Parent FAQ
AGM & ELECTIONS
There is a special Elections meeting held in the spring, after hockey season is over. Notices for the SPMHA elections meeting are posted at least 30 days out on this website as well as in local papers and social media.
The AGM for Sherwood Park Minor Hockey is generally held in the fall. Notices for the AGM are posted at least 30 days out on this website as well as in local papers, and social media.
ICE ALLOCATION
There are a lot of factors that come into play when allocating ice. One major issue is that the Edmonton Federation Hockey League (EFHL) releases their game schedule in rounds, with teams being re-tiered between each round. The practice schedule cannot be set until the game schedules are set, as we must provide most of our available ice to Hockey Edmonton in our "ice offer". Once the game schedule is set, unused ice is then returned to SPMHA and we may proceed to allocate practices. This delay affects not only our interlocking divisions but the other age divisions as well. Other factors that come into play are: tournaments, special events, U21 Crusader games and games/practices that need to be rescheduled.
Because of these processes, we are often in situations where the game schedule is only delivered a few days before the end of the prior schedule. Rest assured that we do our best to deliver the schedule as quickly as possible, but also must ensure that the schedule is complete, fair and balanced before sending out. Recognizing that SPMHA schedules ice for 100+ teams, we appreciate your patience and understanding.
INSURANCE & LIABILITY
For insurance reasons, it is best if only a team official attend to an injured player on the ice. A team official is someone who has been recognized by Hockey Alberta as a volunteer for that specific team and an insurance premium has been paid by the hockey association on that volunteer's behalf. The only exception to this would be a medical doctor, nurse, paramedic, firefighter or EMT which all have special coverage in regards to their specific occupation. Anyone else would have to go on the ice at their own risk. You can read more about this on the SPMHA web site in the Policies and Procedures Manual (“The SPMHA”, “Policies and Procedures”) under section 3.5, subheading 3.5.1, section a or in the Manager's Manual (“The SPMHA”, “Managers Manual”) under section 4. subheading 4.1.
INTERLOCK PLAY
For SPMHA divisions that play an interlocking schedule with EFHL (i.e. all U9, U11, U13, U15 & U18 teams), team practices are still held at arenas in Sherwood Park as well as in other Strathcona County locations (e.g., Moyer, SOC). All home games are also held within SPMHA designated rinks. Away games will be held in the operating area of the opponent team, which includes Edmonton and surrounding municipalities, such as Beaumont, Spruce Grove, St. Albert etc. You can expect that half of your games will be "home" games, and half will be "away" games.
We currently operate an internal house league for our U7 Division, and have done the same in the past for our U9 & U11 divisions. At a certain point however, it becomes difficult to operate an effective house league program internally, while ensuring that players are competing with other children of approximately equal skill levels. As a result, in these age divisions SPMHA takes advantage of the opportunity provided through the tiering system utilized by the Edmonton Federation Hockey League (EFHL) and Hockey Alberta. This system allows SPMHA to divide the players in each age division into designated tiers based on the number of available teams. Players are tiered on teams according to skill level and end up being placed within EFHL tiers with similarly tiered teams from other associations.
KINGS CLUB RELEASES
If your player ends up being released from Kings Club tryouts, you will receive an email from the SPMHA registrar prompting you to re-register with SPMHA. The registration fees you will have paid to SPKAC will be transferred to SPMHA to cover the full cost of SPMHA registration. Any monies over and above the SPMHA fees will be refunded directly by SPKAC, and any additional fees required will be invoiced by SPMHA. You typically are not required to pay any additional fees during re-registration, unless your player is trying out for the U13 Competitive program (U13 Tier 1). Â
The King's Club must purchase ice from Strathcona County to hold their try-outs as well they pay the referees for officiating the games that are held during these tryouts. The try-out fee that is paid at registration goes to pay for these and is non-refundable.
Different divisional directors use different methods for communicating information about hockey grading sessions. In some cases, parents are contacted by phone and/or e-mail, while in other cases information about grading groups and times is posted to the appropriate divisional page on the SPMHA website. If in doubt, parents should contact the director for their child’s age division.
MOVING TO SPMHA FROM ANOTHER ASSOCIATION
If a player has played in another minor hockey association previously, then he/she must complete the Hockey Alberta Minor Hockey Player Transfer Request Form (if moving within the province), or the Minor Hockey Parent Declaration Form (if moving from outside the province), and requests must be approved by SPMHA, your previous Minor Hockey Association, and/or Hockey Alberta. Any questions about the procedures required to obtain this release should be directed to the SPMHA Registrar.