Our board is currently preparing for the upcoming season. So you are not surprised, here are a few changes for 07-08:

1) Volunteer Deposit - This year, we will be asking for a $500 deposit check from each family. This check does not get cashed unless you do not meet your volunteer requirements. This is not a fundraiser - we need your participation!

2) Volunteer Tournament Hours Requirements - We will have one tournament over Thanksgiving weekend. If you are out of town or have another scheduling conflict for this weekend, District 1 is hosting three tournaments (two regionals and one state) in March where you can complete your hours. It is your responsibility to get your hours.

3) Non-Tournament Hours Requirements - This year, we will require our families to spend a certain number of hours coordinating the operations of our association. These hours will not include "team related' volunteering which include running clock, book, stats, etc. We have several different committees where you can volunteer time. These include: Registration Committee, Hockey Committee, Spirit Committee (fundraising, spiritwear, end of year awards evening, equipment/jerseys, etc.), finance committee, tournament planning committee, etc. Positions will be posted on the website and it will be your responsibility to fill your required hours. Registration is right around the corner and we need volunteers (hint...get these hours out of the way right now!). E-mail the committee person noted in the section below to volunteer.

3) Fees - We are still reconciling with Saint Louis Park for 06-07, however, it appears that our fees will stay the same for 07-08. Often, parents question why our fees our $200-300 higher than Saint Louis Park's fee structure. Both associations operate as separate financial entities and our economics are different. Among these differences include a) charitable gambling - SLP has the Bunny's site which has been very successful, b) SLP parents are required to work the concession stand which raises money for their association, c) SLP sells board advertising at their rink, d) SLP has an operating surplus. Historically, we have not seen significant interest amongst our families to do the extra things necessary to decrease the costs of playing. If parents are willing to step up and coordinate fundraising activities we can lower our fees...until that time expect our fees will tend to run higher than our co-op partner's.

4) Coaching Curriculum - This year, we are looking at pulling together a coaches curriculum so that we can consistently teach our kids the game from mighty mites up to Bantams. Our hockey committee is currently reviewing curriculum's from different hockey federations to develop and consistently apply these methods across our program.

5) Coaches for 2007-08 - At many levels we rely on parent coaches to work with our kids. At other levels we seek qualified outside coaches when we can get them. Our hockey committee is currently working on getting coaches for the upcoming season. If you have someone you know that would like to coach hockey, please have them contact Mike Shogren from the hockey committee at shags3@yahoo.com.

Registration Committee - Robin Sande - rsande@bebe.com

Run registration in the fall of 2007. Get players signed up and then, once teams are picked in October, work with our registrar to make sure each team's roster is accurate and conforming to Minnesota and USA Hockey's guidelines.

Finance/Volunteer Committee - Sara Welter - swelter@mn.rr.com

Main tasks involve tracking volunteer hours and scheduling volunteers for the Minneapolis Cup Tournament as well as all Regional/State Tournaments hosted by our District.

Ice Committee - Steve Jecha - steve@jecha.com

Purchase ice, schedule ice for mites and U-8s, coordinate with SLP on ice scheduling at the higher levels.

Grievance Committee - Peter Gleekel - pgleekel@winthrop.com

Deal with parent or player conduct issues or other grievances and provide a recommendation to the board regarding the situation if it cannot be resolved through the committee.

Marketing, STORM spirit, Communications Committee - Todd Czachor - toddczachor@yahoo.com

This is the committee that fundraises, sells "Spirit Wear", communicates through the website, organizes events (last year it was a pool party in late August, and a viewing of 'Miracle' at the Rec Center for the kids). Distribute and collect uniforms at the beginning and conclusion of the season. Coordinate and organize the end of the year awards ceremony.

Tournament Committee - Teri Nester - terinester@msn.com

This year, we have a bunch of folks that want to put together a nice tournament with great Minneapolis hospitality. More the merrier!

Hockey Development - Mike Shogren - shags3@yahoo.com

Hockey coaches or hockey experienced players. Please check your kid's personal needs at the door....as this group is formed to stay non-political and focused on the development of better hockey for players at all levels of the program. Tasks include setting up a curriculum for our program, setting up and running tryouts, and oversight of our coaches/program.

Girls Hockey Committee - Paul Riester - riesterpa@aol.com

Recruiting - Newt Fuller - nfuller@axiomproductions.tv

This committee should be chaired and run by mite parents. We cannot emphasize how important it is for your kids to make sure that we always have 50-75 new kids entering our program each year. The work (or the consequences of lack of work!) put in now will provide you with many, many years of enjoyable hockey spectating. You need to grow the program! We need 3 to 5 mite parents to kick this off.