Hi HYH Families:

Hockey season is officially here!  I hope everyone had a great summer and enjoyed some time away from the rink.  First off, I want to thank all of the coaches that volunteered to help out this season. I'd also like to thank the board members that have given us a great foundation and creativity for growing the HYH program - as well as welcome a few new members to the 2016-17 board.  We all know hockey is a long season and a huge time commitment, and we really appreciate the time and effort that the coaches put in.   We really are fortunate to have such a great group of volunteers.  Practices start on September 6 for the travel teams, and the cross ice and mite house teams will start later in September.

A few highlights to share for the upcoming season:

·         SNAP – We are excited to partner with the South Shore Special Needs Athletic Partnership (SNAP) again this fall for another season of skating and learn to play hockey instruction.  The pilot program was a huge success last year, and we’ll be kicking off on September 10 at 11:30 @ Pilgrim.  Please let us know if you are interested in helping out.

·         Jerseys – We heard your feedback, and we have purchased new home and away jerseys for all of the travel teams!  Players will also be receiving new socks and practice jerseys.  We are hoping to have all jerseys in time for the first game, but we may have to scramble for the first week if they are delayed.  As a reminder, the jerseys will include the players’ names on the back, and we are expecting to use these for two seasons so please take good care of them and make sure the kids wear their practice jerseys to practice.

·         Raffle – To help cover the cost of jerseys, invest more in player development, and keep costs as low as possible for everyone, we are holding a raffle for a fundraiser.  More info to follow, but we are asking all players to sell ten $10 tickets.  Raffle prizes include Green Monster seats, Bruins tickets, a new Composite stick, and a Crow’s Landing gift certificate.  We will also be offering prizes for players that sell the most tickets.  The tickets will be distributed in mid-September, and the drawing will be held after the final SNAP skate on November 5th.

·         Practice Ice – We have secured all of the practice ice we can at Pilgrim, Bavis, and Connell Rink in Weymouth, but it never seems to be enough.  Once the Connell Rink opens for the season, practice times and skill sessions should be pretty predictable up until Thanksgiving when we start to lose a lot of ice to the high school teams.  We will do our best to keep the disruptions to a minimum and offer as much ice time as we can during high school season, but please be patient because it is always challenging.

·         SportsEngine App – We switched over to our new SportsEngine website last year, and I highly recommend downloading the SportsEngine App if you haven’t already.  This is the best way to view your schedule and receive real-time notifications for updates and announcements

·         USAH Registration – Please make sure you update your USAH registration information ASAP if you haven’t done so already.  This is critical for insurance purposes and for finalizing our rosters for the season

Win or lose, practice or game, I hope all of our players come to the rink and leave the rink with a smile on their face and improve a ton along the way!

Best of luck this season !

Mike Richardson