U9
Welcome to U9 Hockey!
Good day,
My name is Teela and I am your U9 director for the 2022/2023 hockey season. Along with the coaches and the Stettler Minor Hockey board, I will be involved with running the hockey season. I am very excited for this year’s season. You may see me in the stands cheering on my youngest child, who is in her first year U9, and my son, who is in his first year in U11.
You will have started to receive emails about this year's hockey season and today I am emailing to welcome everyone, to clarify some finer points, and start the ball rolling on a few things.
Coaches: If you’ve been interested in coaching please apply to be a U9 coach here http://www.stettlerminorhockey.com/form/649. Coaching a team will complete all your volunteer hours.
Managers: Each U9 team needs a manager. This is a great way to be involved in minor hockey, support your player’s team, and get to know the parents and guardians on your team. You do not need to know anything about hockey to manage a team. If you are interested in managing your player’s team, please email me with your name, your player’s name, and your phone number. We will need between four and six managers for this season depending on how the teams shake out. Managing a team will complete all your volunteer hours.
Special Requests: I am starting to get a lot of special requests as far as scheduling. We will do our best to ensure that we accommodate when possible. That said, it is a balancing act forming so many teams and not all scheduling requests or team mate requests can be accommodated.
Practice Schedules: You will have received the overall practice schedules via email earlier this week. Practices for U9 will not start until after the Red Arena ice is in. We expect this to be early October with practices potentially starting October 3. We will keep you updated. If you’ve missed the schedule, it can be found here http://www.stettlerminorhockey.com/content/2022-23-practice-schedule
Respect in Sports: It is mandatory that our hockey parents and guardians complete Respect in Sports. This course needs to be completed successfully in order for your player to step on the ice. Please check to ensure that your certification is active in the link https://www.hockeyalberta.ca/members/respect-sport/
Apparel Try It Night: On September 21st from 4:30pm-7:30pm SMHA will be holding a try it on night for apparel at the Rec Centre. If you are interested in purchasing SMHA branded gear for your player (track suits, hoodies etc.) this is a time to try it on for sizing. This is the only try it on night this year.
Finally, minor hockey can be confusing at times. I have found the best resources to be my fellow parents and the team manager. Many of the parents and managers in the stands have kids in older age divisions and have navigated through U9 previously. If for any reason you need answers though, find me in the stands or shoot me an email. I will do my best to track down answers in a timely manner and probably learn a thing or two along the way.
Cheers,
Teela Uffelman
teelalynn1@gmail.com
