Hello everyone. Well here it is, already into the fall, although we wouldn't know it by the weather we're having. Hopefully we are through the most tumultuous period of the season, the initial start-up of our on-ice program.

The rep tryout process is essentially complete and by most of the feedback we have received so far, it gets a passing grade. There's no doubt that improvements can and will be made for next year, but for something that started as an idea just a few short months ago it was well organized and executed. Susan Borsa, Nick Santorelli, John Bevilaqua were fixtures at Kensington Arena, and along with some very co-operative rep coaches, should be congratulated and thanked for their efforts.

As this edition gets to the arenas the C team balancing process should be well under way. All associations involved in the Presidents League at all age divisions are following these guidelines this year to ensure that no player movement will occur after Nov. 10th. To be brief the process is as follows:

1. players and coaches assigned to scrimmage team rosters, rosters sent to Presidents League.
2. round robin in-house play with referees, timekeeper, scorekeeper and score sheets recorded and sent to Presidents League.
3. coaches swap teams for the game and record that on the score sheet.
4. if teams are unbalanced all player movement will be recorded, new rosters prepared and forwarded to Presidents League.
5. all associations will enter league play after the new rosters are submitted and there will be no player movement requests after Nov. 10th.

This process is new this year and I want to thank the Division Managers who are working very hard to see that players can look forward to a whole season with the same team. Many of these people are doing double duty in various capacities and I hope are an inspiration to those who have yet to volunteer their help.

On the B.C.A.H.A. front there is one very important item to report on. By this time next year I anticipate that PeeWee will be full contact at least in rep. A motion to implement full contact in all PeeWee leagues was defeated during reconsideration by approximately 40 votes and another motion calling for full contact PeeWee A fell short by 10 votes. These votes took place on Sunday Sept. 13th; overturning decisions made on Saturday. A number of associations supporting full contact left Sunday morning, and had they stayed, would have swung the results. You can be sure that no-one will leave early next year! There needs to be more discussion about this at the executive level, but personally, I think our program should prepare for full contact next year.

As an organization we have several areas in which we could use more volunteer help. The Parent's Auxiliary is an extremely important arm of Burnaby Minor and without it we would see our rates increase twofold at least, and at the same time service to our members would be cut by 50% minimum. Shawna Harrison (294-1163) has volunteered to help set-up the Parent's Auxiliary but needs your help. I know there are many of you out there with considerable experience, many out there with no experience, and many who fall somewhere between, but the one thing you all have in common right now is that Burnaby Minor needs you! There are many important off-ice functions and events that this Association needs to keep its program vibrant and healthy and we need volunteers to help make these successful. These off-ice volunteers are needed as much, if not more, than the on-ice volunteers. So if you have some desire to help in any way, please give Shawna a call.

Before I conclude this report there have been numerous questions round the rink regarding the new jerseys and I'll try to answer some of these now.

There has been one set of jerseys ordered per team, Atom C and up, and will be available to the C teams as soon as the jerseys are sorted, sized and bundled. Rep teams must wait until after the semi annual meeting scheduled for Saturday Oct 24th and the anticipated approval of our colour changes before they can don the new look. Socks will be made available at a reasonable cost through what we hope will be a very large and involved Parents Auxiliary. We are planning on purchasing jerseys for our younger players as well as conflict jerseys to match our new jerseys hopefully next year.

I look forward to seeing you at the Oct. 24th meeting to receive both your support for the uniform changes and any feedback you may have as it relates to your program.

Sincerely, Gary McCaw

Welcome to another year of Hockey! The last month has been a rather hectic but exhilarating start to a fresh new year. First, let me introduce myself, my name is Susan Borsa. This is my family's sixth season with BMHA, with many more to go I'm sure! We have 4 kids from 10-17 (one girl in Ringette) so with the boys we cover Atom, Bantam and Midget.

House level hockey is progressing quite well and the required round robin games to balance the teams this year are under way. With round robins, barring any unforeseen problems, the teams will be finalized by Nov. 10th with no further movement. This is a huge improvement over past years.

One thing we still need, as in the past, is you: Our Most Important Volunteer. There are still teams begging for coaches. To this date Novice and Atom are the only divisions with coaches all in place. PeeWee, Bantam and Midget still need your help, so if you or someone you know would like to share their expertise with our young men, we would really like to hear from you.

Our new jerseys should be arriving soon and the house teams will be the first to have the privilege of wearing them. Socks will be available from the Association for our first fund raiser of the year as well.

The Rep tryout process has been running fairly smoothly with the occasional bump in the road, but overall the feedback has been favourable and all teams for the most part are already at their set numbers with few players left to be moved.

Just a few Risk Management points to be aware of:

1. No masking tape or stickers, other than the CSA approved sticker, is to be on helmets as the glue can break down the plastic and having these on your helmet voids the insurance.

2. Skates two sizes too big may save you money, but your child will not be able to skate properly. If you don't believe this, go rent yourself some skates 2 sizes too big and give it a try.

3. Throat (neck) guards must be BNQ approved and done up properly. Accidents can happen as we were made aware this summer by the incident at 8 Rinks. A neck guard hanging down inside your jersey isn't protecting your main artery. And oh yes, goalies need them too.

4. Mouthguards. No, they are not a mandatory piece of equipment -- yet! Did you know that they can help reduce the incidence of concussions? The type that attach to the cage is the kind to buy and they are inexpensive and highly recommended.

One last item I would like to mention regarding the speedskating mats at the far end of Kensington Arena. We will be held responsible for any repairs necessary if they are damaged because of kids playing on or near them. The only way we could afford this is by raising fees, so please keep children out of them when at Kensington.

Before this becomes a short novel, again Welcome Back and I hope everyone has a great season on ice and off. If you run into any difficulties or have any questions, just give me a call at 430-3770. Happy Hockey!

Susan Borsa

It has been a busy summer for my coach selection committee finding the right people to coach the rep program. We gave up many hours for interviews, discussion, and to set up the evaluation process. Thank you Barb, Susan and Gary. Once rep evaluation was well underway, we then focused on how the "C" program should be set up and run. That's where our divisional managers came in and took over. I must apologize for a few bumps along the way, but it never derailed thanks to people like Bob Marsden in Initiation, Darryl Mah in Tykes, Karl Varnam in Novice, Emilia Ferrari in Atom, Anne Deitch in PeeWee, Karen Sills and Wendy Dixon in Bantam, Hal Bemister in Midget and Gordon Myers in Juvenille.

I will be conducting a coaches meeting within the next few weeks and will notify all coaches via divisional managers. At present, we will not be hosting any coach clinics, but we will be hosting several in-house seminars for all coaches to attend. Here we can share other philosophies on coaching, parent management, development and what other ideas you may feel is important.

Anyone interested in possible later coaching clinics, please contact your division manager. If you wish to help me or think you can be part of this, feel free to contact me anytime. My numbers are as follows:

Hello everybody and welcome back to another hectic season of hockey games, practices, tournaments etc., etc.

As you can see our second issue of Stix'N'Pux has reached your hands (believe me, this is a miracle) I hope you will enjoy it and please remember to recycle!

This issue is a bit bigger than our last and as you can tell the big item or the main plot to this issue is volunteers. I am very excited however because we are making headway. I hope that the newsletter will help fill our need for parent participation in different areas of Burnaby Minor by letting you know where the Association needs help and giving you the name and phone number of the contact person. Please don't be shy, give someone a call. If you have any comments or suggestions please give me a call at 524-8744 or fax me at 524-8745.

Thanks and see you at the rink!

Anita Dutton, Editor

Welcome Back Hockey Fans!

I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful summer of '98 and I hope everyone is re-energized for another 7 months of MINOR HOCKEY FUN! The Tyke division kids have been put through their training camps, including player evaluations and the five Tyke teams have now been established. We have a brand new set of eager coaches who are raring to get on the ice and teach the players about the game of ice hockey. We are emphasizing good fun, good sportsmanship and good participation from parents and players alike.

We will start our round robin games in early October (new Pacific Coast requirement this year) to ensure we have balanced teams. If there are some inequities we will re-balance the teams with as minimal player movement as possible. We will then start our inter-association games in mid-November.

As there are many new faces this year, we would like everyone to make an effort to introduce themselves to each other. Hockey is about working together as a team so we want both players and parents to develop their teambuilding and teamwork skills because we're in this together and remember "Minor Hockey is for KIDS!"

Have a great season!

Darryl Mah, Tyke Division Coordinator