MEMORANDUM

TO:                  All Minor Hockey Associations

INFO:              Minor Council Executive Committee

FROM:           Leigh Ann Ryder, Grading Committee Chair, Hockey NL

DATE:            October 27, 2021

RE:                 FIRST GRADING REPORT

As everyone is aware, minor hockey programs in our country came to an abrupt halt in March of 2020 with the recognition that Covid 19 had the potential to reach pandemic status. Since then, Minor Hockey Associations in our province have worked tirelessly to provide a safe and engaging hockey experience for our players and their families. Part of this ‘Return to Play’ has meant that, for the majority of players, they have only participated in 2-line hockey for the last year, with some associations not recording any games at all.

Obviously, without regular season play, our Grading Committee does not have the same available data on teams as we would expect in the past. Creating a Grading Report that is fair and accurate is a challenge in a regular year with games, scores and past seasons to use as qualifiers. This year, we do not feel as if we can compile a fall Grading Report that would be anything besides a parallel movement of teams from the final report of 2020. Since many associations and teams have undergone changes in the past year and a half, we do not feel that this parallel movement would be of much real benefit.

With all of this being said, it has been decided that the first Grading Report for 2021-2022 will be released in early December. In the meantime, we advise all associations to get their teams playing and to send any and all scores to your area members. These scores will be vital in helping us determine a team’s placement.

On the issue of Labrador Travel, it has been determined that Labrador West will be hosting U18. If your association has an U18 team, they will be considered for this tournament. If we do not get scores from U18 teams, we will have to make decisions based on team registration information and team performance prior to last season.

Feel free to contact me should you have any questions or concerns.

Yours in Hockey,

Leigh-Ann Ryder, Chair of Grading Committee