Let me quickly clarify.
The new OHF ban on bodychecking in house league applies to SMHA's lowest division in both Bantam and Midget. These are SMHA's only carded 'House' leagues.
The ban does not apply to our AA & BB leagues. These two divisions will still have bodychecking - as per the direction of the OHF.
I was quoted in the Sault Star on May 9th as stating that we could opt to card our lowest leagues to allow bodychecking to continue. This is simply an option that we have. Not a decision we have made.
My interview with the Star covered a number of areas on both sides of the bodychecking argument. Not all of the conversation was captured in the Star article.
At this point in time we are not leaning either way. We will weigh our options and certainly consider the upsides, the downsides, and the perspectives of the OHF, the NOHA and our membership.
A decision will be made by our new Executive at some point this spring or early summer, following the election of our new Executive at our AGM on May 31st, as to how we will classify our various leagues.
SMHA's team/league structure is unique, due to our geographical location. We do not have single entry rep teams at multiple levels. They would have no other centres close enough to compete against. We, instead, have multiple teams at a few rep levels, AA & BB, that form their own leagues. These are not defined as house leagues, as per the NOHA and OHF. After we form our AA & BB league teams, the remaining kids form our House Leagues. These are the kids who would be affected by the new OHF ban on bodychecking.
I will update this blog with any new developments over the next few weeks.
- Adam
I personally think that bodychecking should not be banned from any league, because I know for players like myself who love the game of hockey for what it is, we might even consider quitting the game because it seems silly, for lack of a better word, to ban bodychecking from ANY league. It has been a part of our leagues forever, so why change it now? I know there has a been a lot of controversy on this issue, but again, for players like myself we would be strongly opposed to this ban. Bodychecking is part of the game! Sure, penalize players more often and hand out suspensions for illegal checking, but completely banning it would be a huge mistake. Players would be discouraged and would not want to play. It also isn't fair that it would be only banned in house leagues, because there are still very talented players in those leagues. Take myself, for example. I am a very talented female player and have played with the boys all my life. Because I'm a girl, I've been disregarded and have been stuck in house leagues all my life. It wouldn't be fair to talented players like myself who love the game anyway to have bodychecking banned. It's ridiculous and unfair. Keep bodychecking part of the game, but keep it fun!
ReplyDelete- Laura M. (first year midget)