WELCOME LETTER FROM CEO ROB LITWINSKI
Welcome to the start of a new hockey season! 2018-19 marks the 111th season of Hockey Alberta as the governing body of amateur hockey in this Province. Each of these years comes with the same new sense of excitement for all of us involved in the game. As the new season begins, we would like to outline important changes, including regulation and playing rule revisions. It also highlights initiatives and programs both new and continuing that Hockey Alberta offers to facilitate growth for our minor hockey associations, along with players, coaches, officials and parents.
As our organization continues to strive towards our vision of “Hockey For Life”, we owe gratitude to our volunteers for continuing to push our game forward. Each year hockey is driven by the countless volunteers giving back thousands of hours to the game across the Province for all ages and levels of hockey. Thank you to our stakeholders who help make each season successful. We are excited to work on our new initiatives this season and tackle the challenges in front of us. Our entire organization is excited to execute the following initiatives, which focus on key stakeholders in the game who help lead to the positive hockey experience we want everyone to have.
- To create new opportunities, and continue the existing ones within our Alberta Coach Development plan. A plan that is implemented province wide to improve leadership and educational opportunities for Alberta coaches
- To continue the alignment of Alberta’s Officiating Model
- To advance our Alberta ONE hockey system alignment model to provide consistent operations in leagues and associations; and the review of Provincial Championship format
- To launch the Parent Engagement Strategy, which will include resources to assist us to be better sport parents
- To further the Member Standards Model which is a dedicated program to help guide, serve and develop all aspects of our members
- To continue, in partnership with the Hockey Alberta Foundation, finding new ways to add resources to growing the game and finding ways to enhance the opportunities for more Albertans to experience hockey and stay in the game
This season also marks two unique events for Hockey Alberta. We enter the first season in our new home inside the beautiful Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre located in Red Deer College. We are very excited for the opportunities this facility brings for Hockey Alberta. This season will also see Alberta, and host city Red Deer, welcome the nation as host of the Canada Winter Games. This is the first time since 1995 it has been hosted in our province.
I would like to personally extend well wishes to everyone across Alberta and hope that you all have a memorable hockey experience as we enter another season. We look forward to being with you every step of the way.
Yours in hockey,
Rob Litwinski, CEO
REGULATION AMENDMENTS
Hockey Alberta has implemented a number of regulation amendments for the 2018-19 season for the following areas:
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To learn more about these amendments, please click here.
COACHING CLINICS
Hockey Alberta offers a variety of Coach Clinics targeted to the age and level of athletes coaches are leading. View Clinics >
MHAs and Club Teams must ensure that all teams and/or groups meet the requirements outlined by Hockey Alberta before November 15. Any team/group that does not meet the requirements outlined within the Hockey Alberta Regulations is not eligible to participate in sanctioned hockey games. Coach Requirements >
OFFICIATING
Fall is an important time of year for Officials in Alberta. Clinic season is in full swing and Hockey Alberta offers a number of officiating clinics throughout the province. For a listing of these clinics, please visit Hockey Canada’s EHOCKEY website.
*Please note that Hockey Canada has made rule changes for the 2018 season forward to improve the game for all participants. More Information >
Structure Changes > I 2018-2020 Hockey Canada Rulebook >
INTRO TO HOCKEY
Hockey Alberta’s Intro to Hockey Model, for all players aged 5-8 years, will be in effect for the 2019-20 season. It replaces previous models and programming at the Novice and Initiation levels. However, Minor Hockey Associations can opt to make the switch, or undertake a transition process, during the 2018-19 season. More Information >
FEMALE HOCKEY DAY
Mark your calendars! December 15 will mark the inaugural Female Hockey Day. Hosted in Red Deer, the day will feature on and off-ice development sessions for players, coaches, and officials - all to celebrate female hockey! More details will be released shortly, but to help us celebrate, the Calgary Inferno will be facing off against the Toronto Furies at 7:00 p.m. in CWHL action! All ages and skill levels are welcome to join! We hope you can help us circle the date on the calendar and plan on being in Red Deer to show the hockey World #WhyWePlay!
WE HAVE MOVED
Photo credit: Red Deer College
Hockey Alberta has completed the transition to our new home in the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre at Red Deer College. While our phone numbers remain the same, the mailing address/directions to our office are now different. More Information/How to reach us >
