Westfort Hockey League

As the Covid 19 numbers in our region continue to improve, Westfort Hockey is anxious to welcome all Rangers back to the rink.  A Return to Play will happen under the guidance of Hockey Northwestern Ontario, and in cooperation with all the agencies associated with both Lakehead Minor Hockey League (U7-U13) and Thunder Bay Minor Hockey Association (U15-U18).  Click on the links below to see the latest information.

http://lmhockey.com/ 

http://www.tbmha.com

Please note, registration information will be posted here as soon as it is available, but please be prepared for a mid-August update on a Return to Play.  

If you have any questions or concerns, please email westforthockey@gmail.com

The Westfort Hockey Association Annual General Meeting will take place on Thursday, April 29th, 2021 at 7:00 pm.  In compliance with the Provincially mandated Stay at Home order, this year's AGM will take place via Zoom.  The Annual General Meeting is open to all members of the public.  All participants must register in order to facilitate virtual meeting invitations.

If you would like to register to attend the Westfort Hockey Association Annual General Meeting, please email westforthockey@gmail.com

With the 2020-2021 season concluded, Westfort Hockey would like to take this opportunity to thank our coaches, volunteers, players and families for their support throughout this crazy season.  It was a challenging year, and we certainly could not have had any season without the support of all of you.  Westfort Hockey would also like to say thank you to Superior Shores Gaming Association for all their support throughout the years.  The generous donations from Superior Shores have helped us provide ice, jerseys, socks, and other equipment to teams not only this year but for the past several years.  The Westfort Hockey family is very fortunate to be one of the many community recipients that benefit from the funds raised by Superior Shores!

Due to the rising Covid-19 case numbers and the continued risk of Covid-19 in our community, the HNO Central Zone and it's member agencies under the guidance of HNO's Chief Medical Officer have decided that effective at the end of day on February 24, 2021, all HNO-sanctioned events will be cancelled.  All agencies unanimously agreed that it is no longer safe to provide minor hockey programming in the HNO central zone at this time.

Westfort Hockey would like to thank all coaches, managers, and volunteers for the tireless hours you have put into trying to make the best of this challenging season.  We would also like to thank the players and families for their continued support this season.  Seeing all the players' smiling faces as they took to the ice for practices and games was definitely reward enough for all the volunteer hours it took to pull off this season.

Coaches and managers will be in touch with families in the next few days in regards to any refunds and the return of jerseys, etc.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to westforthockey@gmail.com  

We hope next season provides more normalcy and look forward to seeing all your smiling faces back in the rink in the fall!

With hockey paused, we felt like everyone could use a little good news story.  Pictured above is U11A player Chris Wanzuk receiving a brand new jersey from Coach Jason.  Chris and all his teammates are excited to wear their brand new Westfort jerseys when they get back on the ice in the New Year.  The new jerseys were purchased using funding generously provide by Superior Shores Gaming Centre.  Westfort Hockey Association encourages everyone to stay home and stay safe so we can all get back to all the things we love!!! 

Westfort Hockey Association is excited to congratulate former Westfort Ranger Kendra Fortin on being drafted to the Bemidji State University Beavers for the 2021-2022 season.  Kendra was a Westfort Ranger from IP to Peewee before moving over to the Thunder Bay Queens Program.  This year, Kendra is playing in the Provincial Women's Hockey League.  We are very proud of you Kendra and cannot wait to see where the future will take you.  Currently, many young girls are playing in the Westfort Hockey Association just as Kendra did, and are able to see their future selves in Kendra's successful shoes.  Thank you for being a great role model for our young players!

Westfort Hockey Association is able to provide all of these young players like Kendra with opportunities to play and succeed through the generous contributions of Superior Shore Gaming Association.

Video courtesy of the Fortin Family.

Westfort Minor Hockey is excited to have our U9 players back on the ice.  Young Caleb (pictured here) has been dreaming of getting back onto the ice and into the net since hockey abruptly ended last March.  With the help of donations from Superior Shores Gaming, Westfort Minor Hockey has been able to help young Caleb as he works on becoming the best goalie he can be.  Superior Shores Gaming Centre is open daily from for Cabinet and POD game play.

Westfort Midget A Rangers take home the city Championship!!

Congratulations to the Wesfort PWAA Rangers on their 2 game sweep of the Westend Bruins. The boys had an amazing year!!

Congratulations to the PW A Martin Financial Rangers (Brick City) and the PW AA Westfort Rangers (NEEBING Thunder on Ice) on their Tournament wins!!

Respect in Sport Parent Program

HNO is pleased to announce it has partnered with the Respect Group Inc. to provide an education tool that will further our commitment to fostering a safe and fun hockey environment for all participants.

The Respect in Sport Program for Parents is a unique, in-depth 1 hour online program geared to providing the parent with information on how to evaluate and understand:

• Parental influence over a child
• Coach and leader roles in sport
• Role of the parent and coach in ensuring a child’s enjoyment of a sport
• Protecting your child when outside of your immediate control
• Concussion awareness & Return to Play guidelines
• Long-Term Player Development (LTPD) model

The program is a proactive, educational program that empowers parents with the tools to ensure the game is enjoyable and respectful for themselves, their children and all other stakeholders in the game.

Beginning with the 2016-17 minor hockey season a minimum of 1 parent/guardian from each family with players at the Novice or Atom level will need to take the program along with 1 parent/ guardian from any players entering Hockey Canada programming for the first time in the peewee to midget age groups.

The cost of the one hour online program is $12.00+HST and you can complete the course at the link below:

 Respect in Sport Parent Program

NOTE - The Respect in Sport Parent Program differs from the Respect in Sport Leader/Coach Program. Therefore parents that have taken the Leader/Coach Program must still take the Parent Program.

Westfort Minor Hockey is extremely thankful for Carter Hutton, the Boys and Girls Club of Thunder Bay and the NHLPA Goals and Dreams program for the donation of a full set of Goalie Equipment!! 

To learn more about this great NHLPA program, click here: http://www.nhlpa.com/giving-back/goals-and-dreams

STEP 1 - DEVELOPMENT & TEAM FORMATION

• October 13th – November 30th
• WMHA reserves the right to adjust the start dates based on player registration and ice availability.
• Player Registration will be through HCR website.  Registration is now closed for Stage 1. Please email westforthockey@gmail.com with any questions.
• Cost of this phase will be $100 (100% refund if Step 1 is cancelled due to COVID; 50% refund if Step 1 is cancelled with ½ or fewer sessions remaining when cancelled due to COVID)
• The player bubbles (50 or less players) will be determined by dividing players into U7, U9, U11 and U13 and further dividing based on where they register (A or AA).
• 10 - 12 sessions scheduled over 6 weeks (20-25 players per ice session)
• The sessions for this phase will be entirely focused on skill development with a potential for small scrimmages at the end of the session per HNO guidelines for Stage 3 (Team Formation); on-ice sessions to be organized by WMHA coaches while screening/documenting protocols will be handled by WMHA volunteers/organizations.
• Coaches will be able to use the sessions for draft evaluations but limits on attendees are expected to be required due to restrictions on the number of people permitted inside arenas. Specific rules to be determined.
• U11AA and U13AA team formation will be based on a city-wide draft format.  Details to follow.

STEP 2 – COMPETITION STAGE

(*If restrictions are lessened and it is possible to go to Step 3 prior to November 1, Step 2 will be skipped)

• There will be a break between Step 1 and Step 2 to facilitate the formation of teams.
• Stage 2 will take place December 1st to December 31st
• If a player did not register for stage 1 they will still have the opportunity to register for stage 2
• A player that participated in stage 1 will have the opportunity to opt out of stage 2
• The cost of stage 2 is to be determined
• Players who registered in U11AA and U13AA who do NOT make AA will be placed in the U11A and U13A draft pool for either the North side of Thunder Bay (PAMHA) or the South side of Thunder Bay (Elks, KC, Neebing, Norwest and Westfort), based on where the player registers.  It is possible that a player who has registered for U11 and U13 will be placed on a team with a different association other than the one registered for, but every effort will be made to keep these players within their home organization.  The intent is to ensure all teams have a full roster; all teams are of equal competitiveness and to maximize ice allotments. 
• Teams will be drafted as per the current guidelines in late November into 3 team loops.
• Game play and other rules are to be determined
• If Step 2 commences, it will not end early and will continue until December 31st
• No games will take place between December 24th and January 2nd
• There will be no tournaments or jamborees during this phase

STEP 3 - COMPETITION STAGE

• January 1st to a date to be determined
• This will be a continuation of Step 2 OR, if permitted, could combine the teams that were originally drafted and combine two 3 team loops into 6 team loops and play traditional 5v5 games
• Tournaments and jamborees MAY be possible during this stage

The Westfort Hockey Association is committed to providing a safe and fun environment for all of our youth hockey players.  By emphasizing sportsmanship, teamwork, fair play and respect, we believe we produce not only good athletes, but great people.