Author: Christina Libs

pacing myself to play hockey for the next 70 years

2023 MGHA Preseason – October 8th Sign Up

Schedule

Sign up for one session. If there are spots still available in the 24 hours leading up to sessions, you may sign up for another.

  • 5:10 PM – L1 Style Scrimmage, Rink B
  • 6:20 PM – New-to-Hockey Structured Scrimmage, led by Tim T, Rink B
    • Hockey 101 will be held immediately after around 7:30 PM (likely in the Eagle’s Nest or lobby)
  • 6:30 PM – L2 Style Scrimmage, Rink A
  • 7:30 PM – L3 Style Scrimmage, Rink B
  • 7:40 PM – Make Up Evaluations for All Levels
  • 8:40 PM – L2 Style Scrimmage, Rink B

Sign up for 10/8 - Preseason

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2023 MGHA Preseason – October 1st Sign Up

Reminder: Help Hockey Happen – update your profile with interest to be a captain, coach, or gameday volunteer. We still need over 140 players to fill this out – help us wrangle y’all cats <3.

L1 and L2 Evaluations Night – Rink A and Rink B

Sign up for one 20 minute session, if you intend to play for either level.

  • 5:00 – 5:20 PM: Session 1
  • 5:20 – 5:40 PM: Session 2
  • 5:40 – 6:00 PM: Session 3
  • 6:00 – 6:20 PM: Session 4
  • 6:20 – 6:40 PM: Session 5
  • BREAK – Zamboni
  • 7:00 – 7:20 PM: Session 6
  • 7:20 – 7:40 PM: Session 7
  • 7:40 – 8:00 PM: Session 8
  • 8:00 – 8:20 PM: Session 9
  • 8:20 – 8:40 PM: Session 10
  • 8:40 – 9:00 PM: Wrap Up

Help Evals Happen – 90 1.5h shifts to fill

Sign up for a volunteer shift (4:30-6, 6-7:30, 7:30-9) to note results for an evaluation stations – show up on time and you’ll get direct guidance on what to do. If we don’t have enough people sign up for shifts, we will staff folks based on their responses to their profile preference.

Need help?

  • If you cannot attend evaluations, sign up for the general makeup evals scheduled for October 8th OR contact hops@madisongayhockey.org if you cannot make any time work with your schedule.
  • If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
  • If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

Sign up for 10/1 - L1 and L2 Evaluations

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2023 MGHA Preseason – Sept 24th Sign Up

Reminder: Help Hockey Happen – update your profile with interest to be a captain, coach, or gameday volunteer. We still need over 140 players to fill this out – help us wrangle y’all cats <3.


Rink A: Goalie Evaluations

Sign up for one session, based on the level(s) you want to play in this year.

  • 5:00 – 5:40 PM: L1 or L2
  • 5:40 – 6:20 PM: L2
  • 6:20 – 7:00 PM: L2 or L3

Rink B: L3 Prospective Skater Evaluations

Sign up for one session if you want to play in L3 this year. We want to evaluate all players together this year.

  • 5:00 – 5:20 PM: Session 1
  • 5:20 – 5:40 PM: Session 2
  • 5:40 – 6:00 PM: Session 3
  • 6:00 – 6:20 PM: Session 4
  • 6:30 – 7:00 PM: Session 5

Rink A L1 Clinics – Beginner Skills

  • 7:10 – 8:10 PM: New-to-MGHA Clinic, led by Mark N, Amanda T, Zach S, Doug L, John S
  • 8:20 – 9:20 PM: Returning L1 Player Clinic, led by Mark N, Ted J, Amanda T, Kriona H

Rink B: L2 Clinics – Intermediate Skills

  • 7:10 – 8:10 PM: L2 Early Clinic, led by Alanna F, Greta L, Paul W, Trisha A, Leif B
  • 8:20 – 9:20 PM: L2 Late Clinic, led by Alanna F, Greta L, Alex K, David H, Trisha A, Leif B

Help Evals Happen – 30 1.5h shifts to fill

Sign up for a volunteer shift (4:30-6, 6-7:15) to note results for an evaluation stations – show up on time and you’ll get direct guidance on what to do. If we don’t have enough people sign up for shifts, we will staff folks based on their responses to their profile preference.

Need help?

  • If you cannot attend evaluations, sign up for the general makeup evals scheduled for October 8th OR contact hops@madisongayhockey.org if you cannot make any time work with your schedule.
  • If you have issues with the signups, please contact website@madisongayhockey.org.
  • If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hops@ or board@madisongayhockey.org.

Sign Up for 9/24 - Goalie and L3 Evaluations, L1 and L2 Clinics

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Help Hockey Happen! Please update your Account.

ACTION – Update your Player Account page with which role option(s) you want to help hockey happen each year.

Note: Your selections are not publicly visible and what you click does NOT automatically mean you will be asked to take on the role. Your input will be used by operations folks to get roles filled more quickly.

But, why?

Each year, MGHA puts on a large-scale, volunteer-operated season.

We have about 200 ice times, 130 games and over 250 players. We need ~40 captains, ~40 coaches and 520 scorebox shifts covered

With more MGHAing to do than ever before, we’re asking all players how they want to help hockey happen. Kindly read through each hockey-oriented role’s key responsibilities and reminders to decide how you can to help our MGHA mission and community thrive!

Captain Responsibilities:

  1. Select subs to balance gameplay by filling roster gaps.
  2. Lead team communication during pre- and post- game locker room time, period breaks, team emails/chat groups, and regular pass-down info from league-wide announcements.
  3. Set lines and strategy, requesting support from coaches as needed.

Coach Responsibilities:

  • Support Captains and be a second set of eyes so they can be present as skaters. As requested, share tips/tricks/notes at period breaks and in the locker room. Converse with players on the bench and be open to questions.
  • Coach to team- and player-specific goals by observing play, noticing patterns, and celebrating small and big wins that demonstrate progress.
  • Share hockey knowledge and be able to explain position-based strategy. Explain and show techniques, lead with why it matters.

These following roles require ZERO hockey skill. If you didn’t sign up for one above, please select at least one of these when filling out your /account page.

  • Evaluations Helper: Work a shift at evaluations skills station, instruct players on what skill to perform, hold a clipboard and write down the result. That’s it!
  • Scorebox Leader: Use your experience with score box and stats to guide and educate newer folks others.
  • Scorebox Support Staff: Show up to the score box on time, learn and perform hands-on tasks; keep time, update score, track shots on goal, play music, get pucks where they need to be, submit stats to website.

Thanks!

Official 2023-2024 MGHA Season Ice Schedule

It’s here! The Official MGHA 2023-2024 Ice Time Schedule for the year:

Preseason

SEPTEMBER

10th: New-to-MGHA Orientation

17th: New Player Skills, Returning Player Scrimmages

24th: Prospective L3 and Goalie Evaluations, Skills Clinics

OCTOBER

1st: L1 and L2 Evaluations

8th: Makeup Evaluations, Scrimmages

15th: Team Reveal, Scrimmages

22nd and 29th: Team Practices

Regular Season

NOVEMBER

5th: Team Games

12th: Team Games

19th: Team Games

26th: Thanksgiving Scrimmages

DECEMBER

3rd: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

10th: Team Games

17th: Team Games

24th and 31st: BREAK for the Holigays

JANUARY

7th: Team Games

14th: BREAK – no games due to Madison Capitols tournament.

21st: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

28th: Team Games

FEBRUARY

4th: Team Games (delayed start times for Madison Capitols tournament)

11th: Super Bowl Scrimmages

18th: Team Games

25th: L1 Practice, L2 and L3 Team Games

MARCH

3rd: BREAK – no games due to Madison Capitols tournament.

10th: Team Games

17th: Team Games

24th: Championship Night Team Games


Who’s behind all this?

Tim T. (backed up by Avery C.) actively manages this schedule with Tyler at Capitol Ice. Ice times are budgeted and approved by the MGHA Board of Directors.

When ice time changes, affected players will be directly notified ASAP while the website and calendar will be updated passively.

Notice a website or calendar issue?

If you’ve added our MGHA calendar to your personal calendar AND you notice any issues or differences between the two tools, remove the calendar and re-sync it. If that doesn’t work, reach out to the website@ listserv and share what’s wrong.

Have schedule questions or comments?

Contact Hockey Operations leaders specifically or the bigger group using the hockey-ops@ listserv.

  • Christina L. for captain, coach, volunteer wrangling.
  • Tim T. for rink scheduling.
  • Gabby G. (also on the Board of Directors) for evaluations and skill development.

2023 MGHA Preseason – Sept 17th Sign Up

Reminder: To sign up, you must have this year’s USA Hockey # on your profile. Learn how to register and update your profile on this here post.


NEW PLAYER SCHEDULE:

4:00 PM Gear Up in the Locker Room

  • Mentors can join new skaters to support (their first!) proper gear fitting.

4:30 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B, Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

  • All New-to-MGHA Players are welcome
  • These drills will train basic skills, designed for those new to skating or hockey.

5:40 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B

  • These drills will train basic skills, regardless of your ice skating or hockey experience. 
  • Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

7:00 PM New Player Orientation (off-ice), Leaders: Amanda T, Kriona H, Mark N.

  • If you cannot attend either orientation (9/10 or 9/17), please check in with your mentor to get a recap.

RETURNING PLAYER SCHEDULE:

Please only sign up for one session below. If there are empty slots 48 hours prior to the event, we will allow signing up for multiple sessions.

5:00 PM L2 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink A

6:10 PM L2/L3 Small Space Drills, Rink A

  • Limited to 60 skaters and 8 goalies for coaching and space constraints
  • Example drill: turn net to corner, everyone is the goalie’s enemy (4 goalies, 4 nets, 7 on a side, 14 skaters in each corner)
  • Designed by: Gabby G
  • Leaders: Avery C, Emily F, and 1 TBD (contact Gabby to help)

6:50 PM L1 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink B

7:20 PM L3 Returning Player Scrimmage, Rink A

Scrimmage Reminder: If you have 3 or 4 goalies sign up to scrimmage, please work together to share time in net equitably and safely.


Need help?

  • If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
  • If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

Sign Up for 9/17 - Preseason

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2023 MGHA Preseason – Sept 10th Sign Up

Important: To sign up, you must have this year’s USA Hockey # on your profile. Learn how to register and update your profile on this here post.

NEW PLAYER SCHEDULE:

3:00 PM New Player Orientation (off-ice), Leaders: Amanda T, Kriona H, Mark N.

  • If you cannot attend either orientation (9/10 or 9/17), please check in with your mentor to get a recap.

4:00 PM Gear Up in the Locker Room

  • Mentors can join new skaters to support (their first!) proper gear fitting.

4:30 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B, Leaders: Mark N and Ted J

  • New to skating or hockey? Pick this session!
  • These drills will train basic skills – which most of our new folks are beginners to skating or hockey.
  • All new-to-MGHA skaters are welcome to this session, though we strongly encourage new-to-skating players to join this session. 

5:40 PM On-Ice Skills, Rink B

  • These drills will train basic skills, regardless of your ice skating or hockey experience. 
  • Leaders: Mark N, Ted J

Need help?

  • If you have issues with the signups, please contact the website@ email listserv.
  • If you have questions about which sessions to sign up for, check in with your mentor, hockey operations (hops@) or the board (board@madisongayhockey.org).

New Player Sign Up for 9/10 - Preseason

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New! New Members and 2023-2024 Board of Directors

We are happy to announce we’ve voted in 18 new members and elected 7 members to the Board of Directors.

New MGHA Members

Alex Krajek
Anna Johnson
Bailey Link
Breanne Cyr
Brecken Albrecht
Colleen Kenney
Doug Lowe
Elliot Lex
Erica Fry
FL Morris
Jacob Hale
Logan Anderson
Mary Schroeder
Matthew Greene
Mo Cormier
Peyton Higgins
Silver Basten
Stefania Cartoni Casamitjana

Newly Elected 2023-2024 Board of Directors

Avery Cordingley
Brett Rojec
Gene Zadzilka
Greta Landis
Gabby Grandin
Kriona Hagen
Matthew Greene


Thank you to everyone who made this year possible – it was filled with new faces, new levels, new experiences, and a whole lot of love put into the community on every level.

See you on the ice!

Christina Libs, she/her, [outgoing] 2022-23 Board Secretary

Spring 2023 MGHA News and Reminders

Happy Spring, MGHA!

Please read through our latest news and reminders to keep up with all aspects of our organization. We are active all year round and we love your support and involvement throughout the warm months <3.

  1. The MGHA Classic Tournament starts today!
    • Details and instructions are on the website here and in your email.
    • There are a few volunteer shifts left, sign up here to fill the last spots.
    • Have fun, be safe, and enjoy showing off our MGHA Ways in skating with alumni and old/new friends in the queer hockey community.
  2. Summer hockey update
    • We plan to offer a limited series of clinics and scrimmages this summer.
    • While ice cost details are firming up, you can contact Avery to share your general interest or coaching support.
  3. Recruiting reminder – our player application is always open, we usually fill up by August, and…
    1. Active recruiting for next season begins in June – more details will come over email. You can support by attending Pride and social events to recruit for next season.
    2. Contact recruiting@madisongayhockey.org to volunteer for recruiting operations assistance to communicate with and onboard new players.
  4. Apply by Saturday, May 20th to be an MGHA Member.
    1. Any MGHA Player or Volunteer active for one year can apply to become a Member.
    2. Each year, Members elect the Board of Directors and vote on referendums for league-wide changes like rink location and multiple play levels.
  5. MGHA 2023 Membership Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 24th at 6:30PM.
    • Elections and referendum voting will happen virtually.
    • MEMBER REMINDER: Nominate an MGHA Member to the Board of Directors, we value your ability to encourage creating a diverse board of leaders for our nonprofit organization!
    • We are working to locate a venue to have this be a hybrid event – as our members were split on an in person versus virtual meeting :). If you have venue suggestions or low-cost access to communal spaces, please contact board@madisongayhockey.org.
  6. Finally, a special thank you to Jacob Ela, our stats magician.
    • Each week, Jacob manages all website statistics, which often involves tracking down missing scoresheets. If you’re a captain or ever emailed stats@madisongayhockey.org, you’ve worked with Jacob!

Thanks for reading, now go play some hockey!

~~The 2022-2023 MGHA Board~~

February 2023: MGHA News and Reminders

Hi MGHA – here is a reminder of key things in the coming weeks:

  1. Feb 24: Turnabout Show This will be at 9:00pm at FIVE nightclub.  This fundraiser drag show is one of our biggest events of the year, and helps us pay for great things like the MGHA Classic Tournament, as well as our regular gear/scholarship program!
  2. Feb 26: Slight Schedule Change All rink B games will be delayed 15 minutes.The schedule on the website is already updated, as are scorebox shifts. If you have the calendar integration synced with your personal calendar, you will need to reinstall the calendar.
  3. TBD: Annual Town Hall Meeting is a meeting for all players to discuss survey feedback, share and listen to perspectives on this season. We are selecting a location (we will have a remote option) and will send a separate email with full details.
  4. Mar 19: Championship Night As saddened as we always are to see the MGHA hockey season end, we always love championship night!  Plan on a potluck, league photo, awards, and as always a great night of playing and watching hockey!
  5. Apr 28 – 30: MGHA Classic Tournament Registration is open on the website, so remember to sign up for your spot and invite your friends to play the MGHA Way with us at this community tournament.
  6. May: Annual Members’ Meeting Our annual meeting of MGHA Members, where we discuss the season, the league, vote on new member applications, the new board, and any major change proposals – in the past changes voted on include rink location and re-structuring play by levels.  If you are interested in becoming a member, please fill out the application form.

Thanks as always to our sponsors: our February sponsor is Forward Fertility  https://forwardfertility.com

Forward Fertility is Wisconsin’s Surrogacy and Egg Donor expert. Since 2013, we have connected women who want to be gestational carriers and egg donors with families who need a helping hand. Owned by Christie Olsen, a women’s health nurse practitioner, you will receive individualized care throughout the process.


Thanks,
MGHA Board