Hello everyone! It’s that time of year again! Time to call for new members and nomination for the 2021-2022 board. Membership is the next level of involvement in the MGHA community. Members apply, get voted in, and then can vote on board members and referendums. More details below.

TL;DR: Want to be a member? Go here and apply by April 27th. You’ll need a sponsor, there is a list of current members on the page. We will confirm your application so if you don’t hear from us after 24 hours, please email board@madisongayhockey.org. Last year we noticed a few applications went missing.

Want to be a board member or know someone who should be? Send an email to board@madisongayhockey.org with “Board nomination” as the subject. Remember the nominee needs to be a member by May 16th.

Voting for new members by current members will take place online from April 29th – May 9th

Voting for board members will occur at the annual member meeting via Zoom on May 16th (tentative)
Questions? Email the board anytime and/or attend the Board/Membership 101 session on April 25th at 6:30pm – details to follow.

Longer version: For those unaware, about a month after the season ends, we have a membership season wrap-up meeting. This is where we welcome new members, elect board members, and vote on any referendums that will likely affect the coming season.   

What we are looking for: Membership Nominations for Membership! Membership application is open to anyone who has completed a season with us (no, the 2020-2021 season does not count). If you would like to become a member, you will need to have an existing member sponsor you. If you don’t know who is a member or you haven’t heard of this already, please go here: https://www.madisongayhockey.org/resources/membership/ That is the explanation of membership, the list of current members, and the form to apply, how convenient!
We will be taking membership nominations up to the end of day April 25th, so you have some time, but do it sooner rather than later! This is so members have time to vote on new members to confirm if they can be board nominees or not. Membership voting will be from April 29th to May 9th.

Board Member Nomination Second, we are looking for Board Member nominations! If you’d like to nominate someone other than yourself, please do so by April 25th. This will allow nominees some time to consider and accept or decline.  Please note, you MAY nominate yourself. If you are currently not a member or the person you are nominating is not, that is okay, just note that you/they must be voted in as a member first to be considered for the Board (ie, fill out the membership application form above).   Please submit your nominations via email to the Board with the subject “Board Nomination.” We will inform nominees and if they wish to accept, they can submit a written statement to be placed on the website. Nominations are allowed up to and including the member meeting.

Voting Membership voting will be done as usual through the website by current members from April 29th-May 9th.
Board member voting will be done in person remotely at the End of Season Meeting. This is tentatively May 16th remotely. A confirmation of this will follow as well as reminders of voting and the meeting. With the current pandemic, attending the remote meeting will need to suffice as “in-person” for purposes of voting for the board.
Accepted new members and the board nominees (if they accepted the nomination) will be placed on the website on the 9th of May. Listed board nominees will only be posted if they were accepted as a member. Please review their statement on the website and be prepared before the meeting. The goal here is to remove the nomination/discussion piece that elongates the end-of-season meeting and has been a source of discomfort in the past. This removes some of the social engineering and allows for more careful consideration of all nominees. We will still permit in meeting nominations to the board. We will still permit a short speech by each nominee if they wish to have the floor (the Whip will keep this on a time limit equal to all). This structure may of course be discussed at the meeting during open floor discussion.

Here are this year’s winners and the nice things their teams had to say about them! Lots and lots of you were nominated for wonderful and encouraging efforts. Props to everyone.

Avalanche Avengers Keith Westpfahl Keith brought laughter, confidence, and compliments to everyone on the team. He was always looking for ways to get the new players the opportunity to score their first goal. He kept connections with teammates off ice as well and was always available to jump in and help other teams fill sub spots. He is the perfect example of a model teammate.

Black Mirror Sean Hubbard He was always encouraging and coaching from the bench and on the ice. He was generous with the puck as well.
His play was inclusive and cooperative and he was encouraging and supportive of players of all skill levels. Sean is a great teammate!

Blue Moons Paul Weber His game-time cheering gives the entire team (and the opposing team!) a punch of energy and sense of fun, but it’s his genuine appreciation of his teammates and never-ending willingness to provide both complements and help off-the-bench that makes Paul above-and-beyond the embodiment of the MGHA way.

Cordon Blue Laur Rivera Laur always came to every game with a positive mindset and ready to do her best. She goes the extra mile to check in on teammates and make sure everyone feels comfortable and accepted. Laur exemplifies all MGHA values and exceptional sportspersonship!

Dumpster Fire Jen Lawrence Jen only ever has encouraging and supporting words for her teammates and opponents. She plays hard, but still in a way that it makes it a safe environment for everyone. Super helpful and a great team player!

It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Cheesy Lori Prechel Lori was a consistently positive, hard-working presence on and off the ice. Even after suffering an injury that kept her off the ice for what turned out to be the rest of the season, she continued to come to each and every game, put on her helmet and cheer on everyone from the bench. She represents the best of what the MGHA is about, and it was a joy to be her teammate.

Wild Things Rob Kalejta Rob was an invaluable asset to the team this year. He was a constant source of helpful guidance on the bench and on the ice, he had a great attitude for every game, and he consistently played thoughtful, inclusive hockey. Rob leverages his knowledge and experience in the league to mentor the less experienced players, and to provide guidance during intermissions between periods.

Yellow Submarine Doug Haltinner He was a great presence on the team — always positive in the locker room (and fun), always enthusiastic, and always working to improve his and the entire team’s game.

Monsters Matty Brausen Matty was new to the league this year, but immediately took to the concept of playing the MGHA way. As an experienced player, he quickly learned how to adjust his play style, and always worked collaboratively with his linemates to help create plays. On the bench and in the locker room, he was always upbeat and inclusive. He even dyed his hair blue to match our team’s jerseys!

Sacre Bleu! Daniel Burkhardt Daniel is an unselfish player, willing to play anywhere the team needs him. He always makes an effort to include everyone on the team; in the locker room, on the bench, and on the ice.

The Devils Wear Prada Chuck McKain In this new world of divisions, he was always positive, never really was overly physical or upset when the other team was,  and he helped many others on the team learn to play at a higher level.

The Juice Sarah Bottjen She constantly brought good vibes to the team and was the impetus behind the squirt squirt patch!

The Shrek Republic Ryan Ziltner Ryan was so positive socially and played the MGHA way, contributing to an overall excellent experience for everyone on our team. He organized our team holiday party, brought everyone holiday gifts of rainbow hockey tape, and volunteered to perform at the MGHA Classic Drag Show fundraiser.

Ugly Pucklings Gabby Grandin Gabby was a great captain – she spent time each game teaching us something about how we could be playing as a team, she had great spirit and infected the rest of us with it, all while also keeping us rowdy ducks in check. She not only co-led the team, she did it with panache.

Due to the Mayor and Dane county officials’ announcement today banning gatherings over 50 people due to COVID-19 and our wish for the safety of our hockey family, we are going to cancel the remainder of our season (3/22, 3/29, and 4/5). It’s a disappointing end to our season, for sure, and it is the best decision we can make to help keep folx healthy and safe.

We don’t want anyone to have to decide between their own health and their hockey team. Lots of us (including myself) view hockey as family and would do most anything to keep from feeling like we’re letting that family down. This cancellation is so you don’t have to make that call.

What we did manage to do this season!

6 weeks of clinics including a 4 week spirit tournament

2 weeks of team practices

2 challenge weeks

14 weeks of league games

(That’s a total 24 weeks of hockey we squeezed in!!)

14 fantastic teams and team names (and like a bazillion clever jersey names)

Taught over 40 people how to play hockey (whaaat?!?)

Grew to the largest gay hockey league IN THE WORLD with 196 players (take that, Toronto!)

Participated in Hockey is for Everyone events with the Capitols, Milwaukee Admirals, and Chicago Blackhawks

Raised a bunch of money for Vivent at our Blades Against Aids fundraiser

Three new league sponsors

Made new friends/connections/teammates

Countless actions big and small by a TON of people that made this season happen, thank you all

What’s coming up?

Essay entries and winner announcement soon (you might cry, sorrynotsorry)

More rainbow sweatshirts available soon (I hope, haven’t heard from the printer, but they were in process a week ago) – shipping options will be available

Lots of practice time at home (we’ll add a page of resources and your recommendations)

Maybe some virtual hangouts (researching now if folx have ideas?)

A super fun party/championship night at some point

Summer scrimmages (as soon as we get the all clear, we will get those scheduled)

What’s also delayed/on hold?

Classic Tournabout show will be postponed to a later date (TBD)

TeamTrans Friendship Series will also be postponed until a later date (TBD)

Classic Tournament is cancelled, hoping to reschedule. Refunds will be issued as soon as we can.

Other stuff

Membership applications are still open. We will discuss the logistics of the end of season member meeting (where the board gets voted on) at our upcoming virtual board meeting this week.

What we will be looking forward to, when the infection curve is sufficiently flattened and manageable for health care workers and facilities, is renting ice on an upcoming Sunday (TBD) and hopefully having our championship night complete with potluck and league picture. We realize the later into the year that we push, we will be bumping against other sports leagues, long awaited travel, and other fun things. Subbing and such will all still be in place.

To the health care and sanitation workers, medical researchers, daycare workers, Epic folx, and everyone else in our family that continues to work to keep things running, thank you for putting yourselves in harm’s way to help others. To the rest of us that can stay home, thank you for doing what you can to lower infection rates and keep the load on those other folx as manageable as possible.

With gratitude for a successful (yet somewhat abbreviated) season,

Amanda

on behalf of the Board

As the season enters the home stretch and we’re all a little sad thinking about hockey ending and not see our teams and friends on the regular, it’s time to reflect on what hockey has meant to us as individuals. We all are changed in some way by being a part of this league and community. Writing and sharing our experiences helps others learn and grow and new players see a potential path for themselves. Our Lives Magazine runs an essay contest on this subject each season and the winner gets published in the magazine as well as their dues paid in full for next season.

All are encouraged to write an essay. All 2019-2020 league participants are eligible for this contest except previous winners.

More explanation of this as well as previous essays can be found here https://www.madisongayhockey.org/about/what-gay-hockey-means-to-me/

Please send your essay submission to president [at] madisongayhockey.org. Essays will be read and voted on by members of the current board and captains who do not enter this year’s contest.

Deadline is Tuesday March 3nd!

The Milwaukee Admirals are having a Pride night February 5th, 2020 and we’re going! Anyone interested can purchase tickets through the link below (send to your friends if they would like to go as well) and a portion of the proceeds come back to the MGHA.

Two ticket options available $20 and $30 (includes a beanie) https://fevo.me/mgha

We can buy more than 5 tickets but if you’d like to buy more the 5 AT ONCE, give Colton a call (contact info at the link). He set aside a few rows of 5 for us so we can sit together and if we need more, he’ll get it done.

If you plan to go, can you also please fill out this quick poll Hafner put together to see how many we’re sending, possible carpooling, and see if we can get anyone there for the high five tunnel as the players take the ice before the 7pm game (6:30pm-ish)?

If you’d like to go and need assistance with a ticket, email president [at] madisongayhockey [dot] org

Of course you are!
We have a page on our website (#RandiIsMagic) that lists the open skates and open hockey around town that have an RSS feed. 

https://www.madisongayhockey.org/hockey/local-ice-rinks/

Sun Prairie also has some stick and puck times that don’t show up in their public skate calendar (and therefore don’t get picked up by our page) https://www.sunprairieice.com/page/show/1012411-calendar

The Shell has some as well: link

Wondering what to do when you get there? Check out our Skills and Drills page from Libs and Chuck https://www.madisongayhockey.org/hockey/ice-hockey-skills-and-drills/

Stick and Puck time usually requires helmet and gloves at minimum protection, full gear is also great. Most places require you bring your own puck as well. Please review the policies for the venue and session you plan to attend.

See you on the ice!

{this info was copied and pasted from an email Randi sent in a previous season. The info is still good, relevant, and necessary. I am not the author but I will accept your questions so Randi doesn’t have to! – amanda}

TL;DR: Check the website for your scorebox shifts and your game times BEFORE Sunday and sign up to sub where you can no matter your skill level! Links below.

Hi folks!

If you haven’t yet, take a quick look at the Teams & Schedule page on the website (make sure you’re logged in).  It’s got a list of all of the scheduled games, team practices, and challenge games for this season.  Last week’s info will be shown first (good for double-checking who won that game last week), with older stuff hidden behind a link.  I wanted to talk briefly about some things the website will be doing this year.
How To Report Absences
When you’re logged in, the website can tell what team you’re on.  It will show you a checkbox with “I am attending” beneath your team’s games.  If you’re going to miss a game, email your captain to let them know, and uncheck that checkbox.  That’ll let the website know it needs to find a sub for you.

Please do this before noon on the Sunday of your game!

How To Sub In A Game
If you want to sub for a game, you’ll tell the website this on the Teams & Schedule page. Pick which games you want to sub for and click the “I want to sub” checkbox underneath. The website will not let you sign up to sub in a game that overlaps with yours. That said, if a captain contacts you about subbing, please check/double check the game time and rink so you don’t accidentally double book!

Please do this by noon on the Sunday of the game you want to sub for!  Hockey Ops will email captains about missing players and potential subs shortly after noon, so if you’re late, you won’t be included in that email.  Captains will text/email you asking you to sub in their game.

The website will prioritize recommendations to captains.  You can read through all of the decisions it makes, but the most important one is skill level.  If your skill level is too different from the absent player, the website won’t recommend you to sub.  Everything else is just icing on the cake to make things nicer – the skill level filter is to make sure games are balanced.  You might sign up for a game… but if there aren’t any players of your skill level missing, you won’t get recommended to sub.

New folks – this means it’s OK for you to try to sub for games!!!  You will replace someone of the same skill level as you, so the games will remain fair.  🙂

How to do this has been summarized on the website, too, in case you’re ever curious in the future and don’t want to dig up this email.

Scorebox
If you’ve been poking around on the Teams & Schedule page, you’ll notice that you have scorebox assignments, too.  If you’ve never done the scorebox before, the scorebox documentation should help you out.

I created a utility that will help you track goalie saves on your phone, which some of you might prefer over paper.  You can get to it through the scorebox documentation linked above, or through the game off of the Teams & Schedule page (where it will be pre-populated with the appropriate teams).

Your Calendar
If you go to your team’s page, scroll down to the bottom (where upcoming games are displayed).  A link underneath will let you add all of the games to your calendar!

Your friendly hockey viking princess,
-Randi
Pronouns: she/her/hers