Dear District No. 2 Parent:

The purpose of this letter is to inform all District No. 2 (D2) hockey parents of what has transpired in the past few months with respect to the future of elite hockey in our district. As you may be aware, a committee comprised of members from several D2 hockey associations have been meeting throughout the past winter. The mandate of this committee was to build a model that would improve the development of elite hockey players within our District.

Historically, the Sons hockey club consisted of three teams (Major Midget AAA, Major Bantam AAA and Major Peewee AAA). This fragmented program, lacking Minor teams, is not conducive to the development of our elite players. The last in a series of meetings held with the D2 associations and a Nickel City Sons group occurred on Monday, February 22.

At this meeting, it was decided that two new elite teams (Minor Peewee and Minor Bantam) would be available to D2 kids. The Minor Peewee team will be hosted by the Valley East Progressive Hockey Association and the Minor Bantam team will be hosted by the Nickel Centre Minor Hockey Association. All D2 hockey associations have agreed to provide the necessary release(s) for their successful players to participate on these new teams.

The try-outs for the two new teams, as well as for the three existing AAA teams, will start in April. A tryout schedule will be posted on various media and on the Nickel City Sons website.

The Nickel City Sons Hockey Club will be accepting applications for coaching positions for these teams. Applications must be submitted by March 8, 2010. Please visit the Sons website for additional details. These coaching staffs will be given the mandate to select the best available players from the District.

If you have any questions or require additional information contact your local hockey Association or a member of the Nickel City Sons board.

Yours in hockey,

Richard Walker
Vice President