Season Kick-Off Updates 🏒🥅

Hello Humber Valley families,

I’m excited to say that the 2022-23 hockey season is off to a great start. It’s been fantastic seeing everyone back in the rinks over the last few weeks. There’s a lot to share this month so let’s get right to it!

A Safe & Welcoming Environment for All
Humber Valley’s top priority is to provide a safe and inclusive environment for all members of our community. Recently, members of Humber Valley were targets of racial slurs. We are working with our governing bodies and advocating for strong measures that ensure that this behaviour is dealt with appropriately today and in the future. We want to remind our community that we have a zero tolerance policy for abusive behaviour or language and encourage any member that is subject to or a witness of this abuse to report it. We continually evaluate our programs to identify areas of improvement and we welcome all feedback from our community to ensure Humber Valley continues to lead the way in delivering programs that our members are proud to be associated with.

Program Updates

1. House League
   We are thrilled that our house league registration surpassed expectations for a second season in a row with most age groups now at capacity.  We know that there are variations in skills, and this can be concerning to some parents.  However, we are confident that within the first half of the season the gap will narrow. Please keep an eye out for additional development opportunities which will be added to TeamSnap calendars throughout the season. These sessions are optional and players are invited to attend as many sessions as they’d like. Optional outdoor shinny will also be posted to TeamSnap in December and is a fantastic opportunity to get kids on the ice more frequently in an informal and fun environment. Most players who participated in previous years will tell you that it’s their favourite part of the program.
2. Competitive Development Program (CDP)
   Our CDP program kicks off in mid-October. With the overwhelming response to the program this season, we will be fielding 9 teams representing Humber Valley from U7 to U9.  These teams will compete against other west end clubs and participate in tournaments throughout the season.
3. Select Program
   Select tryouts have now wrapped up and the season kicks off later this month.  5 teams from U10 to U18 will be competing in the Mississauga Hockey League (MHL) this season.
4. GTHL A & AA
   The A & AA regular hockey season starts on October 17th. Our teams have been busy preparing for the season practicing, playing exhibition games and participating in early bird tournaments over the last few weeks. This season, Humber Valley will ice 17 teams playing in the GTHL’ s A & AA levels ranging from U10 to U18 with almost 300 players proudly wearing the Sharks sweater.

Coaching Development Program
As previously announced, we have initiated a Coaching Development Program at Humber Valley with a goal of providing the necessary support and training to our amazing coaches.  We have had four outstanding on and off-ice sessions so far with lots more to come over the season. If you are a HV coach, assistant or on-ice helper and interested in learning more about the program and how it can help you and your team, please reach out directly to your program VP (Matt Choi – Jr. HL, Caitlin Evans – CDP, Grant Henderson – Select, and Dean Antoniazzi – GTHL).

NEW Goalie Initiation/Training
Calling all goalies! We are thrilled to be launching a FREE goaltender training program for ANYONE interested in suiting up as a goalie for the first time as well as any U12 or younger goalies interested in getting some additional development.  The program will run Sunday evening at 6:30pm at Weston Arena and starts on October 30^th. Please keep an eye out for additional details and sign-up information coming soon!

Sponsors Update
Humber Valley is fortunate to receive sponsorships from partners within our community.  This support allows us to continue to deliver top quality programming and experiences to players while keeping costs as low as possible. I want to extend a very big thank you to our 2022-23 sponsors. 

• LEAD SPONSOR – MINTO COMMUNITIES
  A special thank you goes out to Minto Communities who again this year have come onboard as our Junior House League divisional sponsor. With this sponsorship, our Jr. divisions will again be named to represent Minto Communities’ support. We are thrilled to have Minto Communities as a partner again this season.
  A short note from Minto Communities
  At Minto Communities GTA, we believe wholeheartedly in the importance of giving back to the neighbourhoods we build in, fostering health, wellness and sense of belonging.  As proud sponsors of minor sports teams in the GTA, we hope to instil these values in today’s youth.  Please CLICK HERE for more information.
• SUPPORTING SPONSOR – OAKLANE ORCHARDS
  Enjoy farm fresh apples in support of Humber Valley!  We’re proud to have the support of Oaklane Orchards this hockey season! 15% of all apple sales placed by HV families will be returned to our hockey club to support our programs. The ability to order apples will end around the last week of November. Apples are packaged and shipped every Tuesday and Wednesday straight from Oaklane Orchards for delivery to your home within a couple of days. Use promo code: “sharks” and place your order for Honeycrisp and Gala apples. ORDER NOW 
• SUPPORTING SPONSORS – Tim Hortons & McDonalds 
  Tim Hortons and McDonalds are back once again to provide jerseys, socks and special giveaways to our house league teams that will be distributed to players throughout the season.

Jumpstart Grant Applications
Canadian Tire Jumpstart is making it easier for families to play the game they love. Individual grants are available to families in need and can be used to support registration fees associated with either house league or competitive programs.  Applications are to be submitted through Jumpstart’s grant system, and will be required to meet Jumpstart grant criteria. Click here to learn more.

Farewell to Susan Tiveron
A very special farewell goes out to Susan Tiveron who will be leaving her role as Registrar and Administrator this month. Susan has been an integral part of the Humber Valley family for over 25 years and we want to wish her all the best and thank her for her tremendous contribution to HVHA over the years.

Thank You to All
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the parents, coaches and volunteers who worked tirelessly to help kick-off the 2022-23 season. Our club relies on this dedication and we recognize that we could not deliver the programs and experiences that Humber Valley is known for without you.