are head coaches or assistants. They must be properly certified and complete the new age-specific modules. This is up to the associations to monitor, and will be strictly enforced. Up to four coaches are permitted on the bench. More than four coaches may be placed on the roster. As a reminder, anyone interacting with players must complete the SafeSport modules and a background check. Larry suggested registering with names as they appear on driving licenses. Otherwise names in the USAH registration portals may not match up with names elsewhere, on background search requests for example, which may hold up the registration process. Bruins Mini One-On-One Paul Comeau announced that NHAHA is looking for a host site with a couple of hours of ice time available. Programs may send one team at each level. Each team may consist of three players and a goalie. If there is not enough interest in this event, it may be cancelled. VI. CLOSING STATEMENTS The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 am. (Page 6)