Hey everybody!
Thanks so much for all of the hard work during the evaluations the last couple of weeks. We really appreciate it!
A quick note about the evaluation scrimmages from Sunday night. We strive to always play the MGHA way (passing a lot, friendly play, etc) but evaluation scrimmages are a little different because we need to see where you fall in the spectrum for the sake of even team creation. I apologize if this message was lost last night. If you’re new to the league, please know that games throughout the season have a different pace and different feel. As a developmental league, we strive to make sure everyone feels included and nobody feels overwhelmed. We look forward to starting the season with all of you.
That said, we’re starting our season off with our annual team reveal and challenge game night! We’ll have three scrimmage-style games on Sunday along with team reveal. Here’s the schedule for October 14th:
- Beginner Scrimmage – 5:15 PM
- Advanced Scrimmage – 6:30 PM
- Team Reveal – 7:45 PM
- Intermediate Scrimmage – 9:00 PM
Team reveal is one of the best events of the season because it is where you learn what team you’re on and you have the opportunity to bond a little bit, learning names/pronouns and starting to think of team names. It’s a fun night and I encourage everyone to show up for team reveal by 7:30 PM.
This is also our first challenge game night of the season. As far as challenge games go, here are a few bits of information…
Please only sign up for one game (until 12 noon on Saturday, October 13th). We want to make sure everyone has a chance to sign up (and not everyone in the league can check their computers or phones multiple times per day). As usual, there are 30 slots for skaters per game along with two roster spots for goalies. You’ll need to sign into the website to sign up for a scrimmage slot. I’ll put a link at the bottom of this email.
Unlike season games, challenge games are sorted based on skill level. Players choose at what level of play they can safely and most happily play. Self-selection is a privilege and must be considered carefully. It’s okay to play down a level, but you must understand that inclusive play is especially important. A person playing down is there to facilitate fun and safe hockey play for newer skaters. If you choose to play up, please be aware that the usual level of inclusive play does not apply. Advanced skaters are there to challenge one another and work on their hockey skills. Further, playing beyond one’s ability can create an unsafe environment for the individual skater and everyone else on the ice.
Particularly since this is the first scrimmage and in the interest of safety, Hockey Operations reserves the right to ask you to move to a different time slot. This is not meant to single anyone out but to ensure that everyone can play safely and effectively.
As with last season, we’ll switch up the schedule for who has the early, middle, and late games for other challenge nights throughout the season. Also, due to the limited ice time on Sunday, we’ll only have one intermediate slot. That means you’ll need to sign up quickly. If you sign up and cannot make it, please remove your name from the slot. We’ll typically have two slots… one for lower and one for upper intermediate.
Here’s the link for the challenge game signup. This link will not be valid until 8 PM on Tuesday, October 9. Be sure to sign in!
See you on the ice!
-HOps (Tim, Mark, Sara, Brian, John, Ashleigh, k8)
Challenge Games - October 14, 2018
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