The end of the hockey season is a time to reflect for the Board, coaches, players, and families. We are proud of what our association was able to accomplish during the 2020-2021 season. With COVID-19 pandemic changing many of the things in our personal and professional lives, we were able to open up the Malone Civic Center safely and provide an environment to gain some normalcy during a difficult time for everyone.
We were able to open the Malone Civic Center early this past season in September. We had a strong desire from both the board and the association to get the ice down and allow for activities to occur. We followed the New York State Department of Health, Franklin County Public Health, and CDC guidelines to create a safe environment. The rink staff did a phenomenal job this past season with the extra tasks of cleaning in between every session and making sure that people were signing into the facility for tracing purposes if needed. It was many extra tasks to their already busy job, but one that they understood the importance of in opening back up. We cannot thank the rink staff enough for the work that they did this past season, it was truly the reason that we were able to provide a safe environment from September through our closing in May.
Like any season, there were some ups and there were some downs, but overall we believe the season was a success. We were able to have kids on the ice skate during a health pandemic that allowed them to have some normalcy back in their lives. With all of the guidelines and changes that occurred during the season, the players and coaches met the challenges with ease as the importance of playing hockey and each other’s safety was a top priority. Our hope is that every player and coach felt that they had growth this season in both personal and hockey skills. We had several teams from our association that had great success, with 3 qualifying for the NY State Tournament, and was capped off by the 46ers 16U Boys winning the 2021 New York State Tier III Championship! This was the first state championship for our association since the 1984-85 season when the Squirt C team won a State Championship. Thank you to the players, coaches, and families for being a huge partner in making the 2020-2021 season as much of a success as it could be.
We have some exciting news that we will be announcing over the next few weeks. Things that we believe will continue to improve our association and our offerings to our players and community. We have prided ourselves on being a grass roots organization that works to provide an environment for every level of player. Not too long ago, we were an association of less than 70 players, this past season, we had just under 300 players registered with MMHA playing with the Jr. Huskies or 46ers teams. Tremendous growth that has been accomplished by a lot of hard work from past and present board members, along with members of the association and local businesses that have helped with that growth. Having almost 300 kids playing the great game of hockey is amazing, especially during a year like we just had.
We held our closing board meeting of the 2020-2021 season and our first board meeting of the 2021-2022 season on Wednesday evening. We thanked outgoing Board Member Beau Brand for his years of service on the board and the positive impact that he has had on the association and know will continue to have. We welcomed newly elected board member Ryan O’Connor, and returning board members Scott Marlow and Chris Walfield to their 3 year terms. Board officers were elected last evening as well with Matt Jones as President, Jay Perras as Vice President, Kris Hardy as Treasurer, and Ben West as Secretary.
As we continue to move out of COVID, we have returned our board meetings to in person at the Malone Civic Center. We have gone back to a set schedule for board meetings that will be held the 3rd Monday of every month at 7pm at the Malone Civic Center. We strongly encourage people to attend the board meetings to be informed of what is happening with the association and ask questions that people might have. To continue and maintain the growth of our association, we need association members willing to help the association outside of our board members. We thank Laurie Dustin for her board appointed (non-voting) role as Fundraising Coordinator, Jason Laflesh for his board appointed (non-voting) role as Tournament Coordinator, and others that have helped throughout the season in ways, that many times, go unnoticed.
We want to thank everyone for their continued support, have a great summer, and we look forward to the 2021-2022 season!!
Thank you,
MMH Board of Directors