CIHA is please to announce that Nexed (division of V-Formation) has become title sponsor of our FUN First Program. This new program initiative is targeted directly at the house league players and teams. We would like to thank Tammy Webster, from the Kitchener-Waterloo Inline Program who suggested a team rating system to help promote good sportsmanship, respect, and participation.
Discussions with Andy Rymsha, Eastern VP of Nexed and former Team Canada National Inline player and part of the World Championship 1998 team, provided CIHA with positive feedback on the initial draft proposal. The final program was presented to Nexed CEO Rich Stelnick, who approved the program on the spot.
Nexed has committed substantial product to be allocated across Canada to participating leagues of the FUN First Program. It is important our member leagues help promote the concept of the FUN First program. Helmet stickers, rink banners, posters and promotional brochures will be provided as part of the overall program.
Introduction to FUN First Program!
A Players first experience with inline hockey (like any sport) is crucial to his development as a player and more importantly as a person. The long-term success of a program or league relies on the positive experience of this player, so he continues to participate at the appropriate level.
If a beginner has fun and develops some basic skills and builds self-confidence, there is a good chance that this player will enjoy the game of inline hockey for many years if not a life- time. Look at the success of Adult Recreational hockey today in North America, where adults of all ages are still enjoying the game of hockey!
The goal of the Canadian Hockey Inline Association (CIHA), is to offer every youngster who wants to enjoy the game of inline hockey (regardless of his skill level), the opportunity to participate through support of his community leagues.
"What Children Learn First, They Learn Best"
Objectives of FUN First Program:
Provide opportunity for players to participate in a safe, sportsmanlike environment without any emphasis on the score or stats.
Continue to promote the FUN First Program to all CIHA member leagues.
Introduce parents, media and community leaders to the FUN First Program.
To ensure that parents and family have an enjoyable experience at their local inline arena.
To Have FUN!
Inline Hockey…. Just another Form of Hockey!
In many cases across Canada today, inline skating is a child's first skating experience, because most kids will inline skate before ice-skate.
Learning to inline skate is much easier than learning to ice-skate. Inline skating can be practiced at school yards, parking lots, driveways and streets under an environment that is not structured nor intimidating.
Hockey comes in all different forms:
Boys minor hockey
Girls minor hockey
Junior hockey
International hockey
NHL
European hockey
INLINE HOCKEY
The basic skills are the same no matter what form of hockey you play, but it is the "personality" or "culture" of the game that distinguishes each of these forms apart from one another.
It is the Inline Hockey "Personality & Culture" that we at CIHA want our member leagues to promote and embrace for our players, coaches and parents.
The Pond Hockey Parallel with Inline Hockey
Whenever you hear the many NHL "superstars" talk about their beginnings in hockey, it is rarely about all the travel hockey, tournaments, stats, and wins/losses.
The common denominator with all of these players is the fun of learning to play and enjoy the game of hockey on an outdoor pond.
It was a pond where you played with your school friends and neighborhood friends of all different ages and skill levels. Where creativity was practiced and encouraged and scoring stats were never recorded!
The winners were determined by the last goal before heading home for lunch or supper.
These pond days have almost disappeared across Canada, due to climate changes, development of other minor sports and increased number of extra-curricular opportunities for kids and other societal dynamics. Pond Hockey has now been replaced by organized, structured "play" for our children, with more rules, regulations, by-laws and restrictions than we could have ever imagined.
These rules, regulations and by-laws now restrict our children from playing with friends and schoolmates more often than not. Politics now dictate every community with a rink and contributes to diminishing enrolment for minor sports!
Inline Hockey is the new millennium's answer to pond hockey. The game provides opportunity for creativity and skill development, without intimidation and aggression.
CIHA has the basic "Principle" that we will promote and encourage to all our member leagues …… "operate with common sense management". Do not prohibit players from playing with friends, just because they have different skill levels.
CIHA will encourage leagues to operate without emphasis on scoring stats.
CIHA through the FUN First Program, will encourage and promote a game that players and teams are rewarded for positive life skills being practiced during participation of inline hockey, such as … sportsmanship, respect, compassion, loyalty, and a sense of community spirit.
"Lessons Will be Remembered Long After Scores are Forgotten"
Dynamics of the FUN First Program
FUN First Program is a Team Award program.
Teams must be members of CIHA through a sanctioned inline hockey league.
The FUN First Program is a partnership with players, coaches, officials, league convenors, title sponsor and CIHA.
Teams are awarded points after each game or competition by coaches, referees and league convenors.
The FUN First Program is only available for House League Teams.
CIHA and the title sponsor will provide information brochure for parents and players.
INTEGRITY. FAIRNESS . RESPECT . PARTICIPATION
Five Principles:
Respect the rules of inline hockey.
Respect the officials and their decisions
Respect your opponent
Ensure equal opportunity for everyone to participate
Maintain self-control at all times
Who awards Fair Play Points?
Four ratings should occur after each game.
coaches will rate their opponent
coaches will rate each official
officials will rate each team
convenors will rate each team, official, and coach
Total Points collected will be averaged to determine weekly score.
How will Fair Play Points be used?
(within your home center the following are some options that you may want to consider)
If a team has negative fair play points before playoffs, that team may be removed from the league and further play.
Fair Play points will be used as a tiebreaker in the playoff standings. A team with higher fair play points will receive a higher ranking than a team with lower fair play points.
Guidelines for Awarding FUN First Points
+4 Excellent
Excellent team sportsmanship
Maintains outstanding attitude towards opponents and officials
Entire team exhibits self control at all times
Entire team shakes hands at the end of game
No major penalties
1 or less minor penalty
No more than two players absent for game
+2 Good
Good team sportsmanship
Maintains good attitude towards opponents and officials
Entire team exhibits self control most of the time
Part team shakes hands at the end of the game
No major penalties
2 or less minor penalties
No more than 3 players absent for game
0 Average
Average team sportsmanship
Negative attitude is limited to individuals
Lack of self control is limited to individuals
no major penalty
3-4 minor penalties
No more than 4 players absent for game
-2 Poor
Poor team sportsmanship such as arguing with officials
Lack of respect shown towards opponents
Use of vulgar or profane language
Half of team shows lack of self control
1 major penalty
5-6 minor penalties
No more than 5 players absent for game
-4 Terrible
Terrible team sportsmanship
Repeated arguing with officials
Lack of respect by team shown to opponents
Continued use of vulgar and profane language
Entire team shows lack of self control
Entire team does not shake hands at end of game
2 or more major penalties
7 or more minor penalties
Less than half the team is absent for game
CIHA will keep our members updated on the FUN First Program and how you can become involved and seize the opportunity to adopt this program for your own league.
League Profile:
(CIHA thanks Bob Crouch, President of Brampton Inline for his submission)
Brampton Inline Hockey Inc. / Brampton, Ontario
It was indeed an inauspicious day when three of us gathered in the autumn of 1994 and declared that the City of Brampton needed a roller hockey league. Our kids had been through the OMHA/MTHL wars, the contact drafts where size now mattered more than skating and coaches that could be a little less than encouraging (including yours truly). The executive of CHA were on the radio lamenting the tiering of ice hockey, and Wayne Gretzky was encouraging baseball and pond hockey.
The following April, a newly disorganized league held its first ratings games. The skills levels and equipment were not at all what we see today. The entire executive was encouraged, however, by the grins on the players' faces as they recovered from their pratfalls.
The defining moment of the inaugural season is when a Triple "A" Young Nat expressed to us that his favorite hockey moment was when he assisted on a rookie's first goal on Day of Champs. BIHI does not have a house league: it has a recreational league where players at all levels receive equal floor time and, hopefully, an equal sense of satisfaction from participation in this exciting sport.
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The rep division has been interesting, to say the least. NIHA, IHA, EXTREME, and CHA have all done their best, but we look forward to a consolidation of support of CIHA and a rationalization of opportunities for the competitive players and coaching staffs. BIHI was the proud host of the NARCh championships in 2000, and are even more proud to have two championship teams. We trust that the sanctioning bodies will get together
and CIHA will not have to be "in competition" with the American curs. (just kidding)
Enjoy this sport as much as my son does and the details will eventually sort
themselves right.
Go, Rads, go.
(Send us information on your league so we can profile your league in one of our future issues)
Player Profile:
John Dunphy..Getting the Job Done!
John Dunphy started playing Roller Hockey years before the first puck dropped on concrete in his hometown of Mississauga, but when the Mississauga Roller Hockey League began in 1994 John Dunphy was the first player to sign up and being first is one stat he's kept in sight during his career.
You could say that with his dad Joe Dunphy as one of the organizers, his son had to play, but the truth is that it was John's love of playing the sport in his driveway and on the street in front of his house night and day that gave Joe the idea to put a league together and John has never looked back.
Like many Roller Hockey players, Johns first passion was on ice where he excelled playing AAA in the Greater Toronto Hockey League for the Mississauga Reps and Toronto Red Wings capitalizing his minor career in Peewee when the Red Wings won the OHF Championship and the prestigious Quebec Peewee Tournament.
On the floor, Dunphy has developed his talent to the max playing for the Mississauga Rattlers since their inception in 1995. Playing on Championship Roller Hockey teams has become a habit for John. With his teams winning the 1996 & 1997 ORRH Provincial Championship, 1997 CHI National Championship, 1998 NARCh Junior Platinum Championship, 1999 MJARHL regular season Champions and Playoff Finalist which repeated in 2000, and finalists in the 2000 NARCh Platinum Finals in Brampton.
While John is the first one to tell you that each achievement was a team effort, the individual awards just keep rolling in for him as a tribute to his contribution. His mantle's latest acquisitions are a 2000 NARCh Canadian All-star Jersey and "Best Forward" selection in the 2000 MJARHL Awards.
When it comes to the game John Dunphy is unrelenting. "I love to play!" said Dunphy at his Mississauga home. "This game is fast, wide open and really asks the most out of you as an individual and your role as a team player. There's nothing like sweating out 4 quarters of Roller Hockey and if you're lucky enough to win you know you've earned it."
When it comes to opponents Dunphy is less focused on players than on teams. "Brantford and Niagara Falls are always tough. This year we lost to the Toronto Tigers in the MJARHL finals and they just out hustled us. At NARCh we had a great shot at the Championship, but came up short against the Bombers from British Columbia, I'd like to play them again."
A smooth patient player, his style is hard to nail down except that he gets the job done, whatever that job is. "I have watched Johnny Dunphy play this game from day one and there is no one on the floor with more commitment and determination combined with skill" said Rattlers GM George Araujo. In the three years since joining the Mississauga Rattlers MJARHL Club in 1998 John Dunphy was the leading scorer in 1998 and 2000. "The stats tell quite a story on John but it's the intangibles that make the difference the kid has incredible hands and knows how to put the puck in the net. He can grind it out, plow through or slip between the defense with a quickness that is deceptive. No matter how you try to play him, he'll find a way to get to the puck."
Winning and playing hockey aren't his only "gold medal" achievements. John has been a Grade A student throughout High School and will be heading to University to study Law when his hockey career is over. But, that may be quite some time away as he was a third Round Draft Choice for the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League in 1999 and he's second in scoring for the Rangers this season. There's a good chance that he will be picked up in the 2001 NHL Draft this summer, but don't look for John Dunphy in the head lines, he'll be at the rink.getting the job done.
NOTE: Since writing this story John Dunphy broke his ankle in an OHL game in Ottawa. True to form, a national TV audience watched in amazement at his heroic attempt to get up and go to the bench, before finally being held down by the trainer. After surgery and rehab, John is confident that he'd be back on the floor for the Rattlers this summer. We don't doubt him for one minute.
(Send us information on a player in your league so we can profile him or her in one of our future editions)
Product News:
IDS remains the "Official Puck" of CIHA !
We strive to provide promote the best possible programs and events for our members, and it only makes good business sense to partner with the best inline hockey puck on the market today.
IDS puck plays better and last longer than any other puck on the market. Last year in the CanAm Cup in Kitchener, ON, we played 320 games with only 11 pucks (keeping in mind some pucks were lost when they went into the stands). This was a true test of the quality of the puck. And not once have we ever had a player, coach or team, complain about the quality of the IDS puck.
IDS pucks will be the official puck for all CIHA sanctioned events and the CIHA office will inventory pucks for resale at a discounted price to our member leagues, teams and players.
Look for more information in the January issue of "Icebreaker"on other products that CIHA will also inventory, such as Wheels and Bearings brought to you by IDS.
http://www.idshockey.com/
Thought of the Week:
The Rock
As they grew older their teenage son became increasingly rebellious. It culminated late one night when the police arrested their son for drunk driving. They had to go to the police station to pick him up.
They didn't speak until the next afternoon. Mom & Dad broke the tension by giving him a small gift-wrapped box. Their son nonchalantly opened it and found a little rock inside.
He rolled his eyes and said, "Cute, Mom & Dad, what's this for?"
"Read the card," they instructed.
Their son took the card out of the envelope and read it. Tears started to trickle down his cheeks. He got up and lovingly hugged his parents as the card fell to the floor.
On the card were these words: "This rock is more than 200,000,000 years old. That is how long it will take before we give up on you."
Perhaps anything less than 200,000,000 years is simply giving up too quickly!
This is the highest level division for any CIHA tournament. This is the only level that can qualify for the CIHA National Championship. These team rosters must be registered with CIHA (each team is permitted 17 players to their roster). These players must be registered with the same home center unless they have permission from their own home center to play on another team (this must be on file at CIHA office).
These are teams that either come from a smaller or weaker center that are not interested in competing against the top level teams in any CIHA sanctioned tournament or are the second team from a center (in same age division).
The players of these HL/Select Teams cannot be registered to either a Competitive Level or Challenger Team. These are players that are strictly House League players that wish to participate in a CIHA sanctioned tournament in the HL/Select Division. These players are permitted to be from the same home League, and can be from different teams within the same age division of their home HL. These players can not be registered on a Challenger or Competitive roster Team.
The above coaches will not have any direct or indirect relationship with any team the following year in a different center, unless it is only his direct relative that he is coaching from the previous year.
League Jersey Program:
Force Sports (www.forcesports.com), has partnered with CIHA to provide our member leagues a discount jersey program. If you are a league in need of inline hockey jerseys (and who isn't), check out the program with Force. This is an incredible savings for our member leagues!
Contact our office or deal direct with Force Sports in setting up your program and receive the discounted rate of being a CIHA member league. Ask for one of the CD's provide by Force that allows you to design your own color combinations, and place or order all on line.
What else does Dave Martin, CEO of Force have for you and your players --- look for more details next newsletter on a discount card for one of the top retailers.