This is one of the most exciting and yet nerve wrecking times – getting ready to kick off the season. With less than a week away from high school starting back up. Planning is underway (the season really does not start till September).
First steps that I like to do – is have a quick volunteer parent (and some players) meeting. In this meeting we are attempting to gauge interest in the returning players, plan our “Huskies Days” and set up a couple of get the summer rust off sessions for our players (past and present). We had our meeting earlier this week and the turn out was pretty good. We accomplished much of the early planning with no difficulty at all. It truly is nice to have a solid group of volunteers.
Planning for “Huskies Days” (orientation for all new incoming students to the high school): We definitely insure that we have the sophomore and freshman days covered.. We use this time to pass out flyers – with an introduction to the Huskies Hockey Club and the league information (Arizona High School Hockey Association); get a sign-up sheet of anyone interested (for follow-up and invitation to a practice); and we are there to answer questions. We have been very successful with getting interest from some players – that frankly did not know that the high school had a team. We also have some of our hockey players available to help talk to potential players. Overall, it is just great to get the excitement back!
We currently are scheduling a couple of ice slots to get all of the returning players together, the interested new players and we also invite our alumni to any extra ice we have. This is an awesome way to keep the level of interest high. It is amazing to see alumni show up that are 5+ years removed from the program.
The next big event – which will be the topic of the next post – Parent Orientation. It is that time to sit down (before tryouts) and discuss the program, expectations of parents, players and coaches; and open up that first level of communication for the upcoming season. More details to follow.
I can smell the ice now!
