Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association Overview Mites to Squirts: What to Expect? Fall 2018
Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association Overview! Minneapolis Storm is a traveling hockey association! 501(c)(3) non-profit organization! Managed by a Board of Directors! Meets third Monday of each month! Board Meetings are Open to the Association Membership! Volunteers are Welcome!
Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association Overview! Board 2.0 Purpose Statement: Creating Lasting Experiences! Key concepts: Teamwork, Respect, Fun! Notable changes for 2018-19:! New Ice Scheduler and Ice Scheduling Software! New Shooting Facility and Shooting Practices! SQSA Power Skating Instruction! Throwback (Alternate) Jersies
! USA Hockey Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association Overview Hierarchy of Policy! Minnesota Hockey! District 3 Hockey! Minneapolis Storm Hockey
Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association Overview District 3 Hockey Members*! Armstrong Cooper Youth Hockey Association! Delano Area Youth Hockey Association! Hopkins Youth Hockey Association! Minneapolis Storm Hockey Association! Mound Westonka Youth Hockey Association! North Metro Youth Hockey Association! Orono Youth Hockey Association! Osseo Maple Grove Youth Hockey Association! St Louis Park Youth Hockey Association! Wayzata Youth Hockey Association
What to Expect? Volunteering/PCA! Volunteer Hours! The Minneapolis Storm depends on volunteers to run the hockey association smoothly.! There are both Association Volunteer Hours (aka Dibs ) and Team volunteer hours.! In 2017-18 the Volunteer Hours/Dibs requirement was 15 hours for anyone with a player that is a Squirt/10U or above. We expect a similar requirement in 2018-19.! Team volunteer hours are separate from Dibs and include team specific duties like locker room monitoring, penalty box, score keeper and game clock.! All families must! Complete a volunteer form.! Provide a bank drawn check that equals $500 for one player or $750 for a family.
What to Expect? Volunteering/PCA (continued)! How can I serve my Association Volunteer hours?! Join the Board! DIBs volunteer positions at Storm sponsored tournaments! Coaching! Team Manager! Assisting director in evaluations! Concessions! Other one-off opportunities! PCA - All Squirt and 10U families must attend a live Positive Coaching Alliance run session for Positive Parenting.! Storm is providing four free sessions, two sessions on 9/23 and two on 10/7, 6p and 7p on both dates @ Lake Harriet United Methodist Church.! If you attended one of the Storm sponsored sessions in 2015, 2016 or 2017, you do not need to attend again.
What to Expect? Costs! 2017-18 Squirt Registration Fees Remain Unchanged for 2018-19! $1,350 MHA fee plus $25 practice jersey fee (okay to use last year's)! $50 USA Hockey/MN Hockey fee.! Additional Team Fees these cover things like additional ice that the team may choose to purchase, team building activities (parties, dinners, etc.), and team gear (jackets, sweatshirts, hats, etc.)! Approximately $200 team fee (the team s ability to find sponsors can alleviate costs).! Tournaments Travel Costs expect additional costs when traveling to out of town tournament including hotel, food, and transportation costs.! Financial Aid The board does accept applications for financial aid, which is need-based as determined via TADS. Information is on the website.
What to Expect? Who Moves to 10U/Squirts?! Who Moves to Squirts? Players turning 9 prior to July 1, 2018 MUST move to the Squirt level.! Birthdates between July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009! Grade exception: If your child will be 9 in July or August of 2018 and will be attending fourth grade in the fall, you may choose to move your child up to Squirts to play with his or her schoolmates.
What to Expect? Practices, Games, Tournaments! What is the time commitment? During the season each team should expect to have 4-6 scheduled touches a week a touch includes practices, scheduled dryland sessions and games.! Preseason Clinics: Began September 15 and go to evaluations in early October.! In-Season Practice Ice/Dryland Sessions:! Weekday practices typically between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.! Weekday Dryland will be scheduled. Each team will typically get 1 to 2 sessions per month! Weekend practices can start as early as 7:00 a.m. and end as late as 9 p.m.! There are no set practice times for any team, at any level.! Typically, practice ice time will be issued for pre-season, September and October through the Squirt Director! Ice time for the remainder of the season will be provided to head coaches and team managers on a month to month basis; Managers update the schedule of practices and games on the individual team calendars! In-Season Games: Games are scheduled with the District in late-october and team managers will enter the individual games on the team calendars! D3 league games typically start some time in mid-november for Squirts! Team Tournaments! 3 tournaments for each team: one local tournament, one out of town tournament, and the Minneapolis Cup, Thanksgiving tournament. Plan to be in town for Thanksgiving
What to Expect? Players and Teams! Players! In the 2017-18 season we had 119 squirt players; about 103 skaters and 16 goaltenders.! At the B2 and C levels, on teams with two goalies, all goalies are encouraged to skate out when not tending goal.! Teams! 2017-18;! 8 Squirt Teams - 1-A, 1-B1, 3-B2, and 3-C teams.! 2018-19! Likely 7 Squirt Teams, 1-A, 1-B1, 3-B2, and 2-C teams
What to Expect? Coaches! Team Coaches! Each Squirt team officially has 1 head coach and 3 assistants, although some teams have more than 3 assistants (only 4 coaches permitted on the bench).! Final coaching assignments will be completed after tryouts.! Squirt coaches are selected by committee let Pat know if you are interested.! Yearly Coaching Requirements! Registration with USA Hockey! Registration with Minneapolis Storm Hockey! MPLS Storm Background Screening Process! USA Hockey Coaching Certification:! On Site Clinics (full day) or online renewal for Level 3 (5-6 hours)! Age Specific Online Modules (5-6 hours)! Safe Sport (2-3 hours) every other year! Concussion
What to Expect? Evaluation Process! Most important: place players of like development level together.! The goal is to separate players into teams of like-ability as quickly as possible.! Parents and players choose a path:! A/B1 or B2/C path?! Ability to choose C s (opt out of evaluations) available
What to Expect? Evaluation Process (cont)! Must be registered and payment plan secured.! Volunteer form and volunteer check must be completed.! Parents may attend. We encourage distance from players. No contact with evaluators or on-ice coaches.! There is absolutely no interaction with players on the ice once the evaluation has begun no photos, no hand signals, etc.! Either MPLS Storm or generic hockey jersey s and socks only! No camp, team uniform (other than Storm) or decals on helmets allowed.! Evaluation pinneys (pullovers) are assigned first night of evaluations. Players must hold on to assigned pinneys until end of evaluations.! Must wear mouth guards.! Evaluation ice times and evaluation results posted on Program Info/Squirt Clinics and Tryouts Page.! On-ice evaluations will include both skills evaluations, small area games and scrimmages
What to Expect? Code of Conduct! The Minneapolis Storm Hockey has adopted a code of conduct from the USA Hockey Official Rules and Casebook of Ice Hockey. Each player, parent/guardian, and coach is expected to adhere to this Code of Conduct.! Players, parents/guardians and coaches are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that demonstrates respect to other players, coaches, officials, parents and spectators.! The Player Code of Conduct is shown below:! Play for fun.! Work hard to improve your skills.! Be a team player; get along with your teammates.! Learn teamwork, sportsmanship and discipline.! Be on time for practices and games.! Learn the rules and play by them. Always be a good sport.! Respect your coach, your teammates, your parents, your opponents, the officials and the facilities where you play.! Never argue with an official's decision. Do not use abusive or vulgar language when addressing other players, officials, coaches or parents.
What to Expect? Player Commitment! At the Squirt level players are expected to participate in all team activities including games, practices, tournaments, dryland etc. Remember, players improve most through practice, you need to prioritize practices as much if not more than games.! All teams will establish their own allowances for excused and unexcused absences. This means that teams will decide what the level of allowance is given for:! Excused Absences, when reasonable notice and excuse is provided for illness/injury, family emergency, religious observance, and planned school events (as opposed to homework).! Family Vacations should be limited during the season and generally will not be an Excused Absence, especially for top level teams.! Unexcused Absences. Unexcused absences can be grounds for consequence to a player, as determined by the team, up to and including missing game time through suspension.
What to Expect? Player Commitment (Cont. )! USA Hockey and the Storm Hockey Club encourage multiple sports and sporting seasons for all players. However, at the Squirt level parallel participation in other hockey clubs is discouraged.! During the hockey season, Storm Hockey Club expects players and parents to prioritize Storm hockey over all other sports (basketball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, etc.) when there is a conflict. This is especially true for practices.! Expect enhanced enforcement of the commitment rules in 2018-19 at all levels, including attendance and commitment issues potentially impacting team placement.! If the commitment expectations are a concern, especially for any of the top level teams, consider a discussion with Pat during the evaluation and team placement process.
What to Expect? Off-Season Hockey Off Season Hockey Options! AAA Teams (Blades, Machine, Vapor, Magicians, Minnesota Made, IceMen, etc.). Tryout teams with a practice and tournament model. Many AAA Teams have already held tryouts. Others are invite only. Some open tryout teams will hold tryouts in the Spring check websites for info. Quality of coaching, practices, training and competition really varies from year to year for many of the open tryout teams, so try and find families with first-hand experience.! Metro Leagues (MASH and Showcase) these are summer leagues where you form your own team and compete with other teams around the metro. No practices, limited coaching.! 3v3 Leagues (Velocity, Hat Trick, Parade Pond) - Similar to MASH and Showcase, these are leagues where you form your own team and compete with other teams at smaller 3v3 ice facilities. No practices, limited coaching. 3v3 format is very loose and unstructured.! Camps and Clinics (JD Hockey, Sarma, TopDog, Minnesota Made, Storm Bandy Camp, etc.) Different formats and offerings, typically these are skills based, sometimes they run for short periods (three days) or for multiple weeks. Some focus on specific skills, some work on all skills the entire camp. JD Hockey camps are co-ed and run by Minneapolis Boys High School Coach, Joe Dziedzec. Sarma Osmen, the Minneapolis Girls High School Coach runs skills based camps for girls.
What to Expect? Off-Season Hockey Off Season Hockey Expectations! Find the Right Fit The right format for off-season hockey is up to you, your family and your hockey player.! Step 1 - Gauge your player s interest.! Step 2 - Determine your family s willingness/ability to commit to meet that level of interest.! Step 3 Look at your schedule and decide what option fits best for you and your player! More Hockey Does Impact Development For better or worse, more ice time will make a difference in your player s development. That improvement may not continue year after year, and it will likely vary from player to player. Balancing your and your skater s expectations with your other priorities is your decision. Also note that not all ice time is created equal skills camps or AAA may have a more noticeable impact on development vs. MASH or Showcase.! Off Season Hockey Is NOT a Team Placement Guaranty If your child plays AAA, or attends a high caliber camp or does individual lessons, you should hope to see improvement, however, it is no guaranty that they will make a certain level of team.! Quantifying the Investment The majority of kids that played on the Squirt A and B1 teams played some amount of off-season hockey. Many B2 and C players did as well.! Storm s Position We want you and your player to LOVE the game of hockey. If playing in the offseason fosters a love of the game great. If your player needs a break great. If you decide to participate in off-season hockey, we hope you are doing it to develop the love of the game, not simply as an ends to means i.e., trying and make a specific level team.