With the recent decision of the OWHA about not sanctioning the USA/Canada challenge ran last year by Stoney Creek as well as the decision of the OWHA not to grant Travel permits to Ontario team to travel to a similar event in the USA we should all voice our opinion to Fran!

As well they failed to sanction another showcase for Bantam/Peewee that Stoney hosted last year...and they say that these decisions are not open for appeal!


So here is her e mail address: fran@owha.on.ca



Play hard, play fair


The Diceman

Is there any governing body that you can get a sanction or travel permit from other than the OWHA.

I stand to be corrected but the "sanctioning" may have more to do with insurance coverage than anything. So if you can arrange alternative insurance coverage then you do not have to worry about OW approval.

Think of Sanctioning as permission.....without permission you can not go. Teams can not attend a non sanction tourney or event in season.



Play hard, play fair


The Diceman

If you are a member of the OWHA, you may also face discipline if you enter an unsanctioned tournament. Thats why teams enter the Summer Canlan tournaments under different team names.

Most teams would avoid an unsanctioned in-season tournament because of the repercussions they would receive from the OWHA.

Why not just have all Int AA and Mid AA resign from the OWHA, operate as independents (ie Summer League teams, and play exhibition games and tournaments?
What does the OW do anyway? The only reason I see in having them is to dish out discipline for on-ice incidents where an independent, third-party decision needs to be made. Why is PERMISSION required to have or attend a tournament? I don't understand the rationale.

why should it matter to the OWHA or other associations if I want to host one tournament a year or one every weekend?

I am not stopping you having your tournament on the same weekend. Let TEAMS make the choice where they go to play not the OWHA.

If this is at all true, have any teams been denied sanction (permission) to go to NAHA Labour Day weekend, or Schenectady NY for the Union College Showcase? They invite the same teams back every year only allowing new teams if someone bows out.

Does this also impact the Nike Bauer International AAA Invite Girls in Rochester (formally Fire on Ice)?

you better email the OHF

you now need a passport to cross border efective july 3 09.

Although they still let you in with a warning if you are all apologetic and have other basic docs (licence, birth certificate). You also can get a passport in about a month these days and even more quickly if you pay extra.

a visa from the OWHA.

NO they do not. As of July 3rd 2009 you can not cross the boarder without a passport. The new drivers licence that was supose to come into affect has been terminated do to slow downs and complications. NO Passport NO ENTRY.

Canadian citizens aged 15 years or under are only required to present proof of Canadian citizenship, such as an original or a photocopy of a birth certificate, or an original citizenship card. Canadian citizens 18 years of age or under who are travelling with a school or other organized group, under adult supervision with parental/guardian consent, may also present proof of Canadian citizenship alone.

"NO they do not. As of July 3rd 2009 you can not cross the boarder without a passport. The new drivers licence that was supose to come into affect has been terminated do to slow downs and complications. "

Oh really...you might want to tell that to the Ontario government, because they're hyping the enhanced driver's license to the moon....

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/

Every week there is some interesting if not bizarre reading on this site regarding the antics of the OW. It has become apparent the leadership has lost touch with it's membership. Their latest decision on not sanctioning tournaments that were sanctioned last year is an example of that. My understanding is, all of Stoney's Showcase Tournaments were full in weeks, what should that tell the OW. These types of decisions should be a warning to all associations. To me, this is not about Stoney, this is the new OW. Hands around the throats of the membership until you cry uncle. Dice is right, time for a change.

The poster, sadly, appears to be right. This is nothing more than a naked exercise of power by the OW. No longer do their actions even appear to have anything to do with moving female hockey forward in Ontario, but just proving their ability to throw their weight around. If anything these actions can only serve to isolate Ontario and hold back development of the female sport in this province. Thankfully I no longer have a daughter in this degenerating system.

Regardless of personality issues (don't know anyone on the OW exec or in the office) and without reference to any of the decisions or policies that have come out of the OW in the past few years what bothers me the most is the apparent lack of a communications strategy on the part of the OW or the nominal heads. I could care less about most of the minutiae that gets churned up in the running of girls hockey in Ontario but I am repeatedly appalled by the lack of an effective message coming out of the office on Spectrum Way.

And this is despite the fact that I usually disagree with Dice on most topics just because I like to tip his canoe. Dice's typically shrill and hyperbolic rants are almost a godsend in comparison to the clumsy PR (or usually just a wall of silence) that emanates from the OW. Stonewalling and edicts from on high will only serve in the short-term. Effective communication will better serve the OW and its members in the long run. Spend some money to bring in some consultants and higher enough staff so that you can post things on your web site within your own self-proscribed deadlines. How hard can it be?

Well I am well past asking the OWHA to communicate better and to use their web site effectively. I did that a few years ago. There are more important issues then their obvious lack of communication. They make decisions that are counter productive to growth in the sport. They fail to follow the rules that they want everyone else to follow. They even have managed to ignore the rules of the OHF....


They are a vindictive bunch as seen many times over the years. Most recently Stoney Creek is feeling their wrath.

How about the individual who had a web site that did a better job with the playdowns....they told him to remove the web site which he did....and to show him their displeasure they moved the team he was coaching into a higher category for the playdowns.

Look at how they muddle through things.....they failed to make the necessary changes to their program for provincials so that they could sent a team to the Midget National Championship...and again for this coming year there still seems to be no plan.

They even have threaten not to send a team into the Midget Championships because Hockey Canada drop the Esso Championships....well the Esso Championship was Fran and Pats Baby. So they are willing to sacrifice the Midget National Championship.

I could write a novel on these types of issues.....but a small sample is more then enough to get my point across. These are not typical issues that any minor sports organization will face.....as they make decisions personal by threatening and then wielding their power like a warden.

They threaten associations into submission as well as individuals.....go ahead and e mail them a scathing letter and see just hat happens.



Play hard, play fair


The Diceman

Dice,

You missed my point which was that regardless of whether or not one has agreed or disagreed with decisions and policies coming out of the OW, the OW has failed to communicate with the larger body of everyday folks who have even a passing interest in girls hockey in Ontario. Even if one were to be in 100% agreement with everything the OW has done in the past few years you would still have to give them a failing grade when rating their communications strategy. In fact I would go so far as to say that I don't think they actually have a strategy. They are just making it up as they go along. The result is that just about everything that comes out of that office is late or poorly distributed or handled in a ham-fisted way that makes it look like they either don't know what they are doing are that they are making it up as the go along (or both).

The other side of this coin is that they keep giving Dice stuff to natter on about even in the summer.

I did not miss your point....but wanted to be clear that the lack of timely and effective communication is minor in comparison to the more important and concerning issues.

Here is the scary part about communication.....since I started mentioning their lack of communication skills and misuse of their web site.....they have improved.....is that not scary? They are by the way making it up as they go along.



Play hard, play fair


The Diceman