Dear SJAMHA members,

Last week, Hockey Winnipeg made the very difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the Hockey season. SJAMHA is working on several decisions that need to be made very soon.

Hockey Winnipeg and SJAMHA will be working to provide fair refunds to our members over the next few months. The refunds will be pro-rated based upon the amount of programming provided for a particular age group. Some fees are not recoverable (such as tryout fees where tryouts have taken place, player insurance, etc.). Hockey Winnipeg is working towards giving a full refund for these expenses. The SJAMHA Board is working on a refund policy with the hopes to distribute refunds to members by the end date of a typical hockey season which is April 30th, 2021.

SJAMHA is also deciding if we can maintain the ice facility at Allard Arena to provide Spring programming in March, April and May. In the recent survey, 75% of respondents indicated they would be interested in continuing Spring hockey programming such as skill camps or 4×4 leagues. This is great news but each month Allard is open without user groups renting the ice, this causes considerable financial losses for our association (approximately $11,000/month). If provincial health does not announce loosening of restrictions by February 12 so we can start programming by March 1 or earlier then we will be forced to close the facility.

In the event that restrictions are lifted soon after February 12th, our Board is currently planning what kind of programming would best meet the needs of certain age groups. Our hope is to refund registration fees and collect separately for Spring programming.

The Board and executive of SJAMHA would like to thank our members for being patient throughout this trying season, and we regret the premature end of the 2020/2021 hockey season.

Stay safe and let’s hope we can participate in Spring hockey programs.

Sincerely,

Scott Lockhart
SJAMHA

Posted in COVID-19, Return to Play