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.