BDMHA Members;

Due to Hurricane Fiona, BDMHA is cancelling all events for Friday September 23rd and Saturday September 24th.

• The weekend warm-up/pre tryout schedule will be updated Friday morning with all games now hopefully being played Sunday September 25th.   Please visit the website for updates on times.
• The U13 AAA cuts will hopefully be posted on Friday September 23rd weather (and power) permitting.   We hope to be able to post the final lists no later than Sunday September 25th.

 I hope you all weather this storm without incident, please stay safe and we will see you at the rink on Sunday.

 Sincerely,

Jason Foster

President, BDMHA

BDMHA Members;

I’d like to start by welcoming you all to the 2022-2023 BDMHA hockey season.  Like every year, this season will officially begin with our Evaluations and Tryout process.  Over the course of the summer, the BDMHA Executive Committee put together a Try Out Committee and gave them a goal of producing a set of procedures and processes that met the following goals: 

• To provide a fair and impartial assessment of a player's total hockey skills.
• To ensure that players have the opportunity of being selected to a team appropriate to their skill levels as determined during the on-ice evaluations of the current year.
• To provide BDMHA with the opportunity and flexibility to build a team based on our evaluation process and knowledge of player skills and attitude.
• To provide uniformity and consistency in the evaluation process such that a player and parent expectations are consistent from year to year as players move through the various levels of the association's programs.
• To form teams to maintain balanced and competitive play where the athletes can develop and participate equitably and have fun playing hockey during the season.
• To provide feedback in order to facilitate player development. 

The committee consisted of Andre Lefebvre, Nancy Oldford, Kyla Burry, Chris Snide and Jason Foster. This group of people worked over the last two months to produce a document for review and feedback from the entire BDMHA Executive Committee and to be approved by the BDMHA Executive.  On September 2^nd, 2022 the Executive approved the document and you can find it here .  As a result of the committee’s hard work and effort I can give everyone insight into some of the extremely positive steps that will be part of the 2022-2023 tryout season. 

1.      We have established a “Warm-Up” Weekend which will be held this year on September 24^th and 25^th.  This warm up weekend is for all players at the U11 through U18 at both the competitive and recreational levels.  It’s a chance for these players to get on the ice prior to the evaluation and tryouts beginning.  There are no evaluations done this weekend and not attending will have no impact on a player's progression through the tryout or evaluation process.

2.      We are going to hold several information sessions the weekend of September 24^th and 25^th for parents where we will walk through the process for both the tryouts and for how scoring is conducted, reviewed, audited and ultimately used to form competitive and recreational teams.  A list of times will be provided next week.

3.      Each age group will have its own set of independent evaluators.  Each group will be led by a head evaluator and at least 4 other evaluators.   With the help of Andre we are able to announce that all evaluators will be non-parents and have no previously known ties to BDMHA.

4.      Each evaluation group will meet with our HDP to go over the drills that will be used, the skills we are looking to evaluate with each drill and the overall evaluation process.

5.      All drills for the first weekend of tryouts at U11 to U18 will be released on our website 72 hours prior to tryouts beginning.  These drills will include what skills the evaluators are looking for so both parents and players have a clear understanding of what success in a drill will mean.

6.      Each Evaluator, Selection Committee member and Tryout Committee member must declare any conflicts of interest and remove themselves from the process for the age group the conflict of interest pertains to, they must also sign a confidentiality agreement.

There are many more key improvements in the process so I invite all of you to read the document and to bring your questions to an informational meeting.  Due to the amount of work left to prepare for the evaluation and tryout session we will not be answering questions related to the new process via email.  We will answer all of your questions on September 24^th or 25^th.  For the U13-AAA group we will find a time next weekend to hold an informational meeting with you before the U13-AAA tryouts begin.

2022 Tryout Schedule Details: 

1.      U13 AAA tryouts will begin September 15^th, 2022 and conclude no later than September 25^th, 2022.  Groups will be posted on or before September 11^th.  A link to that schedule can be found HERE

2.      U11 – U18 “Warm-Up Weekend” will be September 24^th and 25^th, 2022.  Groups will be posted on or before September 21^st.

3.      U11 – U15 Tryouts will be October 1^st to 20^th.  Please note there will be NO tryout sessions scheduled over Thanksgiving weekend (October 8,9,10).  Initial groups for opening weekend will be posted by September 28^th.

4.      U7 / U9 / U11 / U13 / 15 Rec Evaluations will begin in early October,  we are still finalizing the ice schedule.  There will be no sessions scheduled over Thanksgiving weekend (October 8,9,10).

5.      U18 Tryouts and Evaluations will be at the conclusion of the High School tryouts, sometime around October 18^th.  More details to follow.

I want to extend my personal thank you to all members of the tryout committee and the BDMHA Board members for their efforts in getting us to this point.  I look forward to seeing everyone back in the rink.

Sincerely,

Jason Foster
President, BDMHA

j.foster@bedfordblues.com

To all BDMHA members;

The BDMHA Executive Committee is very disturbed about the recent and past allegations of sexual assault against members of Canada's National Junior hockey team, and how Hockey Canada has handled this situation, and many others. We also understand that this news has sparked a national conversation about a culture of silence in the sport, and questions as to whether ice hockey's place as the centerpiece of Canadian culture has shielded it from criticism and accountability.

What we are hearing about this troubling situation is contrary to the values of BDMHA and the codes of conduct we enforce on all of our players, parents,  staff, and volunteers. We want to assure our membership that we are following the situation very closely.  We fully support Canada's 13 provincial hockey federations who have communicated, in writing, to Hockey Canada that they will only pay dues in December if they are provided with, and satisfied by, a written report on the Hockey Canada Action Plan (read it here), and its implementation. In response Hockey Canada has appointed a Special Committee of independent experts to monitor and provide guidance on the implementation of the Action Plan. Executive performance evaluations will be tied to progress on the plan, and an annual report on social responsibility and impact will help keep Canadians informed on Hockey Canada’s progress.

For Hockey Nova Scotia's part, they are partnering with the Province and Sport Nova Scotia to establish a third-party mechanism that will be responsible for receiving and investigating all complaints of maltreatment. Their Director of Change Management is also leading a full review of their governance structure, and their diversity and inclusion committee continues to work through several of the 2019 Hockey Nova Scotia Diversity and Inclusion Task Force’s final recommendations that were published in 2021 (read it here).  

BDMHA has also received inquiries from members, and the public if we will hold back payments to Hockey Canada.  We want to be clear that BDMHA does not make any direct payments to Hockey Canada.  BDMHA is required to be part of Hockey Nova Scotia in order to remain a minor hockey association within Nova Scotia and thus Canada. We will hold Hockey NS accountable to the commitments they have made to making improvements in the sport.  Further BDMHA will honor the commitment we've made to be open and transparent with our membership about the use of funds, including those paid to Hockey Nova Scotia.  

We would like to also reinforce that the BDMHA Executive Committee will not tolerate any form of maltreatment shown by or towards a member of BDMHA. We have worked hard to recruit an Executive Committee that is made up of nearly fifty percent women to provide a more balanced perspective within the association's governance.  There is an increased expectation that all members of BDMHA will be treated equally and given equal respect within our organization.

Further to our increased diversity at the Executive level, we are putting together a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee at the release of this statement, and more information will be coming in the next few weeks. You can read about our first steps in the July 28, 2022 minutes of the BDMHA Executive Committee (Meeting Minutes Here). Finally BDMHA will release a revised Code of Conduct by September 15th, 2022 which all members must sign and agree to prior to October 1st, 2022.

We encourage any member with concerns to reach out to our President (j.foster@bedfordblues.com), or any of the Executive Officers at any time.

Sincerely,

Jason Foster
President BDMHA