AAU Ice Hockey Sports for all, Forever October 1, 2020 Season 12 - Edition 2 Welcome to our 2020-2021 AAU season TO: AAU Members RE: Update on AAU Coronavirus Editor As the COVID-19 (“coronavirus”) situation continues to evolve, the Keith Kloock AAU is working diligently to keep our parents, coaches and event directors 995 Casa Blanca Drive updated as much as possible. We indeed recognize the absolute Merritt Island, FL 32953 seriousness of this on-going issue and are dedicated to providing the most (321) 794-0222 up-to-date information on AAU events across the country as it becomes AAU Leagues, Administrators, available. as well as Team Coaches and/ or Managers are encouraged At this time, please continue to check www.aausports.org and AAU to submit articles and notices to: sport websites for information related to AAU national events; updates will [email protected] be posted here. Published quarterly for the In addition to national-level events, the AAU has a long history of benefit and interest of AAU Ice events across the country that are operated by independent event Hockey participants. directors at the local, state and regional levels. The decisions relative to these events are made at the local level. We continue to encourage all our members and event directors involved in AAU events to engage with their local health officials and continue to be guided by the information offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to formulate appropriate decisions and preparations. Dr. Roger J. Goudy - AAU President/CEO Please also find our COVID-19 Safety Plan keyed towards Ice Hockey, which can be found at: https://www.aauicehockey.org/pages/ covid-19-safety-plan. Keith Noll - AAU Hockey, National Chair - Table of Contents - on the following page - Publishing Article The primary emphasis for each edition. date Deadline August 1 July 15 Pre-season announcements for leagues, tournaments & Nationals. Dec. 1 Nov. 15 Articles & Updates submitted by Leagues, Tournaments & Teams. Pre-Nationals edition. As well as any Notices about the Spring Season. February 1 January 15 Also including more Articles, Standings and Updates submitted by Leagues, May 1 April 15 Season’s wrap-up, plus discussions and plans for the next season. AAU Ice Hockey Page 2 October 1, 2020 Season 12 - Edition 2 AAU Executives (from l-r) Rusty Buchanan, 1st Vice President Joe Gura, 2nd Vice President Cynthia Trombly, Secretary Dr. Roger Goudy, President Joe Mirza, Treasurer. Table of Contents Headline Story: AAU Ice Hockey - Welcome to 2020-2021 Page 1 COVID League Update AAU Ice Hockey - Status Update of Leagues Page 3 AAU Hockey Chairperson AAU Ice Hockey Flourishes Page 4 Mandates mandates, mandates, will they ever end! Page 4 Notice 1 Safety: AAU - Background Screening. All non-athletes (coaches) Page 5 Notice 2 Safety: AAU - Athlete Protection Guidelines. All members Page 5 Notice 3 Culture: AAU - Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), coaching education Page 6 Website solutions RSportz Inc The Global Sports Network Pages 7-8 Coaching Education: How to Avoid Negative Thoughts in Sports - Mike Hartman Pages 9-10 Nutrition: Fitness and Diet in Sports - Cheryl Buckley Page 11 Editorial: Commencing our 10th Season of AAU 7U & 8U “Real Hockey” Pages 12-13 AAU Youth Leagues (new) Elite Southeast Hockey League 7U, 8U, 9U & 10U Page 14 (new) Florida Independent Hockey League (FIHL) scholastic Page 15 (new) Gateway Empire Hockey League (GEHL) 8U Page 16 Michigan (MAYHL) expansion to 7U, 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U & 12U Page 17 Minnesota Made - Choice Hockey League 6U through 14U Page 18 New England Amateur Hockey League (NEAHL) Page 19 Northeast Elite Hockey League (NEHL) - 8U Tier-1 only Page 20 Ontario Rep Hockey League (ORHL) Page 21 Hockey Club of St. Louis Page 22 AAU Scholastics NY Islanders High School League Page 23 Western New York High School Page 24 AAU-UHU Juniors: Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL) Pages 25 AAU Collegiate: Collegiate Hockey Federation (CHF) Pages 26-27 Contacts AAU Ice Hockey Contacts:(Leagues, plus National staff) Pages 28-31 Tournaments AAU Ice Hockey - Tournament Guide Pages 32-34 AAU Ice Hockey Page 3 October 1, 2020 Season 12 - Edition 2 Status Update of our AAU Hockey Leagues Please be aware that during the COVID-19 pandemic schedules and restrictions may change without much notice. However, (at the moment) our AAU ice hockey landscape is as follows: Youth Leagues: Chicago United Hockey League (CUHL) - Illinois is presently non-contact practice only and awaiting permission for games.. Choice - Minnesota Made Hockey - Presently operating within some State and Local restrictions. (new) Elite Southeast Hockey League - a 7U, 8U, 9U & 10U league in DC, MD, NC & DC. Presently operating within some State and Local restrictions. (new) Gateway Empire Hockey League - an 8U development league in CT, DE, NJ, NY & PA. New York is presently non-contact practice only and awaiting permission for games. Michigan Amateur Youth Hockey League (MAYHL) - Presently operating within some State and Local restrictions. BTW, MAYHL has expanded to 7U, 8U, 9U, 10U, 11U & 12U. NE Amateur Hockey League (NEAHL) - Presently operating with games beginning Oct 3rd. Northeast Elite Hockey League (NEHL) - (8U Tier-1 league) - New York is presently non- contact practice only and awaiting permission for games. Ontario Rep Hockey League (ORHL) - The US-Canadian border is still closed and Ontario still has their programs restricted to their local area (ending the Travel concept at present). St. Louis Hockey League - Presently operating within some State and Local restrictions. Scholastic Leagues: (new) Florida Independent Hockey League (FIHL) - Beginning play in October. New York Islanders High School Hockey League - New York is presently non-contact practice only and awaiting permission for games. WNY High School Club Hockey League (WNYHSCHL) - New York is presently non-contact practice only and awaiting permission for games. Junior Leagues: Canadian Premier Junior Hockey League (CPJHL) - Re-opening with separate Ontario and Quebec divisions (governments have disallowed play across their provincial borders). Western States Hockey League (WSHL) - Closed down for the entire 2020-21 season. Collegiate Leagues: Collegiate Hockey Federation - Clearly the CHF operates within a great many States and Locales with a variety of restrictions. AAU Ice Hockey Page 4 October 1, 2020 Season 12 - Edition 2 AAU Hockey - Update by the AAU Hockey - National Chairperson: Keith Noll AAU Ice Hockey Flourishes By: Keith Noll AAU Hockey Chair, Keith Noll, is pleased to report that hockey continues to grow despite the current pandemic. This has been an especially difficult year for sports, as we all know. Although many facilities are waiting for clearance to allow athletes to return to play, numerous leagues have received clearance and are now able to compete and have joined the AAU. The CHF (Collegiate Hockey Federation) has added 3 new leagues bringing the total to the AAU licensed collegiate program to 7 leagues within the CHF. The leagues will compete for the 2021 Federation Cup National Championships. In addition, several new AAU leagues across the country have been formed and are listed within this newsletter. Each of these operating leagues is following their local, city and county health department and CDC protocols for safety. We are extremely excited for the future of AAU Hockey. The players, organizations and event organizers are looking forward to play hockey again in the 2020/21 season! Good luck to everyone, stay safe and follow your local health guidelines. Mandates, mandates, mandates, will they ever end! By: Keith Kloock Of course, it’s common knowledge that the 8U Cross-Ice mandate land prohibition against traditional Full- Ice hockey led to the creation of our first AAU ‘Real Hockey’ youth programs and leagues in 2011. Yet, even then, youth hockey organizations and associations were being warned that similar mandates at older age classifications (such as 9U and 10U) would be coming over time. Well the long-feared next phase of mandates has finally arrived, within the first locale. The 9U and 10U (Squirt-Atom) mandate has begun within the southeastern United States, requiring them to play Half-Ice 4v4. Also as expected, this has led to the long-predicted response, which is the birth of yet another AAU ‘Real Hockey’ league. To use an ancient quote from the movie Star Wars, in the words of Princess Leia: “The more you tighten your grip, … , the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” Fortunately, we find the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which believes in the bottom-up, grass-root model, rather than any top-down micromanagement concepts. AAU Hockey does NOT issue mandates, except within matters involving safety. AAU - Sports For All, Forever! AAU Ice Hockey Page 5 October 1, 2020 Season 12 - Edition 2 AAU Ice Hockey - Memberships are required for all AAU events All participants (Teams, Athletes, Players, Coaches, Assistants & Trainers) must have valid and current AAU members to participate within any AAU event (such as practices, games, tournaments & leagues). AAU Hockey - Background Checks by the AAU Hockey - National Chairperson: Keith Noll NOTICE #1 Safety: AAU members should be aware that all AAU non-athlete members (such as Coaches, Officials and Adult Volunteers) do undergo a Mandatory Background Check. These Background-Checks are automatically performed during the Adult Non-Athlete membership- registration process and no such membership is final until the individual check has been approved. Therefore, it is critical for all AAU Clubs (Teams) to assure that any and all team Coaches, Assistants, Trainers and Adult Volunteers must become AAU non-athlete members. Head Coaches must assure that their Assistants, Trainers and Adult Volunteers have not merely applied but that their memberships have been approved. Please be aware that because of the need to perform this screening process it can sometimes take several days to complete an adult membership.