Knights Newsletter
March 2023 Edition
That’s A Wrap…Or Is It?
March brings to a close the end of another hockey season. With another season in the books, we have a lot to look back on and a lot to look forward to. On the ice, we celebrated our 14U A team that took home the gold at the Can/Am tournament in Lake Placid, Our 10U A team also took home gold and our 10U A1 silver at the Winter Classic in Hooksett, New Hampshire. Our 8U’s teamed up to pull out a last minute victory against our 14U A team in the Battle of the Ages event and our Learn-to-Play showcased their new skills before our coaches battled it out to the delight of our young players and fans in our annual Coaches Game. Off the ice, we had one of our highest turnouts in years at our annual Golf Outing and members of the organization stepped up to volunteer as bell ringers for the Salvation Army.
As one season ends, a new one is just beginning. March is also the start of the 2023-2024 season. On March 7th, we will be hosting our Annual Meeting of the Members at Nomads where your vote will determine the next President, Secretary, and Board Members for our organization. This new Board will then interview and select our head coaches for next season. Then during the week of March 20th, tryouts will be held. Registration and information will be available on our new website provider powered by Crossbar.
Annual Meeting of the Members
On Tuesday, March 7th at 7:00 pm, we will be holding our annual meeting at Nomads in South Windsor where we will vote in new Board members, including two Executive Board positions - President and Secretary. This is our most important meeting of the year and all members* are strongly encouraged to attend and vote!
*Each “Family” of any youth who is a participant in good financial standing on any hockey team of the Association shall be a member of the Association. For these purposes the word “Family” shall mean individually or collectively that person or persons who has/have legal responsibility (as a parent or legal guardian) for the hockey team participant or participants. Each Family shall have only one vote, regardless of the number of children or the Family participating on a hockey team or teams.
New Website Provider!!
South Windsor Youth Hockey has made the move to a new website provider. Our former provider, League Athletics, was purchased a few years ago by SportsEngine. After this season, SportsEngine will no longer be supporting the League Athletics website. As a result, our governing body, CHC, has decided to move to Crossbar. Now that we have made the switch, the www.swhockey.com website has a new look and features. Our new site is a huge improvement over the old one, and will greatly improve the functionality of our organization. With a new modern design and streamlined experience across your desktop and mobile devices, we hope our members will see improved communication, easier program registration, and a more reliable dues payment process.
Registrations for Tryouts are now available through this website. Your League Athletics login and profiles will NOT transfer over so you will need to create a new account and profile before you can register for any programs.
General Board Nominations Now Being Accepted
We will accept nominations up until the night of the Annual Meeting of the Members on March 7th. General Board members play a vital role in the growth and evolution of our program. Board members are asked to attend a monthly board meeting (usually the first Tuesday of every month), and to help lead or be a part of the various roles and committees we have within our organization. General Board members serve for 2 years.
If you are interested in being nominated or know someone you think would be a great candidate, please send your nominations to Eric Munz, at ekrm0812@gmail.com
Coaching Applications Now Being Accepted
If you are interested in being a head coach or an assistant coach for SWYHA, please complete a coaching application. The application is found in the forms section of our website. You can access the form Here. All head coaching applicants will be required to present to the Board on March 7th, following the Annual Meeting of the Members.
Pre-Tryout Clinics
SWYHA has secured ice for our players to get a few skates in before tryouts. The clinics are designed for players moving up a level a chance to experience the new level before tryouts begin. For example, if your player is moving up from the 8U level (birth year 2014), your child will skate at the 10U clinic. These clinics are optional and FREE for current SWYHA players.
Tuesday, March 14
5:30-6:30 Birth Years 2015, 2016 & 2017
6:40-7:40 Birth Years 2013 & 2014
7:50-8:50 Birth Years 2011 & 2012
Thursday, March 16
5:30-6:30 Birth Years 2015, 2016 & 2017
6:40-7:40 Birth Years 2013 & 2014
7:50-8:50 Birth Years 2011 & 2012
Tryouts - Registration now open
TRYOUT DATES AND TIMES
8U: Mite (2015 & 2016 & 2017)
Wednesday 3/22 at 5:30pm
Thursday 3/23 at 5:30pm
10U: Squirt (2013 & 2014)
Monday 3/20 at 5:30pm
Wednesday 3/22 at 6:40pm
Thursday 3/23 at 6:40pm
12U: PeeWee (2011 & 2012)
Monday 3/20 6:40pm Group 1*
Monday 3/20 at 7:50 pm Group 2*
Tuesday 3/21 at 5:30pm Group 1*
Tuesday 3/21 at 6:40pm Group 2*
Thursday 3/23 at 7:30pm All Groups
14U: Bantam (2009 & 2010)
Tuesday 3/21 at 7:50pm
Wednesday 3/22 at 7:50pm
*Groups will be announced closer to start dates.
Fundraising
SW Hockey Car Magnets - Are now available for purchase for $5 each! We are looking to have them available for sale in the lobby during games. If you are interested in buying one (or more) please reach out to Jessica McCormick at jessmccormickhockey@gmail.com
Need SW Apparel?
SWYHA has partnered with SquadLocker to bring a wide variety of SW Hockey logo apparel right to your door. A portion of all the sales will go towards our fundraising efforts. To view the line-up of items, click on the SW Apparel button on the SWYHA homepage or use this link to go directly to the SquadLocker website: SquadLocker
Did You Know…
The NHL playoffs are known for some grueling overtime battles. In recent times, the longest game played happened in 2020 when the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning played a 5 overtime game in Game 1 of their series. After 10:27 of the 5th overtime, Brayden Point from Tampa Bay scored to get the 3-2 victory.* To put this into perspective, your child plays 36-45 minutes for their games!
The total length of time was 150:27 minutes.
However, we have to go all the way back to 1936 to get the NHL record for longest game played. The Detroit Red Wings outlasted the Montreal Maroons through 6 overtimes! The Red Wings scored 16:30 into the sixth overtime and won the game 1-0.*
Total length of time 176:30 minutes
Those games are nothing but a warm up compared to the longest game ever played according to the Guinness World Records. On February 4th, 2021, National Cancer Day, forty players took turns playing non-stop for 10 days and 10 nights - in sub-zero temperatures to boot! The players have been gathering since 2003 to raise money for cancer research. In 2021, at the time the article was written, the game had raised over $1.84 million!**
Total length of time 252 hours (not minutes like the NHL times)
*The 5 longest games in NHL history - NBC Sports Boston
**The World’s Longest Hockey Game (ever) is finally over–after 252 hours – RCI | English (rcinet.ca)
Follow us on Social Media!
SWYHA now has an Instragram account! Follow us @SW_hockey. We also have a Facebook Page and Twitter account @SWYouthHockey
What’s Ahead
March 1-5 - SWYHA hosts 14U 5-team state tournament
March 7 - ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEMBERS - Election night for new Executive and General Board members
March 7 - Coach Selection Night
March 14 & 16 Pre-Tryout Clinics for current SWYHA players
March 20-23 - Travel Team Tryouts week
South Windsor Youth Hockey
South Windsor, CT 06074
Gabe Hathorn - President
www.swhockey.com
March 1, 2023