As we gear up for another exciting season we urgently need parents to step up and help fill important volunteer roles for our U11C, U13C, U15C, and U18C recreation teams.  These positions - Coaches, Assistant Coaches, Team Managers, and more - are needed right away for both pre-season and regular season. 

Pre-Season runs Sept 30 - Oct 16th, and shifts are only 1-2 hours working at a dressing room, distributing jerseys, helping on ice, checking players in etc.  No experience is required! 

Regular Season runs Oct 16th through till March 2026 and we are always looking for dedicated coaches, managers etc. Chebucto will cover the costs of background checks and any courses needed to get started.

Volunteering is a fantastic way to support our players, keep things running smoothly, and ensure every child has the best possible experience. Please don’t wait—your time and energy will make a huge difference for our teams and our kids.

Recreation Volunteer SignUp:  https://forms.gle/LgUnPLvxJmZDYhVW7

Hello, Chebucto U7 Families!!

Welcome and welcome back, all you hockey fans!! 

We are super excited to kick off the 2025-2026 U7 Hockey season here in Chebucto after the award winning year our U7 program had last season! Hockey Nova Scotia recognized the efforts of our incredible U7 volunteers by presenting us with the award for significant contributions to minor hockey in Nova Scotia! We are truly honored by the recognition, and excited to continue building something very special for the kids here in Chebucto.

Our first weekend on the ice has been October 13^th and 14^th historically. We anticipate that to be our start date again this season. 

Once we have been given our official practice times, players will be placed into groups, practice times will be allocated and sent out via email, and you will have an official schedule to go by.

Over the first few weekends we always reserved the opportunity to move players to the most appropriate group for their current skill level, if deemed beneficial for the child. We want all the kids to feel comfortable and challenged appropriately during the season, so we take the time to make sure all players are placed into each group with the best development path in mind for that specific player. Sometimes, especially with new players, it takes time to properly assess everyone. We appreciate your insights and patience during the process.

Please read carefully over the following list of equipment as full gear is required for all participants. 

• Helmet (with cage)

• Neck Guard 

• Shoulder Pads 

• Elbow Pads 

• Hockey Pants 

• Jersey 

• Shin Pads 

• Protective Cup (Jock/Jill)

• Hockey Socks 

• Skates (skate guards recommended)

• Stick

• Hockey Gloves

Team jerseys and socks will be distributed at the U7 Draft event in November. Please bring your own practice jersey and socks until then. If anyone requires information on gear, please let me know and I'll do my best to assist. 

Please note: In order for any player to be eligible to play Minor Hockey in Nova Scotia, HNS (Hockey Nova Scotia) requires at least one parent from each household to complete the respect in sport course. If you are new to Hockey or have not yet completed Respect in Sport, please do so by following the link below.

https://hnsparent.respectgroupinc.com/koala_final/

For those interested in volunteering, on or off the ice, please reply to this email with your name, your child's name and how you would like to help. We appreciate all our volunteers so much. In fact, we could not run this program without awesome people like you investing your time here with the kids!! Many hands make light work so please, even if you think you can only do a little, please know, a little makes a BIG difference here. We appreciate all our volunteers at whatever capacity they are comfortable with.

Thank you in advance for helping us make Chebucto U7 an unforgettably positive experience for all the kids who dare to dream of being in the NHL one day, and those of us who are just here to make snow angels and forever friends. Every kid who loves hockey deserves a chance to play, win or lose. As well as a chance to get better, and try again. As coaches, parents and volunteers it must be our aim to create and maintain a culture of caring where we foster growth and development in a positive healthy environment for the children in our community and abroad.

Further details and instructions will be sent out as we approach the start of our regular season.

Below this email is a list of our registered U7 players. If you do not see your player's name, please reach out to myself or Alicia Payne at registrar@chebuctominorhockey.com

Lastly, we will have our incredible Junior Coaches Leadership Program in full swing again this year! Kids and coaches will have extra support on the ice during practices as we welcome some of our finest U13 and above aged players to join in the process. 

We have a very exciting year planned for the kids, filled with lots of opportunities to develop their skills, attend fun bonding events like our U7 Draft, Christmas Party and end of year event and enjoy plenty of Jamborees and hockey games with their friends and fellow hockey players. Together we will build a culture of caring for these young hockey stars to shine bright and learn invaluable life skills in a positive and healthy environment, while enjoying the game we all love.

See you all at the rink!!

Let’s Go Chebucto!!

Yours in hockey, 

Jay McKenzie 

VP U7 CHEBUCTO

U7@CHEBUCTOMINORHOCKEY.COM 

Registered U7 Players 

Dear Chebucto Families,

On behalf of the Chebucto Minor Hockey Association, I’d like to welcome everyone back for another exciting season of hockey. Whether you’re returning for another year or joining us for the first time, we’re thrilled to have you as part of the Chebucto community.

The season is already off to a strong start with the securing of U9 jersey sponsorships, the return of our sponsorship with Pro Hockey Life, and the entry of four teams into the early Jordan Boyd Tournament, with our executive working to secure early entry for at least one further team in a separate tournament event.

This year also marks the return of Paul Hunt as Technical Director, who has agreed to a new three-year term. Paul has been busy leading summer development, organizing a nearly sold out pre-season program, and working with our Competition Committee to prepare a detailed tryout process. Please stand by for a separate communication with full information on tryouts. All Tryouts this year will be closed with the exception of exhibition games. To ensure you don’t miss out please sign up for expression of interest to volunteer. Details on volunteer signups will be coming out soon so stay tuned.

We are also pleased to share that CMHA has secured a new ice scheduling tool, “Skeeda.” We believe this platform will make scheduling easier and more transparent for our teams and managers, while giving families greater visibility. Most importantly, it will help us ensure that when ice is available, our CMHA players are on it and using it. This will be very important this year as ice availability in HRM continues to be extremely challenging.

In addition, we have transitioned our player evaluation software from Team Genius to Gray Jay, a move that has reduced costs and supports a local Nova Scotia business.

We are also introducing a new complaint resolution process to make handling concerns more structured, consistent, and fair. This will help ensure that any issues are addressed in a timely and respectful manner.

These early successes are a great example of how our community and supporters continue to step up to make Chebucto Minor Hockey stronger every season.

We would also like to take a moment to thank all of our outgoing executives and volunteers for their contributions to CMHA, and to welcome our new executives and volunteers who are stepping into important roles this season. At this time, the Executive positions of VP-Administration and Equipment Manager remain open. We encourage anyone interested in helping shape the future of CMHA to reach out and get involved.

This year I would like to ask our membership to reflect on working together to develop not only hockey skills, but strong character. Just as the Atlantics symbol, the lighthouse, shines steadily whether or not anyone is watching, true character is reflected in how we act both on and off the ice toward our teammates and those around us, in public and in private, whether our coaches are watching or not. At CMHA, this also means creating an inclusive, supportive environment where bullying has no place — where we pick each other up instead of dragging down. Our goal is for every CMHA player to carry themselves with respect, integrity, responsibility, and a caring for others, building a reputation for both strong hockey and strong character, where a CMHA team is a place of safety and encouraging support from your coaches, players, and teammates to push yourself to be the best version of you that you can be.

If you’re a player, be the best teammate on your team and someone who even the other teams respect, positively encouraging your teammates to give it their all. If you’re a parent, be an example of class, respect, and enjoyment of the game as opposed to anger , criticism and frustration. If you’re a coach or volunteer, be that role model, great organizational teammate, and positive influence for those around you.

Again, none of this would be possible without the dedication of our volunteers. From coaches and team managers to those helping at tryouts and tournaments, your time and energy are the backbone of our association. As always If you’re interested in getting involved this year, we always welcome more hands to help.

We remain committed to open communication. Please keep an eye on our website and social media for important updates, schedules, and news throughout the season. And of course, never hesitate to reach out with questions.

I encourage our players to focus on enjoying the game, respecting teammates and opponents, and building lasting friendships both on and off the ice. That’s what hockey is truly about.

Here’s to a safe, fun, and successful 2025–26 season. I look forward to seeing you all at the rink!

Sincerely,
Bryan Esbaugh
President - Chebucto Minor Hockey Association

For the 2025-26 season, teams from the Western and Nova regions at the following levels will merge with teams from the Halifax and Dartmouth regions and participate in the Central Minor Hockey League: * U11 AA * U13 AA * U15 AA * U18 AA * U18 A 

This pilot initiative is being introduced to create a more competitive environment for players throughout the province, while also providing a more sustainable league structure across the regions impacted.

HNS_Western and Nova Regionalization Memo