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Brown Tournament Coach and Manager EOI

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Head Coach + Team Manager

The Ice Hockey ACT Board are seeking expressions of interest from suitable Head Coach and Manager candidates to take the Ice Hockey ACT team to the IHA Brown Tournament for males 17+. The ACT looks to return to the tournament after several years due to COVID and intends on playing with a squad that can now include AIHL players with citizenship or permanent residency. To date a strong interest has been shown by prospective players that is still open to additional players.

Both roles are detailed below and applications close at midnight on Wednesday 20th September. To apply, email both President (Adrian Miller) and Player Development Director (Tim Cox) on president@ihact.org.au and player.development@ihact.org.au respectively stating the role you are interested in and relevant experience you have for the role requirements below.

If you have any questions before committing, please feel free to email or directly message either Adrian or Tim.

When             9th – 12th November 2023

Where           Newcastle – Hunter Ice Sports Stadium

Cost               Minimal. Contribution to team meals, travel and accommodation will be covered by Association. Some personal meals required when travelling.

Head Coach

Pre-Tournament:

Selection of team roster and execution of training sessions as arranged in conjunction with Player Development Director to elicit most economical and successful performance of the team. Selection of any assistant coaches as desired. Setting of expectations with players in regards to likely ice time in conjunction with development aspirations for each player. Communicating with Player Development Director for anticipated performance of the team with players available.

During Tournament:

Running of the ACT team to be as competitive as possible whilst remaining consistent with player expectations. Manage any player conflicts or ambitions professionally to produce a realistic and positive outcome. Ability to sit or send players home for disciplinary reasons. Foster a positive and competitive attitude to performance but not at a win at all costs mentality.

Post Tournament:

Participation in post tournament debrief with Player Development Director to further progress IHACT’s long term participation and performance at the Brown Tournament and by extension all other younger age tournament teams.

Team Manager

Pre-Tournament:

  • Organise and liaise with the IHACT Board to organise and manage:
    • Travel
    • Accommodation
    • Meals
    • Uniforms

During Tournament:

  • Assist coach in preparations for games
  • Organise any shopping and arrangements for food preparation
  • Attend any required tournament meetings

Post Tournament:

Same as per the Head Coach, to provide a debrief of improvements that could be made to the tournament preparation for future years.

Vale Paul Hardinge

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23 September 1966 to 15 July 2023

One of Canberra’s foundation ice hockey players and officials, Paul Hardinge, passed away Saturday (15 July), aged 56. Paul first tied up skate laces as an eager 14-year-old at the newly opened Phillip ice rink when his parents became involved helping then ACTIHA president John Slater establish an ice hockey association. Slater (an Australian ‘Legend of Ice’ who played for Victoria in the 1950s and 60s) was one of the local sport’s senior organisers, and was a prolific networker, co-opting volunteers – including Paul’s mother Pauline. Paul and many of his friends eagerly attended the traditional Sunday morning development sessions where not only were ice hockey players made, but lifetime friendships too – with teenage contemporaries such as Steven Lee (Senators), Scott Marshall (former IHACT referee-in-chief/Knights/Senators), Steve Ball (Senators/Belco Butchers) and Jerry Maatouk (Knights/Senators/Devils).

By 1982 three ACTIHA clubs were established, and Paul joined the Canberra Central Cougars. He was a quick learner on the ice, assisted by extra skating through casual work at the rink, and was recruited to play for the Canberra Colts and then the Tange Trophy (u/17) and Brown Trophy (then u/21) teams throughout his teenaged years.

Paul also played with the Canberra Knights in the NSW Super League throughout the mid/late-1980s and against visiting international teams such as the Burnaby Beavers and a Japanese all-star team. In the local leagues, Paul progressed through U/17 and u/21 divisions and then into the Snr B (no-body check) and Snr A (body check) competitions. Like so many young Canberra ice hockey players, his second home had become Phillip ice rink! He and his mates were often on the ice five or six times each week for practices, games and the traditional Friday night disco.

Paul’s work commitments as an electrician saw him move from the Knights and join the Canberra Senators, a recreation team established in 1989 whose members were predominantly aged 35 and over. Paul was not the only member well under the age ‘threshold’, but as oldtimers hockey grew over time, exceptions were made for some players who played in the right spirit – and Paul was certainly one of those — to participate in tournaments to ensure teams had sufficient skaters.

Paul by now married to Mel and with a small but growing family moved interstate for work for a few years but remained in contact with the Senators. Upon his return, he became an on-ice official, bringing his playing experience into game-sense as a linesman and referee.

Paul always played hockey with a great sense of joy: for him it was competitive but also great fun. He developed long-standing friendships with teammates and opposition alike. Oldtimers ice Hockey Australia Network (OiHAN) tournaments for Paul were a chance to swap stories with players from the 1980s Super League seasons and various national tournaments. Even though none of his four sons took up ice hockey in Canberra, he contributed back to the local association through his officiating to which Ice Hockey ACT is immensely appreciative.

Paul leaves behind his wife Mel, and four sons — Michael, Tim, Nick, and James — as well as daughter-in-law Gia, a large community of friends in Canberra, and in Bacchus Marsh where he and Mel were leaseholders of the Royal Hotel (since 2020). Paul will be remembered as a founding member of the ACT Ice Hockey Association (now known as IHACT) and will be deeply missed by the Canberra Senators.

W League Finals 2022/23

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The 2022/23 season was an extremely tightly fought contest in the women’s league. It saw big wins and close games but the results were always unpredictable. 

After 18 games we had only two points separating 1st and 4th. This was evident come finals when two out of four of the finals games were decided with a penalty shoot-out. 

1 v 4 Raptors vs Wolves was the first of the finals games. It was an even game across the board as both teams went goal for goal. Raptors saw goals from Tank, Rijsenbrij, and Curcio while the Wolves scorers were Sargeant, Borrett, and Kenyon. 1-1 after the first period, 2-2 after the second, and 3-3 after the third. The game was eventually decided by a solitary goal by Kenyon for the Wolves as the only goal in the penalty shoot-out. 

The second final of 2 v 3 was fought between the Foxes and Dragons. This game started as a tightly contested game. 0-0 after the first, before Mutton broke the drought with a goal for Foxes in the second. Stokes put the icing on the cake in the third with a second Foxes goal, culminating in a 2-0 victory and a shut-out in goals for Throop.

The grand final saw the Wolves take the early lead over the Foxes, with goals to Bradley, Hancock and Kenyon. Things were looking dire for the Foxes with only a single goal to Thompson. With two minutes to go, the Foxes did not give up. Goals to Chong and Thompson within 30 seconds of each other saw the Foxes fight back in the dying minutes to tie the game.  

Another tightly fought penalty shootout with goalies Throop and Buschman denying player after player goals in the shootout. Finally a breakthrough by the Foxes Angie Stokes was the difference in the game to give the Foxes the championship.

D Grade Finals – 2022/23

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The Senior D Regular Season came to a close with the Bison confidently clinching the 1st place playoffs spot after winning 17 of their 20 games. The remaining 3 playoff spots were more tightly contested with the Shamrocks edging ahead thanks to 3 additional points from tied games to clinch the 2nd spot; and the Ice Bears and Bombers tying on points to claim 3rd and 4th.

Game 1 – Shamrocks vs Bison
This first game of the Finals Series saw an intial surpise upset with the Shamrocks establishing an early 2-1 lead thanks to goals from Sikman and Murray. The Bison however were able to rally in the second period, with goals from Watts, Hood and Slattery pushing the Bison ahead to a 4-2 lead. An early goal in the 3rd period from the Shamrocks captain Davis inspired a renewed effort from his team, however the Bison remained strong and the game 4-3 sending them to the Grand Final game.

Game 2 – Bears vs Bombers
The Ice Bears were quick off the mark with a goal by Mexon on the first shot of the game. The Bombers were able to rally their defense and hold the rest of the first period to the 1-0 scoreline. The second period saw a renewed effort with Bomber goals by Throop and Casey pushing their team in front, however with two seconds left on the clock Leskovar was able to tie up the score. The third period saw the Bombers edge ahead with goals from Fitzpatrick Hermolin securing a 4-2 win.

Game 3 – Shamrocks vs Bombers
Fresh off their first round games both teams came out to win, and after a tough back and forth first period Ingham was able to sneak one past the tendy to put the Shamrocks up 1-0. The second period saw a trading of goals with Bowden from the Shamrocks and Hermolin from Bombers both slipping the puck past the tendies. It was only after an early 3rd period goal by Shamrocks Gallagher and a stellar performance in his net by Ray that the Shamrocks were able to redeem their first round loss and secure a place in the Grand Final with a 3-1 win.

Game 4 – Bears vs Bombers (Bronze) 
With the extra game in their pocket, the Bombers came out too strong against the Ice Bears with a pair of goals from Fitzpatrick and a stellar shutout in net from Throop propelling the Bombers to a 2-0 win.

Game 5 – Bison vs Shamrocks (Grand Final)
When the puck dropped it was clear that both teams wanted that trophy. A long first period saw the teams only trading penalties but otherwise the game remained scoreless at 0-0. Entering the second period, and having had the extra time off between games, the rested Bison were able to show the same consistent dominance that had won them so many games during the regular season, with goals by Bahr and Slattery putting the Bison up 2-0. A mid third period goal by Hood was enough to seal the victory for the Bison 3-0.

Well done to all of the players in D grade this year, it was again another DHL for the ages, and we look forward to seeing you kitted up ready to go for Summer 2023/24.

2023 IHACT Player Survey

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Monday, February 20, 2023

Dear Members,

First I want to say thank you to you all for taking the time to fill out the survey posed by the board at minimal notice. We have had over 100 responses today at 108 to be precise, which gives us about 25% response rate on the 400 plus registered players that are within the ice hockey ACT membership base for the last 12 months. Substantial contributions require a substantial response, so buckle up because this is a long one.

This wide coverage of membership gives us confidence that the views are representative of the whole membership and the ability to remove as best as possible any confirmation bias on policy decisions is greatly assisted and also avails as to new areas that we weren’t aware of. Not every issue raised was widely held. Conversely, not every issue was viewed in the same way. Strong views with low response rates can be dealt with differently to those raised in a more neutral tone and across the board amount of responses. Good news is that after about 25 responses, the variety of what was being said changed minimally however there were a few standouts. With winter season just around the corner, time is of the essence if we are to make changes to the issues raised so as to give enough lead time for them to be explained and delivered. 

The survey asked for the team you play on, we’ve organised the results into grades, but also split it up into seniors and juniors and a few other demographics which I’ll make a commentary about. The responses can be roughly triaged into high priority, medium priority low priority. High priority is to which we have to resolve prior to the upcoming winter season. If you’ve spoken on it, and we think that it’s a valid complaint or criticism, we’re definitely going to work on it. 

Action Items

High Priority → Prior to winter 2023 season

  • Draft process for upcoming drafts to be held to RoE rules
  • Phoenix in C grade
  • Running of leagues on as few nights as possible
  • Schedule out as early as possible
  • Cost of season provided at same time schedule is provided

Medium Priority

  • Extra training such as power skating and skills sessions
  • Avoiding last minute changes to games
  • Exploration of extra trainings
  • Running of Junior (and possibly Senior) seasons during school terms

Low Priority

  • Review of playing up policy and production of a reasoning behind policy document

Spectators in the rink

An unmissable question from almost everybody was why spectators are unable to watch games. One player saying that their family should have the right to watch just how horrible they are. I have emailed John at the rink and he has advised that he would need to hire more staff and look at renegotiating his public liability insurance. If spectators were allowed back in then a charge of $5-$10 will probably be levied.

Hot Topic – Senior League Drafts

Regulation of process

The first most pressing issue is the draft across all the grades with the issue of regulation. The allowing of players into a grade who weren’t skilled enough, or players who were coming in from what I’ve dubbed the side door under “gentleman’s agreements” were presented as the two major issues. The recurring theme was strong teams are able to get friends or convince people who are showing up to on non league drop ins to play for their team (sometimes under fabricated relationship alibis) without going through a chance for other teams who are less performing to be able to select that player, strong teams get stronger. The current situation is more wild west land grabs than ordered civility.

An inability to force players up a grade

There have been a few instances of players who are well above where they play in terms of skill level, who won’t go up a level for whatever reason, which I’m not going to even speculate about here. This is not fun for people who feel they’re being beaten up on and the same applies for, and this is not concerned with the draft, but in the similar pattern is some of the Phoenix players who are I would say regular B grade players who come down to play in C grade. It’s that over and above the standard that players who come along to look for a fair competition and sport find a little bit hard to deal with. 

Side doors for players new to the grade

The next issue is the side entry problem where players who should be offered to a weaker team to make them stronger therefore more competitive and balancing up leagues are being siphoned off to the stronger teams who then become even stronger and thus the range from top to bottom becomes even more pronounced. This is not specific to one particular grade. So one of the the first things that will be changed or enforced because the rules exist already is an adherence to the draft process to make it fair.

This is not a way to tell teams which players you must take, it simply outlines a clear and transparent process to be eligible to be picked for this grade you must be able to be available or possibly selected by every team that plays in that league. It removes back door loopholes and affords a fair and equitable method for weaker teams to become more competitive. It’s the luck of the draw order and how selections go that will dictate who gets which players and also there should be a way to trade for particular players.

This is the standard convention for the ordering of the draft for time immemorial in IHACT and is encapsulated in the RoE. What happens there is if we can enforce the draft going in reverse order, with no players being siphoned off to stronger teams is that the teams who live on the bottom of the ladder get a fair chance at getting exceptionally talented players to change their standard come next season. This hopefully long term will level out teams in a grade and and make the entire standard on average better.

If you want to have your playing roster uninhibited, get yourself recognised as an organisation like the Senators are affiliated under IHACT.

Draft in Summary

  • Following of the Rules of Engagement
  • Lateral movements fine
  • Inability to poach players from other grades
  • All players new to a grade must be on a draft list
  • Teams can only obtain new to grade players through the draft process
  • Draft to be held in person (heck, COVID is over and we should talk in person)

Skills Testing at Draft

The other element to the draft which needs to be done is resumption of a form of skills testing for both safety and speed to give an objective number around a player. This in theory will guide what order the picks should be made, it also manages expectations of players and defines somewhat of a threshold to reach if you want to play in a particular grade. With some long term data we will be able to filter players into their proper level. One element which this testing cannot help with is game sense, this is an element that has to be chanced and perhaps a scrimmage at the draft will help. This testing would be standardised across the whole Association and made clear to new players that the focus is on a competency of safety for yourself and others. It also affords us some data on where the delineations are with players in a crude form.

Draft List

Some of the mechanics for the draft are having a draft list of players who have nominated for the draft and also the ability to pick players from a below league with concessions around whether they come up or not (due to work, family etc.). They would have to give a valid reason for that to stop the sandbagging in a grade. With this list, players who are already in the ACT really don’t need to come along to the scrimmage because they should be known by a variety of teams in the higher grade that they’re wishing to go for. But they would however have to subject themselves to the scrutiny of a skills test so we can benchmark data to validate the claim. Also one game of scrimmage at a draft session probably won’t show the full skill set of a player making the scrimmage a fairly inaccurate tool for assessment.

So overall, that’s the the changes to the draft which are just regulation and enforcement of rules already in effect. It’s not to say team X must take player one and team Y must take player two, it simply gives all the teams a clear opportunity on the player list, afford value to the transfer between teams, and to level up the grades long term, as is the Association’s remit.

Juniors

This one was a fairly brief there’s there’s two points which reoccur for the seniors as well. First point for the juniors was scheduling of not knowing when a game is on or not and having to find out on Friday what you’re doing on the weekend is untenable for families. So this one, the board with the junior delegates suggestion was we had to solve this problem for the winter season.

The one solution around that is that we will be running games only on Sunday in terms two and three and whenever there is a Brave game on the Sunday there’s no Junior game. This hopefully simplifies for parents and carers just when games and training are on. The junior games will start the Sunday before school term commences and won’t be played on the Sunday for the first or second weekend of school holidays, so as to allow families to head off on holidays. Idea behind this is about attendance and avoiding the massive drop off that we see in the school holidays. Conveniently doing 20 weeks minus the four Brave games at home on a Sunday turns out to 16 weekends which neatly fits for the USA Hockey ADM’s good guidance on how much and how long players should be on the ice each week. Juniors

There were also questions for the juniors around extra practices which we are looking into and factoring for the costings of the upcoming winter season. This is a possibility and it’s not a confirmed action at the minute but has also been raised by Seniors. Organising the running an IHACT school holiday program is on the agenda for our next board meeting on the 23rd of February 2023.

Playing Up policy possibly requires updating

A third point regarding juniors was the ability to have a clear playing into grades policy. For kids who don’t want to play C grade in the Phoenix, what is the policy around their admission to add on a senior grade and what ages are allowed. This question is a long term solve and needs further thought which the board has previously commenced on, a document explaining the reasoning behind the playing up policy should be provided for guidance and avoidance of confusion. This playing policy also feeds into the aspiration to change D grade into a fully fledged league and to drop the development tag from it (the standard is so good, well done to you all).

Seniors

Seniors had two main points, the first one was they would like extra practices as a proper programme, not just team training, but some form of power skating and skill sessions to allow individual development. The other minor perception which came across was the feeling of the association only caring about developing the junior cohort with a proper training programme, so I can understand that perception.

Individual Training Blocks

For training with the senior cohort, the responses or issues surrounding that were the ability to opt out of training due to work or financial costs. A solution to this would be short intense development programs for senior players, such as looking at obtaining the Tuesday and Thursday morning slots exclusively for Ice Hockey ACT registered players. What time of the week is not the question at the minute, the first step is to develop the structure of how it should run in frequency, duration for the sessions individually and the program itself as a whole. 2 sessions per week over 5 weeks could be the structure most effective for players, but we will endeavour to liaise with members in developing and refining the program.

Accessibility for new players

The other thing which was raised for player training and development were come and try days, which we see as the first step into becoming a player. The second step would be a development camp or a development pathway where you would be able to come along and develop your skills before getting picked up to play for a team.

These are all issues that we are looking at working on at the minute. That was the broad view on training and player development. Entry of new players, some of the points that raised were around the absence of equipment. That one has been commenced already, which I mentioned in the newsletter previously for any secondhand equipment that people are willing to donate. What this program is for is to have a full kit that a player can borrow so they can come along and try it, play a season and slowly accumulate their own gear.

A learn to play membership or a development membership is minimal and cost close to zero dollars which IHA has recently implemented. So trying to break down all those barriers of financial cost and then also having consistent programmes or consistent spaces where players can build their skills as they want to on their own will be a focus of the board.

Outcome → Accrual of second hand gear to loan full sets to new players for a season.

Development Program into D Grade

One (President’s) idea is to create a term 3 adult development program for new players. Over ten weeks run twice per week skating and game play sessions to develop enough skill and pace to enter into D or Women’s. This allows D grade to be a full on grade and not the development catch all for adult male players. It also opens a prospect of juniors being able to play in 3 different grades.

New Player Information

Another point for starting of new players is that it’s hard to find information. This is slowly being worked on by the website being rejigged and revamped with information and we’ll look at that one again. Advertising for come and try days to have more lead time and aiming to get more public into the sport with some of the miscellaneous comments raised towards advertising for new players. 

Grade Specific Responses

Now on to the what he would say the regular grades, we’ve got B, C, D, and Women’s who overall gave consistent points. There was consistency of scheduling for all grades that made it awkward for some players to attend random nights. Inconsistency of the scoring duties was with some teams not lifting their finger to help. Time blocking to avoid being being forced out earlier than what we need to, someone raised the idea of increasing games to an hour and a quarter with 20 minute periods.

Rotating the timeslots

A rotation of the playing time slots to give B and C giving equal chance to absorb the horrible times. They’re all suggestions might I add but I can confirm we will send out the schedule as early as possible. Schedule is being worked on and the scheduler slash senior delegate has already assigned games through to June which we are going over again to make sure fit properly, on the assumption that all all teams will be returning.

Seniors views on juniors

Previously mentioned, the ability for juniors to play in senior grades. Now that one is a contentious area where there’s a lot of different viewpoints on it. Some think that juniors should have the chance to play up through senior grades if they’re willing to do it. So to address this properly, we have a review of the Junior Programme which is going well but has taken longer than anticipated, though it will give a substantial reference and review for the board.

If juniors want to play and are accepted by a team in a senior grade, they should be able to play and develop a lot faster. There are also benefits of how long players stay in the sport if they are exposed to senior hockey at an earlier age, team hockey is where all the fun is at. 

Weekend games for socialising

Another idea raised was the benefits of playing Friday or Saturday games in semi regular fashion for the socialising aspect with the team afterwards, which seems to be a common theme across all the people here. Players want to hang out with their teammates on a conducive evening.

Three game finals series

Another suggestion was for three game finals series that possible. Just up to the team’s of whether they want to do it or not because of the cost impact.

Toxicity & Homophobia

Sadly, there were a couple of responses which claimed a toxic culture and homophobic slurs being thrown thrown around. So just to be clear, this will not be tolerated at all. Toxic culture may be a particular team or player’s perception of their teammates, which is not really something that the board can control, that is an internal management question. The only thing the board can really control is how toxic or how nasty games get through the officiating, which has received quite good responses. I don’t think is the issue, I think the toxic claim may be internal politics amongst a few particular teams.

Homophobic slurs were raised and won’t be tolerated. Full stop. The right to play a sport without being vilified for your sexuality is a basic human right. Removing someones dignity of being able to play sport will probably result in seeing yourself being removed. So in short to whoever made it count yourself lucky, because I have nothing to go on and I don’t wish to pursue it any further. Just take it as given that Ice Hockey ACT has zero tolerance for this.  

Women’s League

Next one to go on with is the Women’s League which had about 15 responses. Some positive vibes coming out of the Women’s League with one issue of the late finishes and going out to a dark carpark was about the only concern that the women’s responses gave, which can be easily solved. The team balancing was viewed in a positive light and so reinforcing the requirement to reach a certain skating proficiency before being able to play. Proficiency not to keep players out at an artificial level but so that people can enjoy themselves once they get playing, so you’re not a pylon and someone is going around you and you’re in a world of hurt.

D Grade

D Grade was a mix of positive and negative responses. A lot of people really enjoying the consistency of one night a week, and an even distribution of early middle and late games. That the league has levelled out was the view of some people, which was contradicted by the view of several others who said some teams are really stacked and doesn’t give an opportunity for a good battle when they know they’re going to lose before they even step on the ice.

Draft Transparency, Dev Grade & E Grade

Questions around the transparency of the draft mostly have originated from D Grade responses, which is understandable due to the desire of a lot of players to get up out of what’s deemed as the development grade. This view of D grade being a development grade can be changed if we introduce a development option underneath. Having an E grade that could run through term 3 (last half of winter) then leads into summer Women’s & D grade. Then if players are so inclined if they progress fast enough they could then move up into C grade the following winter.

Aggressive players on one team

There were some concerning complaints about one team being overly aggressive which has since been addressed by the board after a few complaints were lodged and I see that issue as solved. So in between the development, view of D grade and some of the standards of players, the top of the tree who should probably move up a grade, D grade was quite positive.

The action items will solve many concerns for D grade, one being the development of an E grade and a more rigid draft process. 

B is for Beer Grade

There were differing views on certain points in B grade. There was no one consistent response to their concerns amongs the 16 respondents. Some of the internal views were the inadequacy of roster sizes so you have disparate numbers players. There was some desire to play during the week but also conversely, there was the desire to stay playing on Sunday in the current slot so there’s no clear direction here. It was also noted of more consistent skills between teams now.

It won’t solve that question completely but running the draft, or being able to select good players in a reverse order may in part level out the teams over multiple seasons. Some of the the other concerns or more logistical issues were the inability to play a full season due to home/work/Brave commitments.

Changes to the weekday schedule change the dynamic of who is available to play, my view is that having it on a week day to allow for AIHL caliber players to play makes the games more skilled which as the finals games last year showed when all players are available the standard is exceptional. Also on a weekday you obtain a consistent roster. This has a knock on effect to make lower grades more competitive too as players move down into C, which raises the standard there. Or, we could have more teams in B grade. There is a multiplicity of options here.

Officiating

Leaving the good till last, most of the comments around officiating were very positive and it’s good to hear what people had to say about the officials. The prevailing view was that everybody appreciates the referees, there were no strong complaints that they were inept or lacking. The only point raised was of the consistency between the calls made by referees, what this was getting at was that about every half dozen games, you’d get a referee who would just completely slow the game down and turn it into a frequent penalty game, which made the game unenjoyable.

The other issue was around why we need a four man system on a rink which was only four fifths the size of an NHL rink. This one I have already communicated to the referee in chief and that will be looked at for coming in to winter 2023.

Conclusion

In conclusion, thank you for your responses. I’ve listed all of the things that I think we can act on now before winter and the board has seen the responses with a number of redactions for anybody who could be identified.

Some of the things that will need a little bit more thought and some of the things that maybe we just can’t fix at all and it’s just something that we have to put up with. So again, I thank you for responding. The information given was hugely informative, and also I’m really impressed by how many people responded full stop.

Thankyou,

Adrian Miller

President

Ice Hockey ACT

Changes to Junior Program for 2023

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  1. 48 kids per first session
  2. Junior A / Junior B
  3. Goaltending & Defensive player → Dedicated sessions

USA ADM Recommendations

The below screenshot has four main rows, Ice Touches per week, Season for how many in a calendar season, Training sessions in the year, and Games in the year. Training and Games add up to the Season amounts. These are guidelines and not to be taken as mandatory, they suggest what a good minimum and maximum amount is for the USA, which may not precisely apply to Australia. That said, the aspiration and desire to be on the ice 6 times a week for u18’s may not exist and we completely accept that.

Half Dozen Stations – 48 juniors per session

In reviewing the experience of players in the Ice Hockey ACT Junior Program, in particular the u10’s, one training planning method which increases the amount of touches and time that a player gets with the puck is through station based training. Stations can be run in up to 1/6th of the ice, which divides neatly into “half thirds” on the sheet and gives each player a chance to focus on one particular skill for a sixth of the hour. This isolation but variety of skills is recommended by USA Hockey through their ADM Kids Program.

The cost to each participant for a 30 player session, as was in 2022, without any inducement for coaching is at a cost recovery amount, $15 each per hour. Ice time costs us $450 which divided over 30 participants is on a cost recovery model, $15. The other factor in running a quality training session is the quality of coaching, which for us is principally attracting and retaining coaches, the coaching knowledge is excellent, it is the ask to have someone volunteer every single week for two days per week that becomes hard to deliver on.

Option #1

First format staying at 60 minutes with the same player numbers. First option is to do nothing and accept the issues as detailed above. Cost still factors out to approximately $15 per hour.

Option #2

Moving to a “CBR Optimal” that takes recommendations from USA Hockey for kids per training based on rink size.

  • Head Coach would be tasked with planning and overseeing the whole program
    • Minimum level 1 for 2 years or international equivalent. Level 2 prioritised for role.
    • Working With Vulnerable People Card
    • Child Protection Training education from Sport Integrity Australia
  • Instructor Coach tasked to run stations and coach in line with attributes of that age and skill bracket
    • Level 1 coaching accreditation or planning to attend next session
    • Working With Vulnerable People Card
    • Child Protection Training education from Sport Integrity Australia

To attract the same coaches each week, one solution is to attach some form of value to the task of coaching. For a six station program that requires six coaches, attaching value of $20 per instructor coach and $50 to the head coach and adding on the ice time comes to a grand total of $600. $600 / 48 = $12.50 per hour. The outcome of this is a slightly cheaper session for a better experience, there are no losses here. The other governance aspect to attaching value to a coaching role is the expectation of performance, the ability to remove for poor performance is much easier to do.

Option #3

Or, if sticking with $15 per session over 48 juniors, the session could be dragged out to 1:15hr. This may not work for younger ages but may be more productive for older ages who have more focus and endurance.

Coaching contra

The money directed to coaches would not be able to be taken out as cash, but would be used to contra off ice fees for either the coach or their child. The money stays within the four walls of Ice Hockey ACT and is used to lessen the cost of something else for someone willing to put forward hours of coaching.

Junior A / Junior B / Junior C / Junior D

Ice Hockey ACT has only 109 Juniors. This poses a problem for games when played along age based divisions only exacerbates the problem of lopsided games and kids who dominate in particular age brackets. It is suggested to reform the Sunday junior leagues into Junior A / B / C etc so that juniors are assigned a grade and are then selected out into teams. This format has been proven to work at IceHQ in Melbourne.

Checking Junior A/B/C would be for the most part non-checking hockey as this is another factor that turns kids away, getting hurt. To introduce checking hockey would require a complete overhaul from the youngest age brackets to introduce the style of play at an early age to avoid injuries and make it another part of the game that players grow up with. That, or we run checking intensives to skill up players to be prepared for the skill in in-house games and also for any future national tournaments. It would be negligent to send kids into a checking game without any form of proper instruction on how to play to that format.

Expectation Management Communicating to juniors that they are in a particular grade is to assist in their development. The point is that we don’t want them to struggle so bad that they give up, or conversely, get so bored with being above average that they walk away from the sport. To place the positive incentive of playing in a high division should keep some of those kids in the sport much longer. We have so few juniors that we can’t afford to lose a single one. Some may even be more than happy to be an older kid in a grade they have fun in, not everybody has either the skill or desire to be the top of the tree.

Scheduling wise, to follow along the school terms of no more than 9 weeks of games in a block. With the chance of being upgraded/downgraded mid-season, any issues around being in the wrong grade can be remedied with a shift up or down mid-year. Perhaps even a trialling format of potential juniors to come up a grade when space allows is a good onboarding method. With 3 teams to a division, each team would play the other two teams each week making games relatively short and sharp.

Coaching / Officiating this offers a good opportunity for any of the older juniors who might have an interest in coaching. Also for older juniors who might be interested in officiating, this is a great chance to give them that opportunity.

Team Balancing within each grade would be done via the coaching panel when drafting teams for a league. A rough ordering of players skill into the top 3, next 3, next 3, etc Then allows for all of the teams to be as best balanced as possible with an even distribution of players skill.

Game Format to be changed based on the skill level and assumed skating pace of each bracket.

Cohorts
Junior A = 33 players, 3 x (10 skaters + 1 goalie) on a full sheet.
Junior B = 33 players, 3 x (10 skaters + 1 goalie) on a full sheet.
Junior C = 21 players, 3 x (6 skaters + 1 rotating goalie) on either 1/3rd or 2/3rds.
Junior D = 21 players, 3 x (6 skaters + 1 rotating goalie) on either 1/3rd or 2/3rds (alternates with Junior C for sheet)

Junior A → 3 Teams of ten players plus goaltender each. Played over 90 minutes each Sunday, 3 games so that each team plays the other two teams in their division once. Each game is 2 x 14min halves which over two games adds up to 56 minutes and with only 10 per team, each player should be on the ice for 28 minutes each.

Junior B → Same structure and layout as Junior A, but aimed at allowing late starters, early developers and kids in and about the u15 age bracket a place to play with a view to jumping up to the top division by the time they age out.

Junior C → First of the alternating sheets between cross ice and 2/3rds ice. The format of the sheets is to develop different skills. Junior C is positioned to be around the 9 to 12 age bracket traditionally, but will fluctuate based on grading.

Junior D → Second of the alternating sheet formats, aimed at entry level ages and focus is on participation and playing on different sheets of ice.

Maximum Age

A hard maximum of 18 years of age for playing in Junior grades should be reconsidered. Many other sports do not follow the strict cut off from age 18, instead raise the maximum age up to 23 to allow for that window of development. If this keeps juniors engaged in the sport and helps them gradually transfer out into senior grades then it should be taken as a serious consideration.

Golf has “Colts” and Cycling has “Espoirs” (particularly in Europe) that go up to under 23. As the Junior grades currently are non checking, there presents no real greater physical threat than any junior filling in to a Senior grade.

Goaltending + Defensive Player training

A dedicated hour each week to be allocated for a combination of goaltending specific training and defensive player intensive training. Aim is to give a competitive advantage to juniors who want to play representative for the ACT, or senior players who want to move up a grade. With a compression of Tuesday training, there is opportunity to put goaltending on in the third hour in conjunction with the Phoenix training. Goaltending is almost an entirely different game, thus for the best in development it requires dedicated skills training and not to have goalies used as target practice for skaters.

Weekly Scheduling

It is envisaged that there will be no changes to the rink schedule, which in winter last year was roughly:

  • Tuesday → Training. 1st hour u10’s, 2nd hour 12u and 15u, 3rd hour u18 and Phoenix.
  • Friday → Phoenix play in C grade as per grade schedule.
  • Sunday → Games from 3:45 till late providing there is no clash with a Brave sunday home game.

Options of playing away from Sunday are limited. Any extra training could potentially happen on Thursday morning, but this has issues around getting to school on time etc.

Dryland as an extra day?

Alternatively an option to run dryland inside a gymnasium offers a great halfway point for getting extra skills and games in without displacing other rink users. Notably the cost to run dryland is far less than on ice and it allows an almost complete focus on skating to occur at rink sessions, how to handle a stick can be taught in sandshoes. Dryland work also removes the complicating factor of skating ability and levels out in a ball hockey game (everybody can run) which brings advanced skaters back to the pack and encourages kids struggling on blades to get involved in a game. Many coaches have experimented with this format to great effect. The only issue is around the perception that it’s not “Ice Hockey” training, which in reality it’s some of the best training for skills available.

Updating of ACT State Representative Uniforms

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The Ice Hockey ACT board has begun work on looking into updating the design and colours of the uniforms to be worn by representative teams in national tournaments. Two aspects should be looked at when re-designing the ACT uniform, those of colour pallette and iconography. Ice Hockey ACT teams have closely used the same colour scheme as the official ACT Government recommended colours. With an update of the colours, design and emblem it is aimed to reinvigorate the Territory identity at national events.

Colours

Efficiently, the colour scheme that IHACT should consider adopting as their own is that of the NHL team St Louis Blues if a cheaper method to have ice hockey apparel produced were available. Comparatively the colours are very similar with the trio of Yellow-White-Blue being within a few values in the RGB scheme. The Blues also make use of a Navy Blue which approximately lines up with generic navy blue ice hockey pants. Option of cover pants to handle different pant colours will produce a more coherent image for state teams.

ACT Colours

St Louis Blues

Australian Capital Territory flag for colour reference.

Emblem

Currently Ice Hockey ACT representative teams bear no distinct motif, of animal, plant, or noun. Many other states have an emblem on their jerseys, such as Western Australia and South Australia, giving a more unique association to their home state. Iconography on the front of jerseys doesn’t have to exclusively be an animal motif, with the Victorian “Big V” an iconic image in majority of sports which Victoria compete in nationally.

The current ACT flag has two Swans and a heraldic castle alongside the Southern Cross. As Western Australia already uses the Black Swan for their state jerseys, using this animal as a motif would appear to be a copycat and unoriginal, plus also the Swan is not the official animal of the ACT. The ACT Government in November 2018 elected to have the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby as the official mammal emblem and in 1997 elected the Gang-gang Cockatoo to be the bird emblem of the Territory. The floral emblem for the ACT is the Royal Bluebell. The ACT also has no known castles with a drawbridge so the inclusion of a castle seems odd.

Suggestions below are for inducing discussion and are not to be a limited set of choices for the uniform design refresh but are to provide a starting point. The only real requirement for an emblem and iconography is to have something which is at least related to the Australian Capital Territory and also preferably as a unique item to the ACT. If possible, not replicating something as a clear copy of another entity, which if done shows more of a subservient identity than an own identity.

Official Emblems

Gang-Gang Cockatoo

Although the ACT emblem, the bird itself is not peculiar or strongly related to the ACT for it’s habitat. The species lives from around Newcastle in the mid north coast down to Victoria, so other than an official status, the bird really isn’t strongly unique to the ACT. https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10975

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby

The Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby has a stronger connection to the ACT in that it’s habitat is more centred around the ACT. The Wallaby is also endangered. https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10605

Royal Bluebell

Official flower emblem of the ACT which has a habitat closely

Unofficial Emblems

Broad Toothed Rat

An endangered species in the ACT and Kosciuszko region is the Broad Toothed Rat. The idea of using the name “Rats” would have mixed feelings, some kids might find it hilarious and a great name, others might think of introduced black rats which are associated with negative images. The Broad Toothed Rat however is an Australian native animal which lives in higher altitudes along the ACT / Kosciuszko region.

https://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/995532/Technical-Report-35-BT-Rat-survey.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0515AoJ-Q-dFGxVhsz0UzSy_om54qxwd8D0ixbXInmIN1g-x2AvJj28V0

Bettong

Another animal with significance to the ACT are Bettongs which are affectionately known as the “rat kangaroo”. These animals are also endangered and have a breeding program in the ACT out at Mulligan’s Flat. The Bettongs are small, agile and highly important to the ecosystem. https://www.mulligansflat.org.au/eastern-bettong

Nouns

ACT Capitals

Not to be confused with the Canberra Capitals WNBL team, the use of “Capitals” is something unique to the ACT being the capital state of Australia, and has been used previously with the Washington Capitals in the NHL. To be perfectly correct the title would have to be “Canberra Capitals” as Canberra is the capital of Australia, not the Territory itself. Including these to the uniform needs the name to be used in conjunction, whereas the use of an animal or plant can be left as a logo on the front of the jersey.

Another possibility is the use of Senators, in reference to the upper house. This is also an identifiable noun in ice hockey as the Ottawa Senators have a notoriety amongst fans. Cryptically the name of “Territory Senators” refers to a 1975 High Court case where the ACT and NT were challenged on constitutional validity to be represented in parliament. The case is representative of small states being given an equal right of representation in parliament and is a good metaphor for the small geography but equality arguments around the ACT. The obvious clash here is with the OiHAN team “Senators” who play in over age events nationally and currently in C grade. This one should be dismissed on being a replica of a team already operating from the ACT.

Logistics

To reduce costs to players, the purchasing a full uniform each year would not be required. An ACT representative jersey will be required to be purchased, however the socks and cover pants can be kept in stock by Ice Hockey ACT. Therefore to play without minimal cost to representative players, a pool of uniform spares (socks and coverpants) should be held by the association the same as how the Ice Caps uniforms are kept together for the juniors attending non national tournaments. Prior to a tournament the players are only required to purchase a jersey.

Service Life

To assist with a consistent image at national tournaments, the IHACT jersey design should be kept for around 5 years at minimum. For the cost of investment on the socks and cover pants along with the fact a timeless design is, timeless, it would be advisable to have one uniform design in service for ten plus years. The current uniform design has been in service for at least 15 years so this is not a new concept. Also from year to year a player can keep their jersey and borrow socks + cover pants for a tournament. There is also the option to purchase helmets in a specific colour for the state representative teams, this is optimistic though.

Design

Invariably the best designed uniforms can be found where the big money leagues are, namely the NHL or KHL. The NHL and KHL are a good source of inspiration due to no large advertisements on the uniforms and a consistent modern style between teams with features respecting the history and geography of the place they represent. Some suggestions for colour similar to the ACT are again St Louis Blues.

Please forward your thoughts through to anyone on the board.

Regards,

Adrian Miller

President
Ice Hockey ACT

2022 Womens National Championships

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It has been 12 years since the last Australian Women’s National Championship was played and with the resumption of the tournament the ACT Women’s team was one of six teams that travelled to Melbourne to play for National Championship. The tournament was open to players 15+ years old and featured many of the best women’s players in Australia, including National Team players, 2022 U18 National Team players and many AWIHL players.  As you can imagine, and many of you saw on the live stream, the standard of play was very high. With the support of IHACT the 17 players selected to represent ACT worked hard to get ready for the tournament with several training sessions and three exhibition games. (Thank-you Vikings and Senators)

ACT started the tournament with an exciting game vs NSW and after 3 periods with the score 2 – 2 we headed to overtime. A fast-paced overtime with chances to score generated by both teams resulted but the score remained tied, and the game was settled with a shootout. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result were hoping for and NSW took the win and the extra point. In the end that extra point had a huge effect on the final standings to determine who would play for the medals.

ACT v SA

ACT next played a very strong and eventual 2022 National Champions Victoria and although ACT eventually lost the game 5 – 0 our team gave a very good account of themselves and pushed Victoria right to the end.  Our next game was against Western Australia in a game that could have gone either way but in the end, WA came away with the win.

The team now had to win it’s last two games to make the medal round and in an early morning start ACT faced South Australia and with a solid effort came away with the win. ACT would play Queensland next, needing a win to advance to the medal round. As it turned out the extra point NSW took by winning the shoot out in ACT’s first game meant that if ACT beat Queensland ACT would finish 3rd, ahead of Queensland, and eliminate NSW from the medal round.

ACT’s game against Queensland was an outstanding game with a quick pace, physical play, strong goal tending and two teams that were playing for positioning in the medal round. ACT desperate to finish third and qualify, or be eliminated, and Queensland wanting that third spot so they wouldn’t have to face an undefeated Victoria team in the first game of the medal round. The game was very close and came down to the wire with Queensland taking the win to finish third in round robin play.

Queensland went on to take home the silver medal after losing to Victoria in the finals and after just squeaking into the medal round NSW took home the bronze medal.

The National Women’s Championships was everything you would expect to see when the best players in the country compete against each other. The hockey was a very high quality and a tribute to just how good women’s hockey is in Australia. The players that represented ACT in Melbourne showed that we can compete on a national stage, coming together as a team to play an exciting brand of hockey and demonstrating just how far women’s hockey has come in ACT. Every person on the Women’s team deserves to be congratulated for the role they played on the ACT team, and the how they represented IHACT on and off the ice.  With the quality of players, we have on this team and others playing in the ACT in the Women’s League, Sr. C and Sr. B the future of Women’s Hockey in ACT is very bright.

New COVID-related Rules in 2021

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  1. A player or team official who spits anywhere in the rink during the game will be penalised under IIHF Rule 168 Unsportsmanlike Conduct iii Misconduct (10’). Any second offence of spitting in the same game by the same player will be penalised under IIHF Rule 162 Spitting with a Match (25’) penalty and Automatic Suspension.
  2. A player or team official deliberately transmitting bodily fluids, such as clearing of the nostrils, will be penalised under IIHF Rule 162 Spitting with a Match (25’) penalty and Automatic Suspension.
  3. A player or team official who, outside of normal gameplay, encroaches on and remains in an official’s personal social distancing space of 1.5 meters will be penalised under IIHF Rule 116 Abuse of Officials iii Misconduct (10’).

Vale Lachlan Seary

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The ACT ice hockey community was saddened to hear we had lost a family member in the early hours of Monday morning.

Lachlan Seary was a young rising star of the ACT with enormous love of the game and his team mates. 

Lachlan Seary: always remembered, never forgotten.

Stuart Philips – IHACT President