News
House League Update - May 6th, 2011
Good Day folks,
The GLA is still trying to get this year's new House League season off the ground, and like all newborns, it is a little wobbly around the knees.
As is the case every year, we had some initial difficulty getting coaches for every team, but we think we have resolved this issue. A hearty thanks to all those last minute volunteers!
There are still some scheduling issues we are still trying to deal with. For the Novice and Peewee age groups, it is about which night we practice and which nights we play. While we would like to give the coaches what they want, first night of the week for practice, second for games, we have issues with providing Refs! Yes those dreaded folks in Black! Here is the issue. We don’t have enough and most of those we have are involved with our competitive program in one way or another. It is very hard for these young folks to be at two places at once. After some attempts to adjust the schedules to match the wishes of the coaches, we have decided to leave the schedule as it is currently shown on the website (for Tyke, Novice and PeeWee). It has proved too difficult to make the changes, still provide refs and also be able to schedule around the coaches running multiple teams. I am loath to change the nights currently assigned to age groups. People have made plans!
We will try to incorporate the suggested changes into next year's program and encourage coaches to volunteer early to make this happen.
The Bantam and Midget age groups are presenting a much more difficult challenge (to say the least). To be blunt, registration numbers are way down. The number of players registered did not match the numbers that showed up for the weekend sort-outs where we had approximately 40 players at the Midget level (one of which is a goalie) and 30 players at the Bantam level (again one of which is a goalie). The dilemma we faced was organizing a league for so few players. Some would say go with 10 runners and a goalie per team and form three (Bantam) or four (Midget) team leagues. Problem, not enough goalies. There is also the issue of no depth, what happens when players don't show up? Our solution was to create a situation whereby we establish two floor times a week for those available to scrimmage in a controlled environment. Controlled environment being one whereby we assign players to the squads ensuring balance and variety of opponents and teammates as best we can. As well, there would be Coaches and Referees to ensure that game protocols and etiquette are followed, i.e. NO GONG SHOW!
That was the plan. Unfortunately, it would appear that a number of players that didn't come to the sort-outs are still interested in playing; hence a huge increase in the number of players who came out last Tuesday. We couldn't secure enough Referees to show-up for the Bantam game and didn't find out till the last minute. End result...upset players and parents...Not good!
So what is the plan? We (the GLA) will try to redo the schedule to create three team leagues for the Bantam and Midget divisions providing we can:
1 Find more floor time;
2 Find more goalies for both age groups;
3 Establish a series of nights of play that can accommodate Referee availability.
When will this get done by? Before Monday. Please be patient and do the best you can the way the schedule stands currently. We need time to adjust to these unexpected developments. Please look for a G-News to be published no later than Sunday evening that will detail any changes we can work out to get this ship back on course.
Thanks for your patience and understanding,
VP House