Hello Chebucto Families,                                                    January 10,2022

    I hope this email finds you well, and everyone was able to enjoy time with Family over the Holiday season. Happy New Year!

   CMHA has been working to get teams back to practicing, and we will begin Thursday Jan 13, 2022. Most teams can expect to be practicing during their already scheduled ice times. Some have been moved around to accommodate the current restrictions. See restart schedule : CMHA Restart Schedule Jan 2022 - Final 

Please read this entire email to find the details you need. U7 & U9 have different plans- please make sure you make note of that plan in the notes below.

As per Public Health and HNS guidance:

·        Games and tournaments are not permitted

·        A maximum of 10 participants (including coaches and instructors) will be permitted in the field of play for practices and training; physical distancing is not required during these sessions, but masks are required everywhere in the facility but on the ice

·        Spectators will be not be permitted at any activities

·        Travel restrictions remain in effect that prohibit children age 11 and younger from entering or leaving Nova Scotia to participate in sports

Details on groups of 10:

Teams can practice in separate groups of up to 10 (including coaches and instructors) on the ice at the same time. Teams need to ensure that the groups (including coaches and instructors) are completely separated from the time they arrive at the facility until the time they leave. Players can not switch groups (ex: players are not permitted to spend half a practice with one group and then spend the other half with the other group) during the practice. 

There can be no intermingling of cohorts so the space would have to allow for distancing between cohorts, staggered entry into the facility and onto the field of play, separate change rooms, etc. 

Plan: Spryfield Lions Rink: Jan 2022 COVID Rules 

No Spectators at all

 Manager/safety (1) rep arrives 20 minutes before ice time to gather group 1- players and coaches- screen and at 15min before. Then that group goes into the rink.

 Manager/Safety Rep (2) arrives 20 minutes before ice time to gather Group 2 -players and coaches – screen and at 15 min before. Then that group goes into the rink.

Each group must remain with their group at all times, and enter and exit the ice separately.

Group 1 will enter ice through closest ice surface door, and go the furthest end of the ice.                                            

Ice is divided.

Group 2 will enter through the closest ice surface door and stay at that end.

Once ice time is completed, Group 2 will exit first, once they are in their dressing room, Group 1 will exit.

Group 1 & 2 from each team will be on the same hour of ice.

All players, once they finish in each dressing room, must exit out the side door together in their group. Coaches will have to make sure that this happens.

This is the procedure for Spryfield Lions Rink:

These guidelines should be followed in any arena we practice in. Entry doors and exit doors will be different in other facilities, please make yourself aware of the facility policy before you go. 

~U7 will look a bit different and will have additional plans in place. At this time, our current planning has to be changed, as we received info that the Lions rink is not allowing anyone besides the 2 groups of 10 in the rink. We do require a bit more help with this age group. Matt will be emailing Families with team lists and an additional email will be coming later this week with info- we apologize, and hope to get some groups on the ice this weekend. Jan 15 & 16….please answer his call for help….we really want to get these kids on the ice! Any questions or offers to help( need credentials) please reach out to Matt:  U7@chebuctominorhockey.com

 ~U9 will also look different and will have additional plans in place. Please visit the website under the U9 tab (please click your team and news feed) for information and guidelines.  Please reach out to Desi at U9@chebuctominorhockey.com for any questions.

Contact tracing:

We continue to ask that the team safety rep/manager be informed of any Covid cases. Teams will be considered close contacts if they had exposure to the positive player/coach in the 48h prior to positive test and/or symptoms. Please make sure you inform coaches and team of any Covid 19 activity and take the appropriate steps of notification.

PLEASE NOTE: CMHA EXPECTS THAT ANY PLAYERS, TEAM STAFF THAT ARE COMING TO THE RINK, HAVE SELF SCREENED AND WILL NOT COME IF YOU ARE SICK OR HAVE ANY SYMPTOMS. PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR SELF ASSESSMENT

 Coronavirus (COVID-19): symptoms and testing - Government of Nova Scotia, Canada

Please see below for some additional info:

·       Forum/Civic, SMU- allow only one safety rep/manager per session, teams will have to figure out who this will be.

 RBC and HRM 4 pad- allows both a manager and a safety rep per session.

·       Masks are to be always worn in arenas and in the dressing rooms…Masks can be taken off ONLY when immediately putting your helmet on and immediately leaving the dressing room to get onto the ice surface.

·       Any coach who is rostered on more than one team MUST wear a mask at all times, no exceptions. 

·       If a coach must interact with a child within 6 feet, they should “mask up” and then have the interaction.

·       No player can enter the building until the safety rep & manager have arrived.  Coaches, safety reps / managers should arrive 20 minutes before the ice time, to manage groups prior to entry to the arena.

·       Players are to arrive 15 minutes before ice time.  Please have your child refrain from waiting outside with other players.  If they must wait outside, they must be with their GROUP ONLY.

·       Players are to come as dressed as possible.  For U11 and up at a minimum bottom gear, for U7 and U9 should be full gear including skates. As a point of clarity, there will be no skate tying by coaches.  

·       No spectators whatsoever.

·       Coaches are to send out the list of groupings (2 groups of 8 players and 2 coaches per team prior to first ice time (If rosters are larger, then the player to coach ratio will be decided by the head coach, or VP of Division)

·       These groupings cannot change until restrictions get updated after Jan 31, 2022.  There will be a schedule will be emailed to teams and also located on our news feed, beginning Jan 13, 2022- Jan 31, 2022 with each team getting practice times. U7-U21.

·       CMHA players cannot intermix groups for CMHA ice times.  
Private ice times are not under the purview of the CMHA, but if rented cannot be under CMHA or the team’s name.

·       Any positive covid cases on a CMHA rostered team, the team Safety Rep or manager must be notified immediately, who then notifies the CMHA Safety Representative (Bryan Esbaugh- VP Risk Management). Risk.management@chebuctominorhockey.com

·       Any cancellation of ice due to COVID-19 must be requested through our ice scheduler, Katie Murphy at ice@chebuctominorhockey.com .

Thank you again for your continued support. We have yet again been put into a tough situation…but we have been here before and we can get through it again… We want to get back to normal, and are doing our best to provide a safe practice environment until Public Health and HNS provide updates.

If you are looking for contact information or general information, click this link to be brought to our website Chebucto Minor Hockey Association 

Stay safe,

Sara Aucoin

President, CMHA