Author: Amanda Thornton

Scorebox subbing and scoresheets, oh my!

{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  

Biggest Gay Hockey League in the World!

We have officially surpassed Toronto as the largest gay hockey league in the world! 14 teams, over 190 players, and still growing!

We are going to need a LOT of gear for our new players this season so clean out your closets and use this as an excuse to treat yourself to new elbow pads, shins, shoulders, etc and donate the old ones to a new player! Details of our gear up event will be posted asap.

2019-2020 League Deposit

Player deposit for next season is now available. The deposit is $80 dollars and due by the end of the business day on Monday, July 17th. After that, returning players will be treated as new recruits. If you are unable to pay the deposit by July 9th but intend to play with us next year, please contact Jake (treasurer@madisongayhockey.org) or Amanda (president@madisongayhockey.org).

Registration includes a question about which skill based league you would prefer to play in including the option for both. This does not guarantee you will able to play in both leagues, we have some details to work out there as well as priority given to getting as many players as possible into the league. Playing in both leagues will incur extra dues. Subbing across leagues will be possible. You will also be able to update this field in your user profile, login, then go to your account info https://www.madisongayhockey.org/account/ and scroll to the bottom.

As a reminder, we will be maintaining 10 teams at least (perhaps grow). We will need as much information to plan for this season as possible so we appreciate you getting your deposit in asap. In following with our mission statement, in recruiting and in accepting new players, we will prioritize members of the LGBTQ+ community and other groups with historically limited access to hockey.

We will be sending announcements for when we have 100 players, 125 players, and a full roster.

Looking forward to next season with y’all,

-Recruitment team and MGHA board

MGHA Voting Results – Location and League Restructure

Both proposals affecting the 2019-2020 season have passed. Thank you to all the MGHA members who voted and provided feedback.


What does this mean?

1. We will play at Cap Ice for the 2019-2020 season. (64% first choice)

2. We will restructure into two leagues under the Madison Gay Hockey Association. (81% yes) Please read the below info and share your thoughts/ideas with us here https://forms.gle/NSZXy9ch8yYrHXfq6 by June 11th.

Further details as of right now:

1. Cap Ice – we will try to balance which rinks teams play on as well as time slot. We will communicate on where people can hang out if they wish to watch games together (Eagle’s Nest, or a specific bleacher area, etc). We will adjust scorebox duty to accommodate the challenges on Rink A as well as subbing to accommodate overlapping games. 

2. League restructure will be hockey skill based with less experienced players in one league (L1)  and higher skilled players in the other (L2). Everyone will be able to choose where they play at sign up, though if it is a safety issue, HOps will counsel players on where they can play safely. First year players with little or no prior hockey experience will be placed in the L1 league. Leagues will roughly map to D=L1 and B/C=L2 league levels. The specifics of how this will happen will depend on a lot of moving parts, most importantly the skill levels of the players who sign up for the 2019-2020 season, and also includes number of players and which level folks choose to play.   

I would like to reiterate why we are trying this out this season:     

  • Player on-ice safety     
  • Greater opportunity to develop hockey skill at all levels     
  • Greater team skill balance     
  • More inclusive of advanced players 

Great things about this league we will not sacrifice in this restructure:     

  • Community     
  • Inclusivity and acceptance of everyone willing to follow our Code of Conduct     
  • Playing the MGHA Way – safe, inclusive, fun! 

Items to be decided:     

  • How subbing works     
  • Team distribution (how many teams in each league, how many people on a team, etc)     
  • Season schedule     
  • Skill distribution     
  • Lots and lots and lots of other things

This is a lot of change. We will be as clear and transparent as possible and will keep communications flowing. We will be asking for feedback a LOT on this so keep your eyes on your emails. This affects all of us and together we can find the best way forward.

ESSAY: We want to hear your MGHA story

Whether you were a new or returning player this season, we want you to share your story by writing an essay titled “What Gay Hockey Means to Me.”

Why?

  • These essays are vital part of our recruiting efforts. They show our prospective new players the impact that participation in MGHA has on improving lives.
  • The essays help of us recognize our diverse needs and our shared intersections.
  • They help guide the efforts of league leadership. 

How to Participate

  1. Read past essays: https://www.madisongayhockey.org/about/what-gay-hockey-means-to-me.
  2. Write an introspective essay (humorous, serious, instructive … this is 100% your choice). Essays are typically less than 1000 words, but can be more if needed. Questions to get you started include: What role has the Madison Gay Hockey Association played in developing you as a person? What has participation in the MGHA taught you about your identity and our community?
  3. Send your essay to president at madisongayhockey dot org.
  4. All 2018-2019 MGHA participants may write an essay. Previous award recipients are ineligible for this year’s award. Essay writers are ineligible for the evaluation committee.

Deadline: May 3rd, 2019

  • A committee made up of current board members, Our Lives staff, and current captains will read the essays. All essay writers receive a gift from the league and have their essays published on the MGHA website. 
  • One essay will be selected to be published in Our Lives magazine. And the writer’s 2019-2020 league fees will be covered by the MGHA!

The courage showcased through writing this can empower others to live more open and authentically. Please consider writing and submitting an essay.