23rd August 2020

 

Dear SWRA Players and Families,

 

On behalf of the SWRA board, I am delighted to announce that youth registration for the 2020 / 2021 season is now open at www.swra.ca

 

I’m sure you have many questions to ask about the upcoming season, I will endeavour to provide answers to some of them in this letter, but in the interest of brevity it won’t be a completely comprehensive review. Please follow the link to the Ringette Manitoba website which has lots of great information https://ringettemanitoba.ca/return-to-ringette/ , or email myself or any of the board members with your questions.

 

Approval of the Return to Ringette plan submitted by Ringette Manitoba to the provincial government was granted last week, in addition to the steps outlined in that document, we also are governed by Ringette Canada rules and local arena protocols. Whilst this may seem like a lot of new rules to follow, the overarching premise is to ensure that our girls can return to the sport they love in as safe an environment as possible.

 

We are currently in Phase 3 of Ringette Manitoba’s Return to Ringette plan. Sanctioned events may start on September 1st and we will remain in Phase 3 for at least 30 days. Our goal for this period is to get all our players on the ice, back to ringette and training. Following this 30-day period we may see a rapid escalation to full league games in phase 5, or we may spend a period playing exhibition games, or just continuing to train, no one knows. Each phase will be rolled out with player safety being the priority and to keep the girls active, engaged and having fun.

 

Due to the uncertainties surrounding this season, fees will be due in instalments.

The SWRA initial registration fee will cover the first 30 days only and includes the numerous set fees required just to get the girls back on the ice; Ringette Manitoba fees, player insurance, Community Centre fees, equipment fees and coach certification fees. In addition to these costs the registration fee also includes 2 ice times during the week of September 20-27, these will be training sessions in lieu of tryouts.

 

Whilst we are not holding tryouts or assessments at this time, as the season progresses and we move into different phases that allow checking, league play and association amalgamations we will respond accordingly.

 

Beyond the first 30 days, the instalment payments will be according to the circumstances.

Phase 3 costs will be limited to ice costs and Team Snap fees and will be dealt with at a squad level (just like team ice fees in a regular season). We anticipate a slight increase in the ice costs from previous seasons as all rinks are required to have a longer period between ice times and are adjusting their costs accordingly (ice fees have gone up from $212 to $232 per hour). In addition, squad sizes are capped at 10 players so the fees will potentially be divided between fewer players, although where possible we will combine squads for ice times according to protocols and so keep these costs down.

 

Phase 4 costs, as we return to competition play, will incur the extra costs of referees and minor officials as required for 3on3 or 4on4 games.

 

Phase 5 will see a resumption of a regular league and the resultant additional costs (2 referees per game and shot clock operators). As well, WRL are anticipating an increase of about 10% in their fees to cover their increased costs.

 

Whilst we completely understand that circumstances change, once a player sets foot on the ice refunds will not be possible (at this point we will be charged the fees outlined above and as a not for profit association we are not in a position to cover these costs).

 

All players who would like to be included in the return to competition phase must register now for the initial return to activity phase, late registrations will not be accepted.

 

With respect to our R4U players, we have not yet been informed by RMB what the fees will be so at this time we are just asking you to register your intent to play. It’s very important that we know how many players we have so we can allocate the correct amount of ice time and instructors. Again, if you would like to play this season, we ask that you register as soon as possible.

 

 

We are urgently in need of someone to step up and volunteer to be the SWRA Safety Supervisor, if we don’t fill this position we are not allowed to return to ringette, so all of the above will be obsolete! Please contact me if you think you can help out,

details of the role may be found at https://ringettemanitoba.ca/safety-supervisors-and-safety-officers/.

 

We know that during these uncertain times this ringette season will not look like previous ones but are certain that our ringette community can rise to the challenge and we look forward to welcoming our players back to the fun, fitness and friendship that ringette provides.

 

Stay safe

 

Angela Clark

 

SWRA President

president@swra.ca