Referee Program Overview - Ontario Minor Hockey Association

OMHA Tournament Package 2011-2012
Preamble
Page 20 of 33
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Ontario Hockey Federation‟s [OHF] Minor Council met on Friday April 29th,
2011 to discuss the minor programs and among the topics was body checking in
recreational hockey.
The OHF Minor Council endorsed the following motion:
Effective the 2011 - 2012 season body checking will be removed from all
age divisions of House League and House League Select hockey.
OMHA Position on Body Checking in Recreational Hockey
The OMHA believes that there should be opportunities for players in the
recreational stream to participate in hockey without body checking. We
recognize that players wish to play the game and focus on developing the
foundational skills of skating, puck control and shooting and scoring without
body checking. Additionally, this level of hockey would allow for increased
recruitment of players of all ages.
The OMHA also believes that there should be opportunities available for players
in the recreational stream to participate in hockey with body checking. This
stream of programming would provide a progressive development pathway for
players to move from the recreational stream to the competitive stream of
Representative hockey.
These opportunities are reflected in Hockey Canada‟s Long Term Player
Development (LTPD) model which outlines the framework to maximize a
player‟s potential and involvement in sport over the course of their life. The
LTPD model for hockey is being developed on the following principles:
• Doing the best thing for the player and the people supporting the
player at each stage in their development
• Adopting a player-centred approach and not treating the development
of all players the same way
The OMHA seeks to define levels of play to achieve these objectives and
provide players with both of these opportunities within the recreational stream
of hockey best suited to their development.
Similarly, the OMHA also believes that the stakeholders in our Membership
should have the opportunity for self-determination in their respective
programs, based upon the expressed needs of their members, along with their
philosophy of programming and player development. To that end, the OMHA