OHF PLAYER MOVEMENT POLICY UPDATE, News (Newmarket Minor Hockey)

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Jan 08, 2025 | Chris Neale | 1374 views
OHF PLAYER MOVEMENT POLICY UPDATE
OHF PLAYER MOVEMENT POLICY UPDATE

Further to the Ontario Hockey Federation’s (OHF) recent announcement on Player Movement, we wanted to expand on our December 17th response to this significant change.

The Newmarket Minor Hockey Association (NMHA) has a long history of providing a high level of hockey programing for our athletes.  For almost 70 years our vision has been to provide a fun, healthy and competitive experience in organized hockey for all talent levels. 

The recent decision from the OHF to allow families and players to play where they want, regardless of where they live, will result in a significant shift in the way minor hockey associations will operate. NMHA is ready and prepared for this change!

NMHA is committed to continuing to provide the incredible experience that our Newmarket players and families have come to expect while we prepare to implement these new policies. The NMHA firmly believes in ‘Hometown Hockey’ at all levels, from House League to AA. NMHA thrives from the strength of our volunteer base. Our amazing volunteers continually step up to give our athletes the best hockey experience possible! Our on ice-officials, our arena employees and all others who make our programs happen are some of the best in the business!

The Hockey landscape has long predicted that eventually resident borders would open. NMHA has been preparing and building up our programs over the last few years to ensure we position ourselves to be the place where our athletes want to stay and a desirable destination to attract talented new athletes.


Our Commitment to Hometown Hockey

NMHA believes that our Renegades teams should be comprised primarily of Newmarket residents.  As we continue to build and develop competitive teams based on great programs, contributing to our players growth on and off the ice, we feel that our athletes will want to remain Renegades and develop lifelong friendships. We will be directing our Coaches to prioritize Newmarket residents. We will also give some flexibility in selecting players from outside Newmarket to keep our teams competitive within the league, however at this time we will not provide a specific number as the NMHA executive is continuing discussions.

 

As a Renegade you are a part of an organization that provides:


Strong Core Values

·   To be a Renegade is to experience hockey the way it should be!

·   Our association has always been driven by doing the right thing to ensure all of our athletes and families from HL to AA have an amazing experience.  The association is led by dedicated hockey people.  We believe in strong communication, transparency, and building great people on and off the ice.


Rep Hockey at a Reasonable Cost

·   All Rep team budgets are scrutinized to ensure costs are kept reasonable.

·   We encourage sponsorship and fundraising efforts that help keep costs lower

·   Our player costs to play Rep hockey in Newmarket are among the lowest in the GTA and we provide the BEST Rep hockey programming!

·   The most any family will pay as part of a Rep team budget is $3,500 per player. Sponsorship and/or fundraising proceeds may lower this cost.


The BEST Coaches

·   We believe that the Head Coach selection decisions are the most important decisions we make.  Our Coaches are carefully selected to ensure we have a roster of the very best.  While we are always open to non-parent coaches, we have found great success with Parent Coaches who want to give back to the game of hockey and do this for the ‘love’ of game.  Our goal is to hire Coaches that are serious about development and growth while keeping costs reasonable for families.

·   Our Coaches are one of the main reasons why our athletes want to continue to choose Newmarket and why many others will want to join our teams.

·   Our Coaches will have all certifications and training as mandated by Hockey Canada and access to funding for these certifications and continued training.

·   Our Coaches will have access to our Coach Mentor, Peter McBride.  Peter has an incredible background and coaching pedigree at the Junior A and University sports level. Peter is also a presenter with Hockey Canada and works with our Coaches throughout the season providing support and guidance, both on and off the ice.

·   Our Coaches have access to many Coaching tools, including CoachThem and The Coaches Site – provided by the association.

·   We will announce our Coaches for the 2025-2026 season on Saturday, February 15th on the OHF Coach Announcement Day.

·   For any non-parent Head Coaches, we will cover basic team related expenses.

·   If you are interested in being a RENEGADES COACH please click here.

2025-2026 Coach Application

Deadline for Coach Applications is Friday, January 10th, 2025 @ 10:00PM EST


Elite Development

·   Our teams will get up to 3.5 hours of on-ice practice per week

·   Association provided skills development sessions provided by certified professionals

·   Off-ice fitness training with our partners at Blood, Sweat, Train.

o   Our players will have access to guided hockey specific training.

o   Fully equipped gym.

o   Highly educated trainers.

·   Access to video development sessions using the HUDL platform.

·   Access to sports phycologists


The BEST Facilities

·   Geographically we are centrally located within the York Simcoe Minor Hockey League boundaries. This significantly reduces the travel time for away games.

·   All games and practices will be at our modern town owned facilities:

o   The Magna Centre with four ice pads

o   Ray Twinney Complex with two ice pads

·   Access to our NMHA Hockey Boardroom at the Magna Center for team meetings and video sessions.

Town of Newmarket Facilities 
    

The BEST Tournaments

·   Host team for International Silver Stick Boys Minor Finals.

o   Our AA and A teams at U10, U12, U14 and U16 qualify as HOST teams.

o   One of the toughest tournaments in minor hockey to win, with some of the best teams from across North America coming to town every year.

·   4 local tournaments hosted by the NMHA in partnership with Weekend Hockey.

o   Newmarket Early Bird Tournament

o   Newmarket Spring Thaw

o   Kirk Kelly Memorial (U10 & U11)

o   Newmarket House League Tournament


Affiliation with York Simcoe Express

·   The Newmarket Renegades are a local affiliate for the York Simcoe Express (YSE)

·   YSE is one of the top AAA organizations in the OMHA.

·   Along with the open boarders, the affiliation rules have also changed to allow players to AP to the local AAA team where they choose to play.


We have always taken pride in our hockey association and our ability to stay ahead of the challenges faced each year. While these changes bring about some uncertainty and concern within our hockey community, we want all our Renegades families to know that we will continue to develop and evolve our programs to best serve you and we genuinely appreciate you choosing the NMHA for your child to enjoy the growth and development that comes with playing hockey.

Under the new OHF rules, none of Newmarket’s Coaches, Assistant Coaches or team parents can talk to any player or parent of a player about playing for NMHA next year, who is not currently playing for the Renegades, until the completion of the OHF Championships in April.

F
or those that like what we have shared and are interested in competing for a spot with the Renegades for next season, we will be announcing our Evaluations Schedule and Registration information in line with the OHF regulations. You are welcome to attend our evaluations when registration is launched.

We look forward to another amazing season in 2025-2026!

See you at the rink!!

Chris Neale

President

 
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