Hi Everyone,
I hope this message finds you and your families safe and well. It has been almost a month since my last update and we have a lot going on.
First, and foremost, thanks to all of you for making our return to the ice a very smooth process and allowing SMRA to be the “poster child” if you will, of how to do it right! We even received a shout-out from our Mayor during a recent Town Council meeting.
This week Kim Garniss, our COVID Safety Officer submitted our Stage 3 application to Ringette Ontario to allow us to move forward to “Return to Modified Play. Today, we received confirmation our application was successful! Not only successful, but with a perfect 100% score!! What this means is we have permission to begin our “Mini League” play once our Health Authority and Ringette Ontario approved partners also advance to stage Stage 3.
Our Ice Scheduler, Lori Black has been busy working with Associations in Mitchell, Goderich, Exeter/Seaforth (who received approval today as well for Stage 3) and Hanover to create schedules that will fulfill our needs and allow for 4 on 4 competition while still adhering to Ringette Ontario’s guidelines. This is no easy feat as each “mini league” bubble has a maximum 50 participants. In some divisions, within all the associations, some divisions have 52 or 54 players. This results in another “mini league” needing to be formed to conform to the guidelines. More info will be coming once our partners are approved for Stage 3 but we are ever so close.
Also, some of you may have heard the second ice pad will be available at the PRC come the end of the month. This will result in additional ice times for SMRA, but will also result in the changing of groups schedules so please stay tuned for those updates.
Off the ice, Cathy Hutton, our Director of Fundraising reported a very successful Elmira Chicken Order. Final tallies are not available at this time, but reports are we are right on par from previous years. Thank You All for helping make this a success!
Moving forward, just some minor “housekeeping” (or “arena keeping”) items. Some gentle reminders that while at the arena, parents please do not loiter in the lobby (before or after the event) go directly to stands or outside. Players, remember to come to the arena as dressed for play as you safely can. Dressing room usage should be for skates, helmets and gloves. Also, please leave as soon as possible after your event. Your helmet, gloves and skates should be placed into your small cloth bag to exit the facility. Our application(s) was approved by the PRC and Ringette Ontario based on this premise. We want to keep our policy violations as low as we can and your support with this will go a long way.
Thanks again Everyone for all you are doing to make this a great season during these challenging times! Please watch for updates on scheduling and mini league play.
Michael
Michael Lynch, President
St Marys Ringette Association