September 1, 2025

To U13 parents and players

As you probably know, Ottawa Centre MHA and Ottawa East MHA have merged into the Ottawa North Thunder MHA in order to provide a better hockey experience and development for players.

The preseason will run in similar fashion to previous years.  The first ice time for U13 will be on Saturday, September 6.  First, there will be three “rust-off” sessions for each player consisting of drills and scrimmages; there are no evaluations done during the rust-offs.  Then evaluations will begin.  There will be one session of NSST time trials as per Hockey Canada guidelines.  After that there will be evaluation scrimmages and exhibition games.  Once evaluations and team balancing is complete, players will be assigned to teams.  We anticipate that U13 this year will have 1 A team, 3 or 4 B teams, and 1 C team. See below for the ice schedule for the first two weeks.

 

For now Ottawa North communications and scheduling will be done through the TeamSnap platform.  You can access this through the TeamSnap app or through a browser.  Go to the Ottawa North “U13 All” team.  There is a help article here: https://helpme.teamsnap.com/article/192-accepting-a-teamsnap-invitation.  

Please check your contact information in TeamSnap and correct it or add another contact as need be.

 

Volunteers

Minor hockey cannot operate without a strong group of volunteers. First, I need at least four coaches on the ice for each rust-off session.  Coaches, please contact me directly ASAP (Bryan Boyd at bryan.a.boyd@gmail.com) to sign up for this.

Also, U13 still needs a convenor(s).  I am doing the convenors job for the duration of rust-offs, but cannot continue beyond that.  What we propose now is to split the job into three parts to lighten the load for each volunteer.  The three jobs are communications, volunteer scheduling for the preseason, and data collection.  There will be support from the association for these tasks.  If this approach might work for you, contact me directly (Bryan Boyd at bryan.a.boyd@gmail.com).

The required training courses for bench staff and managers are outlined on the Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO) website at this link: http://www.hockeyeasternontario.ca/pages/coach/coachcert.php.

OCMHA or OEMHA will reimburse course fees with proof of completion.

Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC):

A new VSC screening process has been implemented for this season and ALL volunteers must access the following link and complete the necessary steps, even if your VSC issued by a local police department is still valid:

Vulnerable Sector Check | Hockey Eastern Ontario

Note:

Please note you will not be able to be added to a team roster if all the appropriate qualifications for your role are not completed.

 

Respect in Sport - Parent Program

The 1-hour online “Respect in Sport - Parent Program” course must be completed by one parent or guardian when their first child starts hockey. This course only needs to be completed by one parent, one time. The course must be completed before the first regular season game. To take the course, go to: Respect in Sport for Parents - Getting Started (respectgroupinc.com)

 

Friend Requests

For this year, Ottawa North has determined that each player is permitted one mutual friend request.  We want to emphasize that sort-outs are designed to be unbiased so we can balance all the teams within each level. Friend requests are only considered if they will not create an imbalance within and between teams. 

 

Schedule for the first two weeks

 

Saturday September 6    11:00 a.m.    Peplinski Arena    surnames A to I

Saturday September 6    12:00 p.m.    Peplinski Arena    surnames J to Z

 

Sunday September 7    10:00 a.m.    Kilrea Arena        surnames J to Z

Sunday September 7    11:00 a.m.    Kilrea Arena        surnames A to I

 

Wednesday Sept. 10    7:00 p.m.    Kilrea Arena        surnames A to I

Wednesday Sept. 10    8:00 p.m.    Kilrea Arena        surnames J to Z

 

Friday September 12    8:00 p.m.    McNabb Arena    TBD

Saturday September 13    11:00 a.m.    Peplinski Arena    TBD

Saturday September 13    12:00 p.m.    Peplinski Arena    TBD

    

 

Bryan Boyd

Ottawa North Convenor Coordinator

bryan.a.boyd@gmail.com