The 2010 TNT Minor Hockey Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Wednesday, April 14^th, 2010 in the TNT Boardroom at 7:30 pm, located in the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre at 7300 Industrial Parkway in Alliston.

The AGM agenda will contain agenda items as specified in the TNT Minor Hockey Association (TNTMHA) By-Laws.  If a member would like put forward a request for an agenda item, it must be submitted by Saturday, April 10^th, 2010 and sent to either Donna Horan, President at donnahoran@zing-net.ca / 705-435-9648 or Iris Fawcett, Secretary at Iris.Fawcett@ontario.ca  / 905-729-3005. 

Amendments to the TNT Minor Hockey Association By-Laws recommended by The TNT Executive Board will be posted on the website and on the TNT bulletin boards located in the Tottenham Community Centre and the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre by Thursday, April 1^st, 2009 for member review and comment.

 If a member wishes to propose amendments to the TNT Minor Hockey Association By-Laws, they must be submitted in writing by Monday, March 15^th, 2010 to either of the above noted persons. 

 For members considering applying for a board position for consideration by the membership at the AGM, the deadline for nominations is Saturday, April 10^th, 2010.  The nomination form is posted on the TNT website and the completed nomination form must be submitted by Saturday, April 10^th, 2010 to either the president or the secretary at the above-noted contacts. 

 Please come and join us at the meeting.

 Yours in Hockey 

Donna Horan, President

TNT Minor Hockey Executive Board

I have had several phone calls, e-mails and conversations with both members of TNT and outside centers regarding the way some teams warm up before games.  The players in Rink # 1 use the main stairway to run up, then run to the end of the arena and back and then down the stairs again.  This is a very serious hazard to little children, the elderly, anyone on the stairs or standing up behind the seats and to the players themselves.  We thankfully have not had anyone hurt yet but it is only a matter of time before someone gets knocked down or one of the player’s trips and falls down.  No one minds the players warming up and getting pumped for their games but there are other places to do it.  Some teams use the area by the benches, check and see if the running track is available, see if Rink # 2 is busy, now that the weather is getting nicer go outside.

PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR TEAM TO USE THE STAIRWAY AND SEATING AREA AS A WARM UP ZONE – ANYONE NOT ABIDING BY THIS REQUEST MAY BE SUSPENDED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE!!!! 

I WOULD ALSO LIKE ONE OF YOUR COACHING STAFF TO ASK THE AWAY TEAM TO RESPECT OUR RULE!!!

THIS IS FOR EVERYONE’S SAFETY AND ENJOYMENT OF THE GAMES!!!

Thank you for your co-operation

Donna Horan

President, TNT

It has been brought to my attention that there are some teams who have players on the ice and on the bench not in proper equipment.  Any player under the age of 16 who goes on TNT ice or on a bench for any reason during a practice  or game must be in full equipment to be insured by the OMHA.  Any player over the age of 16 who goes on TNT ice must be wearing a helmet, neck guard, mouth guard, gloves and skates.  If a player is on the bench for any reason they must have their helmet, neck guard and gloves on.

PLEASE ADHERE TO THESE OMHA RULES; THERE ARE DEFINITE CONSEQUENCES FOR NOT OBEYING THE RULES!!!

THIS IS FOR THE SAFETY OF EVERYONE ON THE ICE AND ON THE BENCH

Thank you for your co-operation

Donna Horan

President, TNT

It is with sadness that I must send out this message to the whole membership, but you all need to know what has been happening.  Since the beginning of the season TNT has lost 4 volunteers from the Board of Directors due to abuse and harassment from parents.  Howard Ballantyne (Vice-President), Chris Pilon (Technical Director), Todd Magee (Atom House Convenor) and Natalie Dametto (Tournament Director) have all resigned from the Board because of verbal abuse, threats and harassment.  Howard, Todd and Chris have no children playing hockey and just wanted to volunteer their time to help put your children on the ice to play hockey.  The rumour mill has them quitting because of trouble in the Board room which is absolutely false, we were all working very hard together to make hockey affordable for our families and to ensure your children were safe and had fun.  We all decided at the beginning of the year we would not replace the administrator for this season and everyone would take on a little more work to help keep the cost of hockey down as much as we could. Please try and remember we are all volunteers with full time jobs and families, we are not perfect but we all try our best.    No one minds anyone asking questions or making suggestions in a pleasant and respectful way but how these four people were talked to and e-mailed was totally out of line.  The rest of the Board has taken similar shots from parents and so far have continued to do their best for your children and have again taken on the work of the four missing Board members. 

We have discussed in the Board room about how other centers deal with such issues.  There are centers that make their parents sign code of conducts with consequences listed if they are out of line.  A couple of associations tape their parents during games and then play the tape in the arena lobby while their child changes and then everyone can see how they acted during the game.  Some associations make it mandatory that each parent takes the OMHA Speak Out program before they are allowed to watch their child play hockey.  The OMHA totally supports the centers when it comes to abuse or harassment of anyone, whether it is a player, member of a coaching staff, volunteer, timekeeper, referee or Executive member.  The Board of Directors have had several discussions regarding the abuse and lack of respect that goes on within our hockey world.  We have decided for the betterment of TNT,  each parent will sign a statement agreeing to the code of conduct of TNT and the consequences if the code is broken.  We must do our part to get the respect for one another back into this organization.  TNT has always been known for its good sportsmanship when we travel anywhere to play hockey and the Board feels that is very important to continue this and it needs to start with our own association. 

 A word I have heard used a lot this season is “agent”.  People act more like “agents” than they do “parents”.   If your child is good enough to go on to a hockey career or receive a scholarship they will be seen at a tournament, in regular season games, in playoffs, by word of mouth etc.  Please just let your children have fun and create lots of childhood memories, I am sure if you talked to Darrin or Darryl Shannon (TNT Graduates and NHL Alumni) they would tell you the same thing.  You as a parent can do as much damage to your child’s hockey career as anyone, if there are issues about ice time, what position they play, who is their line mate, he/she is a forward not a defenseman etc. you become what is known as the “baggage” that eventually will end your child’s chances of moving on to any Junior level or University level hockey.  I have heard of many instances where a player was trying for a position and was the same calibre as another player and the coaching staff takes a look at the tangibles and finds out his parent or parents have been a problem in the past – guess who makes the team, the one with no “baggage”.  If you talk to people who have made it to a good level of hockey (Junior, University or NHL) nine times out of ten they will tell they were not pressured into playing by anyone, they did it for the love of the game and their own personal drive to make it.

There has been a lot of talk about the ice scheduling this past season.  No one stepped up to the plate to do that job so Iris volunteered to do the ice along with the job of secretary.  We know that we need to look at the ice for next year and make some changes. We are committed to do that but you also need to know that Iris Fawcett had some obstacles thrown at her that she needed to work through.  We normally have two adult tournaments scheduled throughout our season and this year we had four tournaments to work around in playoff time.  We also had the construction to work around in Tottenham near the first of the season.  Games get changed from other centers and in turn that can affect many teams depending on the change.  Coaches entered tournaments late after scheduling and Iris worked so that the teams could go to their tournaments but that again meant more changes.  Setting up a playoff series for 3 out of 5 and the series ends early, Iris has to depend on the coach to tell her and then she needs to cancel timekeepers and referees and then re-allocate the ice.  When the season is down no teams will have been shorted any ice that we budgeted for that team. 

We have taken a look at other centers our size and the Board is of the thinking it is time to pay for a person who will be responsible for scheduling the ice, timekeepers and referees.  This will be presented and voted on at the AGM in April.  The AGM is planned for April 14/10 at 7:30 in the New Tecumseth RecreationFacility – see the website for details. Please plan to attend and hear what is happening in TNT and if you have questions or concerns that is certainly a time to get answers.  We have a lot of great people in TNT that volunteer to be on the Board and on a Coaching Staff, we have Sponsors, Timekeepers and Referees and there are also a lot of great parents that support their child’s hockey program, to all of you I send a very heartfelt THANK YOU !!

It has been suggested to me that as President I am to teach parents respect, which is not my job.  Hopefully by the time you have reached adulthood you have learned it along the way and in turn teach it to your children.  My Job is to make sure TNT provides every child who registers to play hockey receives a very safe and fun environment to learn the great game of hockey and that each child wants to return next year to continue to have fun, learn and play the game.

Please treat people how you would like to be treated and do not strike in the heat of the moment but take 24 hours to cool off and think about it.  Think before you yell at a player on the ice, the timekeeper in the box, the referee doing the game, the coaching staff behind the bench, the Executive watching the teams play their games.  Would you like one of your family members spoke to in a very negative, condensing way?   TNT cannot afford to lose any more volunteers if you want to continue to have a successful organization.

See you all at the AGM

Donna Horan

President, TNT

For an application, please download here.

Applications can be emailed to Neil Pattison at neilpattison@zing-net.ca, dropped off to the TNT office or mailed to TNT Minor Hockey, P.O. Box 496, Alliston, ON L9R 1V7

If you require further information or have any questions, please contact Neil Pattison at neilpattison@zing-net.ca or (705) 434-1042

The Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey School presented by Rogers will be held at the world-class MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence, the official practice facility of the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club. 

Kids from around the world will hit the ice for the opportunity to be challenged, developed and taught by Maple Leaf coaches, alumni and special guests. The new 30,000-square foot state of the art facility will be the official training centre for hockey’s future stars this summer. The Maple Leafs Hockey School is designed to benefit Novice, Atom and PeeWee age hockey players, ultimately supporting their hockey dreams and the development of the game for generations to come.

What week do you want your hockey star to skate at the Leafs hockey school? July 5^th-9^th or July 12^th-16^th. Here’s your chance to associate your family with the Maple Leafs.  

Be prepared for the ultimate hockey experience!

Register today at www.leafshockeyschool.com

on March 27th, 2010 at the Hornet’s Nest.

Tickets: $10.00/each

Door Prizes – 50/50 Draw

Tickets available at the Hornet’s Nest, The NTRC Concession Stand or by contacting the TNT Fundraising Director, Mary-Lyn Beckstead at mbeckstead@rogers.com or (705) 434-0621

OMHA Playdowns

York Simcoe Playdowns

When:  Friday, June 25th, 2010

Where:  Bear Creek Golf Club, Utopia, ON

Time: Shotgun start (Scramble Format) 12:00 PM

Price:  $125/Golfer, $100/Hole Sponsor, $50/Dinner Only

Donation Request Letter

Registration Form

Please contact the TNT Fundraising Director, Mary-Lyn Beckstead, at (705) 434-0621 or mbeckstead@rogers.com or Sandra Castelijn at (905) 936-2320 or sandracastelijn@bell.net for more information.