Important News About Midgets and Bantams Programs

2010-06-30

Please Read Carefully and Contact Us for more information...

Dear Bantams and Midgets Families, As some of you know, the Maine Sternmen (a private hockey association owned by Dave Daniello) are offering a Midgets Program this upcoming season. The MCSA Board endorsed this program as we really did not think we were able to offer the level of development and ...

Dear Bantams and Midgets Families,

As some of you know, the Maine Sternmen (a private hockey association owned by Dave Daniello) are offering a Midgets Program this upcoming season. The MCSA Board endorsed this program as we really did not think we were able to offer the level of development and competition that Dave has put together for the Sternmen. In addition, we believed that a higher quality Midgets program – more games and practices – was desired by our members rather than the short (and unpredictable) program we have created in the past. We face this type of dilemma in all of our levels as the player population dictates how wide of a range you can create with the level of play. If you have a lot of players, you can offer “competitive” (more games against higher level competition) and “recreational” (less games and less commitment) hockey programs at the same time. That unfortunately is not the case in Midgets where the population is rather small and a narrow choice of program must be made.

In addition, when the Sternmen program started to advertise, it drew interest from several Bantam players as well. These players were interested for many reasons but mostly because they expected to play with the Windjammers this fall and felt the format of the Sternmen Midgets program was the best value for them (The Sternmen program ended when the HS season began). Many people were confused by this and posed several questions to the board asking whether we should allow this to happen with the Bantams. As usual, my response was that we cannot control who offers what in our rink and who plays where – we can only offer the best program we are capable of.

We also heard from many Midgets parents saying that the Sternmen program did not meet their requirements as they were looking more for a “recreational” program that did not interfere with other sports and commitments. So, all of this feedback prompted us to make some adjustments for the upcoming season that we think will meet approval. Here they are:

The Maine Sternmen will continue to offer their program this Summer/Fall. Players who have been offered positions have until July 12th to make their commitment

MCSA Bantams who make the Windjammers team will be allowed to play on the MCSA Bantams team(s) at a reduced rate reflective of their time with the team. We will be setting this price at our next Board Meeting but we expect it will be about half our normal rate as we expect them to play no more than half the games. (Important note: based on an analysis of the players we expect to remain full season with Bantams, we are preparing for a “Comp B” program at that level)

MCSA will be offering a “Pre-Season Hockey Instruction” (PSHI) program this fall for Midgets and Bantams to help the High School players get warmed up for the upcoming season. PSHI will be a week-long intense practice program that will occur during later evening hours as to not interfere with other sports commitments. We believe this program will be an excellent way for these players to prepare for the season. We are setting the agenda and price for this program at our next meeting.

We are very hopeful that these changes will help clarify the choices that Midget and Bantam families will be making in the next few weeks and months. Please stay tuned to our website with any further details and as usual, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

In addition, please expect further announcements about the Bantams, Peewees, and Squirts around the changes that have been made at the State level. We are planning for “business as usual” at these levels for the upcoming season. More on that later.

Regards,

David

David Tassoni
President, MCSA Youth Hockey
(207) 837-5815 – Mobile
president@mainecoastskaters.org