Dear U5 and U7 Families,

I hope you are all as thrilled as I am to kick off the 2023-2024 hockey season with SMHA. The sight of our young athletes taking to the ice over the past week has been truly exhilarating, and I'm eagerly anticipating the exciting journey ahead. To make this season a success, we are seeking dedicated volunteers to fill essential roles.

Each team within our organization requires the following key positions:

Team Manager: The Team Manager plays a crucial behind-the-scenes role. They are responsible for maintaining player and family records, offering support to the head coach in planning team events outside of the arena, and coordinating volunteers for various team activities such as holiday parties and year-end events.

Head Coach: The Head Coach ensures that the on-ice program aligns with Hockey Canada's U7 Player Pathway. They collaborate with the VP-U7 and the development team to create practice plans that cater to our players' age and abilities, ensuring that they acquire the right skill sets.

50/50 Coordinator: The 50/50 Coordinator oversees the 50/50 process for their respective teams. This role involves distributing a monthly allotment of tickets to families, collecting funds, and collecting filled-in tickets at the end of each month for the monthly draw.

Assistant Coaches/On-Ice Support: Assistant Coaches provide valuable support to the Head Coach, helping administer weekly practice plans and ensuring players are engaged in skill-building activities.

Safety Coordinator:  The Safety Coordinator, is responsible for ensuring that their respective team adheres to safety protocols. This includes monitoring compliance with the two-deep rule, supervising dressing room and on-ice activities, and ensuring that all safety measures are in place.

Your involvement and support are vital to the success of our teams and contribute significantly to the growth and development of our young athletes. Together, as a community, we can create a rewarding and enriching experience for our children.

We encourage you to consider stepping into one of these roles and thank you for being an integral part of SMHA. We look forward to a fantastic season ahead filled with growth, development, and memorable experiences for our young players.

If you are interested in volunteering for any of these positions or have questions about the roles, please inform the team’s Head Coach and click on the link below to sign up:

Volunteer Sign-Up Link

All volunteers must complete the following requirements associate with their role. You are required to sign up for the following online courses through your Hockey Canada Registration account (HCR):

Your role requires an HCR # due to the need for Criminal Record Check or Online Training, follow these steps to get started:
1. HCR Login Page
·         Create a New HCR Account, or recover an Existing HCR account.
·         If you are the person who typically registers the player(s) in your household, you probably already have an account.
·         If you're not sure, try the Forgot Password link to see if you have an existing account.

2. Once logged in, Search For Your Unique HCR# by using your Name and Birthday.
·         Did you play Minor Hockey in the '90s-'00s, or officiate/coach anytime since then?
                   -   Your HCR# probably still exists. Email Helen (Registration@FlyersHockey.ca) if you need assistance.

·         Are you entirely new to Minor Hockey?
                  - Create a New Volunteer Profile. Email Helen (Registration@FlyersHockey.ca) if you need assistance.

·         All Managers and on Ice personnel MUST complete Respect in Sport: Activity Leader Program
·         All Head coach and on ice personnel must have HU Online Coach 1/2 and Intro to Coach
(Note: HU Online Coach1/2 must be completed first)
·         Each head coach must have HU-Online Safety Program.
·         One approved team volunteer is required to have:
CPR (Level C) & AED
Emergency First Aid

·         All volunteers much complete the background check and vulnerable sector search at Hockey Nova Scotia - MyBackCheck Link

Select "Sackvillle MHA" from the drop-down list.
Please use the link above so that your result can be linked to your HCR Profile. 
If for any reason a volunteer's Criminal Record Check requires fingerprinting, it can take quite a long time to process. Backlogs with the system can also occur near the the December 1st deadline. Please do not delay starting this step.

·         An email will follow, containing a .PDF attachment with a Serial Number or instructing you to go for finger printing (this email gets filtered by Junk Mail filters).

·         Sign into your MyBackCheck account, and add the Serial Number to allow the system to share your results with SMHA (results must be shared with SMHA and NOT Hockey NS). *this step is important, SMHA will not get information until this is completed. 
·         Instructions for this are laid out on the MyBackCheck page.
·         If you don't receive an email from Halifax Regional Police, you can call them at 902-490-1329.
·         If you receive a reply indicating you require fingerprinting, please reach out to Craig Foley at RiskManagement@FlyersHockey.ca. We will provide you with a Fingerprint Request letter, and you will need to bring that to Halifax Police Headquarters at 1975 Gottingen St.
·         After all is completed, you should receive an email stating the Criminal Record Check is completed (if you haven't received an email within 10 days, check your hcr to make sure it has been completed).

Matt Brown

Hi Folks,

The Week-At-A-Glance page has been updated with the ice times for this week. 

U5/U7/U9 Families: Please take a look but check back later tonight - We will try and add specific team names to make it more clear.

Preliminary (i.e. not yet finalized!) Recreation Groups pending final balancing will be posted this evening as well. 

Thank you!

Dear U5 Families,

I hope this message finds you all in good health and high spirits after the Thanksgiving long weekend. I wanted to address the questions and concerns that have been raised regarding the timing of our first official team skate.

Originally, we had planned to hold our skates on Wednesday evenings throughout the season. However, in response to valuable feedback and numerous requests from our group to consider a weekend time slot, our dedicated scheduling team has been diligently working to accommodate this change. Your input is greatly appreciated, and we thank you for your patience as we work through this transition.

In the interest of transparency, I want to inform you that our scheduling coordinator role recently became vacant. Fortunately, we've been fortunate to have enthusiastic volunteers step up to fill this role on short notice. Their efforts have been instrumental in addressing your requests and concerns.

We anticipate that our first ice time for this week will be scheduled for either Saturday or Sunday, and we expect to have this confirmed later today. Additionally, we are in the process of finalizing the full season schedule, which will be communicated to you in the coming days.

We understand the importance of clear communication and appreciate your understanding during this period of adjustment. Rest assured, we are committed to providing the best experience for our U5 team and their families.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a fantastic season ahead.

Warm regards,

Matt Brown 

Are you a New Team Manager?
Are you interested in being a Team Manager, and you're are a bit curious about what it is all about?

Please join our casual/virtual drop-in session all about managing a team! There's no set agenda; we can follow the lead from the folks who join. We can cover the types of things managers do, some tips to getting started, where to find resources, etc.

This is entirely optional. We have (understandably) started to see more questions from the newer Managers who are getting started with U9 teams, and we are here to help. Based on some feedback last year, we don't want anyone to go into the main Team Manager Meeting and end up feeling unsupported & overwhelmed. 

You can join via Google Meet or by Telephone:

• Google Meet joining info:
  • 
  • Video call link: https://meet.google.com/sej-pkst-xda
  • Or dial: ?(CA) +1 587-796-9893? PIN: ?876 943 721?#
  • More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/sej-pkst-xda?pin=5482793385435

**There will be a Team Manager Meeting announced soon, shortly after Recreation Teams are finalized.**

If there is demand, we can easily repeat a similar Drop-In later this week or next before the Team Manager Meeting. Just reach out to Secretary@FlyersHockey.ca or Registration@FlyersHockey.ca.

Thank you!

Hello SMHA Fans & Families,

We appreciate everyone's flexibility and patience with SMHA with all the schedule changes and last-minute updates over the last week.

Competitive Tryouts are nearly finalized, and Recreation Evaluations are in full swing! Thank you to all of the Division Coordinators for their tireless volunteer hours and coffee runs, to the coaches, the evaluators, and of course to the players and their families for getting them where they need to be. It takes a village! 

A few things to note:

• The "Week-At-A-Glance" Schedule was moved from where it was kind of buried/nested within a sub menu, to being front-and-centre on the main menu of the website.
• U7 Groups have been announced, and are nested under Tryout and Recreation Evaluations here.
• U15 Recreation Groups have been MERGED for today's Session #2 - more info halfway down the page here. 
• U18 Recreation Scrimmage groups are posted - first session is at 11:00AM (2 hours away!) and second session is this evening. See halfway down the page here.

Thank you - and Happy Thanksgiving!

U7 Groups have been emailed out last night with ice times, they are as follows.  All ice times today are at East Coast Varsity Arena

Sackville U7 Devils- Head Coach - Mike Black- Sunday October 8th @ 12:30 pm

Sackville U7 Lightning- Head Coach- Brandon Moore- Sunday, October 8th @ 11:30 am

Sackville U7 Knights- Head Coach- Matt Brown- Sunday, October 8th @ 10:30 am

Sackville U7 Sharks- Head Coach- TBD- Sunday, October 8th @ 9:30 am