Hello WHAM Membership! Happy New Year everyone! Hard to believe we are already half way through the 2012-2013 season! This newsletter will cover the following topics: WHAM Championship Tournament WHAM Intern Opportunity Resumes due 2/1/13 WHAM Development Program - 2013 Program Clinician bids due 2/15/13 Game Misconduct information and contacts Clarification on Dual roster rules reminders Rescheduling Games Contacts and reminders WHAM Championship Tournament Update The WHAM Championship Tournament will be held March 13-17 th, 2013. The Dakotah Arena in Prior Lake will be hosting our event this year and could not be more excited about the opportunity to bring our organization to their facility for 5 days of awesome competition! This year, 48 teams from our seven divisions will be participating in the event, with a 3 game guarantee tournament format. Teams will battle it out to make it to Championship Sunday! As a reminder, here is the break down by division of the number of teams who will be invited to attend: Top 8 Teams A2 B2 C1 Top 6 Teams B1 B3 C2 Red C2 Blue The Dakotah Arena and its affiliated partner Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel are excited to host such a great event at their venues. WHAM continues to work with both the arena and hotel to offer a tournament unlike any others in the past. With casino gaming specials, restaurant specials, and hotel room discounts to be offered to all in attendance, this tournament is sure to be one you won t want to miss. Along with the great specials, WHAM will be hosting a Saturday night season party open to all WHAM members and their guests. If your team does not make the tournament, be sure to come and support those teams who did and take advantage of the specials and party Saturday night! WHAM is now accepting vendors and tournament ad space advertisements for the tournament program. If you know of individuals or businesses looking to advertise within our program or be in attendance as a vendor, please direct them to contact Erika at leagueadmin@whamhockey.org for complete details. For more information on the tournament, visit our website at www.whamhockey.org and click on the STATE tab. There will be a link to register for your hotel rooms by the end of January as well as a list of specials that will be offered that weekend. 1 P a g e
WHAM Marketing Intern Opportunity WHAM is looking to hire a short-term / seasonal marketing intern for the winter 2013. The Marketing Intern will act as a liaison between the WHAM Board, WHAM Membership and potential members of WHAM. This individual must be enthusiastic with a strong work ethic, a proactive mentality and the ability to communicate effectively both internally and externally. Responsibilities: Research methods for most effective ways of communicating to membership Create a newsletter template and schedule Assist with overall communication outlets Strategize communication and reach for social media branding Qualifications: Strong organizational, planning and implementation skills Ability to manage multiple project simultaneously Demonstrate flexibility and creative problem solving skills Ability to work with many personalities Demonstrate the ability to work independently, to self-motivate and to problem solve Significant computer experience with Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel Strong written and verbal communication skills Able to work non-traditional hours, in non-traditional settings Time frame: February 15, 2013 March 30, 2013 The individual chosen will be financially compensated with a stipend at conclusion of the seven-week internship. A more permanent long-term position for Communications Director may be created as a by-product of a successful internship! If you know a college student who is interested in this opportunity, please direct them to send a resume to: Michelle Morgan, A-Vice President at a_vicepresident@whamhockey.org by 2/1/13. WHAM Development Program 2013 and Beyond This past summer/fall, WHAM launched Hockey 101 - Women s Development League, and it was a great success! This was one of the key opportunities identified in last year s Town Hall meetings, led by Beth Chaplin. The program launched in July, and more than two dozen new players registered and attended our clinics. The formation of this development league has given us a much needed path for new players to learn about hockey, give it a try, and then move forward to form new teams. Special thanks to Sapa Carlson who did the ground work to put the details for year one in place. She partnered with WHAM and those who supported our clinics to coordinate many details, we are very thankful for her time and leadership to get things started! While we have a few things to tweak, overall we are very pleased with the results of year one. 2 P a g e
Due to this great success, the WHAM Board has dedicated a new position to support the WHAM Development League long term. Sandi Wewerka, who has been a former C3 Commissioner, and the C2 Blue Commissioner, has volunteered to take on our WHAM Director of Development. Sandi has spent the past years focused on helping new players get started with WHAM, both as a Commissioner, as well as the leader of our WHAM Assessment process. We are very excited for her leadership to coordinate our development efforts for both beginners and our seasoned veterans in the future! WHAM is now taking bids for instructors to lead our Hockey 101 Development Program. The goal of the development league is to prepare beginner skaters to play with WHAM for the 2013-2014 Season and beyond. As a program instructor, you will be required to develop all on and off ice training, and provide coaching staff to support for each session. We are moving clinics up this season to allow for team formation and declaration in August 2013. Clinics will take place from May-July (12 weeks). It is our intention to hold one clinic per week in two different locations to accommodate players from all over the metro area and surrounding suburbs. Bids for program curriculum can be presented for one location or for both locations. WHAM will be coordinating ice and managing the logistics of registration, etc. Our desire is to hire clinicians to teach our new players the fundamentals of hockey. Clinics are slotted to be 1.5 hours per session and will be held in the evenings. May and June sessions should include 1/2 hour of "chalk talk" to introduce players to the specifics of the game, e.g., off sides, etc., followed by one hour of on-ice instruction. Sessions in July will incorporate 1/2 hour of dry land training prior to the on-ice session. We anticipate 20-30 skaters per session. If you are interested in placing a bid for the 2013 Hockey 101 Program, please email Sandi Wewerka at whamdevelopmentdirector@whamhockey.org. Sandi will send you an application which is to be completed and returned by 2/15/13. Final bids will be reviewed and voted on at the 3/4/13 WHAM Board meeting, and communicated by 3/15/13. Penalties for Misconduct Clarification and Contact Information There has been a great deal of confusion and concern regarding Misconduct penalties versus Game Misconduct penalties. See this month s Ref s Corner Update posted on the web at www.whamhockey.org to get clarification. If you are required to sit a game following the issuance of a GAME MISCONDUCT your Division VP/Commissioner and your team manager(s) will be notified by our WHAM Referee contact (June Wheeler) of your penalty and the requirement to sit THE NEXT scheduled game. Remember, whenever you have questions pertaining to referees or penalties, please email June Wheeler at whamref@whamhockey.org. Please DO NOT EMAIL our District 1 contacts direct. We have agreed with 3 P a g e
District 1 to have June be our WHAM go-to she has been extremely valuable in this role year to date, we encourage you to send your inquiries to June and she will help you get the answers you need! Dual Roster Clarification Rostering as a Skater (or Goalie) on a Second Team: A skater is allowed to roster on a second team, provided that the skater was registered in WHAM last season AND returned to the same division this season. Skaters going through assessments for this season are not allowed to join a second team because they are playing under a probationary status. The skater can participate on both teams in any capacity. For example, a skater who registered in B2 last season and is registering in B2 this season may also register with a B1 team. She can be full-time for both teams or sub on either team. She can participate in the Year End Tourney for both teams, but must choose the B2 team if the schedules overlap, as this is considered her primary team. Goalies have the same privilege and may dual roster as a goalie on two teams. Teams are allowed to add two such players to their roster. For example, teams can add 1 goalie and 1 skater or two skaters from lower divisions. Teams are always able to use goalies from the sub goalie pool without rostering them. The advantage to adding another goalie under this rule is use of that rostered goalie at the Year End Tourney. Game Rescheduling Process and Contacts If your team needs to reschedule a game, please follow the updated requirements as posted on the website at www.whamhockey.org, under the section marked Rules and Forms. Also, please ensure you have the correct email for Pam Loftus at kploftus@q.com. When rescheduling a game, CC your Division Commissioner and June Wheeler at whamref@whamhockey.org to ensure all parties are informed and updated game information is reflected on the WHAM website. Important Upcoming Dates Final day of the season February 28 th, 2013 2013 Year End WHAM Tournament March 13 th March 17 th at The Dakotah Arena, Shakopee, MN Spring Meeting April wk 2 (online communication with manager review required) 2013 Hockey 101 Clinics May July 2013 registration information available in March! 4 P a g e
WHAM Wear and Team Apparel WHAM is proud to have Xtreme Custom Apparel as an official apparel supplier Contact: Gary Bennett Phone: 612-747-9315 Email: garyb@xtreme.us.com Website Link: www.xtreme.us.com For WHAM logo apparel and custom team apparel see the link under approved WHAM Apparel vendors on the website at www.whamhockey.org WHAM Board and Key Contacts President: Gina Wright A Vice-President: Michelle Morgan B Vice-President: Beth Chaplin C Vice-President: Julie Hokeness Treasurer: Jan Mohrfield Secretary: Erica Weiler League Administrator: Erika Hockinson-Spande Referee Liaison: June Wheeler Director of Development: Sandi Wewerka Email: president@whamhockey.org Email: a_vicepresident@whamhockey.org Email: b_vicepresident@whamhockey.org Email: c_vicepresident@whamhockey.org Email: treasurer@whamhockey.org Email: secretary@whamhockey.org Email: leagueadmin@whamhockey.org Email: whamref@whamhockey.org Email: whamdevelopmentdirector@whamhockey.org 5 P a g e