Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.  I know most of you have been slowly working your way back to the ice over the past few weeks and are anxiously awaiting news about the upcoming Mites Season.  Here is what we have so far:

We are happy to announce the new Head Coach of the Greensboro Stars to be Mike Fierschnaller.  Mike has been helping with Learn to Play for the past couple of years.  He was also one of the assistant coaches last year for the Stars.  He is excited to get out and begin working with the kids and forming a game plan for the upcoming season and having a great time.  His son Ethan will be a second year mite this season.  If any parent would like to be an assistant coach and help Coach Mike through the upcoming season, please contact either him at mafiersc@gmail.com or myself at burkward@gmail.com.  We will need you to complete Safe Sport and background checks prior to beginning the season.

I will continue to be the Team Manager again this season so please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.  This will be my last season with the Mites so if anyone is interested in taking over next season please let me know.  I would like to work with someone this season to get them trained. 

We are anxious to see all of our returning mites as well as welcome any new team mates that would like to join.  One concern from last season was that the kids did not receive enough ice time during certain events due to the large number on the roster.  We are considering splitting the team this year into an older team and a younger team to try increase the amount of ice time for all.  This will be dependent on the number of players we have register.  If this occurs, will split these teams based on age and/or skill level in order to keep similar level players grouped together.

We are planning to begin practices the first week of September, and we are trying to begin with 2 practices a week and continue that through the duration of the season.  Due to the unknowns surrounding COVID 19 and what that means for practice format and game format, we are asking everyone to pre-register for the season with a $100 non-refundable deposit.  This will allow us to get a better idea of the number of kids that will be participating up front as well as adjust fees according to the number of players we have.  We will leave the pre-registration open until August 15. 2020.  The Governor is supposed to make announcement on or before August 7th about phase 3.  Once we get input from the Governor and see how many kids we have sign up, we will set the final pricing for the season and send out a final registration.  Fees will be somewhere between $700 and $800.  Your $100 pre-registration fee will be applied to the final fees.  We will be offering a full payment at the time of final registration as well as a payment plan that will be broken into 5 payments this season.  We added a payment in December this year to allow a lower monthly amount to aid in the constraints COVID has placed on some.  We will again be offering the 3% discount if you pay in full at time of final registration.  Payments will be drawn in August, September, October, November, and December if you opt for the payment plan. 

Unfortunately we have no idea of what is in store for us this coming season.  We have developed the following refund policy.  GYHA will be planning for a regular season.  With this in mind it is important to understand how we will manage some of the issues and concerns that GYHA may encounter this year.  If we are not able to participate in the expected games or practices due to a shutdown, the prorated cost for those events will be refunded.  The deposit is included in this refund policy if the season is cancelled before it begins.  If travel is limited we will do our best to make up any missed opportunities with either internal scrimmages/games, local scrimmages/games, another on- ice activity or refund the cost of the missed ice time.  Another area of concern would be the potential for exposure and missing practices/games as a result.  This would be handled like the flu or any other illness or injury where it is not refunded or prorated.  If a player has a season ending injury/event, this will be handled individually and reviewed by the board. GYHA will support the Greensboro Ice House reopening plans and policies.  GYHA will support travel if GYHA feels it is safe.  GYHA will limit or cancel travel if needed. 

We are planning to host 4 games and 3 jamborees this season if COVID will allow.  This is 2 fewer game slots than last year, but we will be adding more practices than last year by starting off with 2 practices a week through September and October.  If we have enough kids to split the team, this will not impact the fees as we will still all practice together and we will do the home events at the same time, we will just split the ice in a different way. 

We are going with a new jersey vendor this season.  We have seen a sample jersey and it is similar to last season’s jerseys, but the price is $70.00 for a home and away jersey (last season jerseys were $146.00 for the pair).  If your child does not need a new jersey, you will not be required to purchase a new one.  GYHA will be providing socks again this season to all players.  These will be from a different vendor than last season.

Due to COVID, scheduling for games and jamborees is still in the works.  I have started conversations with other organizations to see when we can begin scheduling events.  Everyone I have talked to so far is in the same boat as us.  It is all still very fluid at this point though. 

Thank you all for your patience as we are still trying to determine the safest and most effective way to have a successful Mites Season.

Jason Burkhart

Team Manager

Greensboro Stars

As we are nearing the re-open of the Greensboro Ice House, there are some policies and procedures that the rink has sent out to ensure the safety of all participants.  We at GYHA are working diligently to plan our programs to best accommodate these guidelines.  I have place below the various documents the Greensboro Ice House has released detailing their plan and some of the open hockey events they are planning starting in the coming weeks.  Please let us know if you have any questions.  Please remember this is a fluid situation and these guideline are subject to change at any time.  

GYHA Board of Directors

Even as we are still navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic and plans are being made to reopen everything as safely as possible, we at GYHA are still working hard to have everything ready to get hockey back to Greensboro as soon as safely possible.  We have created the registration for anyone that would like to be considered for a coaching position for any of the programs that GYHA has to offer.  We need volunteers to help with the Learn To Play program on Monday nights.  We also need a head coach and assistant coaches for the 8U mites hockey team.  If you are interested, please click the link below and fill out the registration form.