BARRHEAD - There will be hockey at Barrhead’s Agrena.
What form it will take is not yet known.
Barrhead Minor Hockey Association president Tyler Fitzpatrick said a lot will depend on the requirements set by Hockey Alberta, the Town of Barrhead’s recreation department and more importantly Alberta Health Services (AHS).
“It is a bit of a moving target with a lot of moving parts,” he said.
“It is a tiered process as well starting with AHS who puts out the guidelines stating what is allowed for sport. Then Hockey Alberta works with AHS and puts out the guidelines and rules that the associations have to follow.”
Alberta Hockey released the rules in the first version of its Return to Play document June 30. It has been revised at least twice since then.
Fitzpatrick added they were also hoping to receive guidance from Northern Alberta Interlock, the league the association regularly plays in, but as of yet, they have not released any guidelines.
BMHA then drafted their guidelines working with Hockey Alberta and neighbouring associations taking into account the facility’s restrictions.
Hockey Alberta instructs associations to play within their boundaries and that all members, players and coaches belong to only one sports cohort.
The guidelines state that all players and coaches must wear masks, however, they are not required while on the ice surface practicing or playing games.
Coaches will be required to wear a mask during games while on the bench.
He also noted that the Barrhead recreation department is in the process of creating its own set of guidelines for the Agrena. Until they are complete parks and recreation director Shallon Touet has come up with a set of draft guidelines (which can be seen in BMHA’s Return to Play document) the most relevant being that there are to be no spectators and that parent involvement is limited to helping their child tie their skates if they are not able to do so. After that is complete they must leave the building.
“We are also working with the town to see where the association can tailor our guidelines to meet both Hockey Alberta and the municipality,” Fitzpatrick said, adding he hoped they could come to an accommodation regarding limited spectators. “Like any sport, you want to watch your child play it.”
AHS limits sports cohorts or mini-leagues to a maximum of 50 people including coaches, staff and instructors. Spectators for indoor sport or other events is 100. However, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw noted it is up to the individual facility to set its own restrictions within these guidelines.
Before the regular season begins, the BMHA will hold its Rusty Blades camp, for all registered players, from Sept. 1-3. Rusty Blades, is a mini-hockey camp designed to help players shake off the rust from a long offseason before tryouts start on the Sept. 12-14 weekend.
When the season does begin, in late October, or early November, the association is hoping to be able to schedule real games, but due to the number of players, BMHA is looking at creating blended teams.
At this point, until BMHA gets a better idea what the final numbers are, they do not know whether the teams or cohorts will be blended by age group or skill level or if the games will be the traditional five skaters and a goalie, or some variation.
The other issue on what route the association takes is how many coaches they will have.
“I am getting a lot of applications via e-mail so I am hopeful that we will have enough coaches for all divisions,” Fitzpatrick said.
He added that regardless of what path BMHA takes, hockey will be played.
“It will look a little different than we are used to, but as always, we will focus on development and I am sure the kids will have a good year and have fun.”
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