Everyone:

As the season winds down and I reflect upon our 2009-2010 season, I just wanted to share some thoughts with you.

First, I want to thank our great staff of coaches and team managers.  It has been one of the most dedicated and qualified groups I have been around.

Next, I want to thank our parents and players.  To our players, the dedication has been strong under many challenging circumstances.  To our parents, your continued ability to regularly get the players to our team practices and games, as well as paying the Club dues on time to keep us running.

I also want to recognize our Board members for their efforts in making our Club run behind the scenes, which many people are unaware of:

• Jim Meaney - Vice President
• Rich Miner - Secretary
• Geoff Starns - CFO
• Troy Adams - Director of Coaching
• Candy Droeger - Ice Convenor
• Lynn Meaney - Registrar

As a Club, we were pleased to offer this year in comparison to other travel programs:

• Lowest Club dues in SCAHA
• 2 full ice weekly practices for A level ice hockey instead of 1 full ice and 1 half ice practice weekly at no extra charge
• Reasonable practice times - no extremely early start times (ie. starting at 5:00am) or late at night (ie. 9:30pm)

As we look ahead between now and tryouts in June for the 2010-11 season, here are some upcoming events to keep our players on the ice and other relevant information:

• Riptide Clinics - Held each Wednesday starting March 3rd:
  • 6:15pm-7:15pm   Squirts/PeeWees
  • 7:30pm-8:30pm   Bantams/Midgets
• High School Hockey (see flyer for more information)
• Coaching applications are currently being received with final decisions made and posted no later than April or May on our website for next season.  We are excited about our potential coaches and look forward to make these announcements in the near future.
• We anticipate offering 6 teams next season - Midget 18A, Midget 16A, Bantam A, PeeWee A, Squirt A, Mite A

Finally, our Capital Campaign Committee is in the final stages of being formed to raise the money necessary to build our new facility.  To date, almost all of the Committee members are volunteers from the Skating School and Figure Skating Club.  If we're going to be successful in this joint venture, we must get more participation from our Club members.  Please respond to this e-mail, if you would like to be involved or know someone that can help our cause.

Again, thanks to all and your support this year.

Ben Cohen

President, Riptide Hockey Club