• Board Meeting for August

• The Jr Grizzlies have a few openings left for Bantam A players.  Interested players should contact Peter Vittands vittands@rossignol.com for more information and to setup a tryout.

• Website news.  We are hard at work getting ready to launch a new website.  This site will have all the features that we need to better communciate team and organization events with our parents, players, and community.  Keep an eye out for the new site to be online in the next few weeks.

• Board Meeting

The WMAHA Board has tentatively scheduled a regular meeting this Thursday, July 9th, at 6 p.m. at Sweet's Candy.

Agenda items include finalizing rosters, preparation for a Labor Day Tournament, Scholarship Applications, 2009-2010 Board elections, appoinment of a Treasurer, TAHA merger, skills coaches, the Grizzly Cup preparations, and our continued partnership with the Grizzlies organization.

• Dylan Olsen Drafted 28th Overall

Of particularly exciting news, one of our former Jr. Grizzlies, Dylan Olsen, was drafted in the first round and 28th overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Entry Draft on Friday, June 26th.

Dylan played for our organization as both a Peewee and Bantam under the coaching direction of his father Darryl Olsen.  We are excited for Dylan and wish him the best as he has also accepted a full ride scholarship with the University of Minnesota Duluth.  Coach Oly was quoted as saying "it has been quite a weekend and just an overall unreal, mind-blowing experience."

Here is a link to Dylan Olsen's draft information.

• Current Teams Offered for 2009-2010 Season

This year, the Jr. Grizzlies are offering the following teams:

Midget Minor / Major (More information can be obtained from Rick Kay)

Bantam AA (Head Coach Jon Soloman) and Bantam A (Head Coach Peter Vittands)

Peewee AA (Head Coach Bryce Mannek) and Peewee A (Head Coach Steve Jones).  There remains the possibility of a third Peewee team to be determined as the summer progresses.  It is anticipated that if a third Peewee team is formed, it will be a Peewee A team which will afford a great opportunity for teams visiting the Salt Lake area to play up to three teams.

Squirt A and Squirt B (Head Coach Darin Peck).

With the acceptance of the TAHA players into WMAHA this year there has arisen a great opportunity for the Jr. Grizzlies to expand our offering of teams and developmental programs to a higher level.  The offering of AA teams this year will be a challenge for our organization but will provide a vehicle to push the skill development across our whole organization and ultimately improve the quality of travel hockey offered in Utah.

• Scholarship Applications Available

Each year, the Jr. Grizzlies have the ability to offer a few scholarships to players that have the skill but may lack the financial ability to commit to the organization.  This year that tradition is continuing and it is anticipated that a number of scholarships will be made available [Scholarship Application Here].  Please submit the form to your Team Manager or a Board Member by date.  A [description of the scholarship program] is available here.  APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY JULY 15TH.

• Spring Ice Sessions

The last night for Midget 4-on-4 and Squirt Spring Ice will be on June 29th.

The last night for Peewee and Bantam 4-on-4 will be July 2nd.  On June 25th, the Peewee and Bantam will be playing Week 9, so please look to determine if you have a bye week.

• WMAHA Board Meeting Minutes

There was a Board Meeting of the WMAHA Utah Jr. Grizzlies held on Tuesday evening, June 16th.  The following represents a summary of the major areas discussed:

Scholarship Program:  A revised application should be posted within the next week or so.  Rick Kay is working to see if the Grizzlies are in a position to donate again this year.  On a preliminary basis, the scholarship deadline should be July 15th with decisions made by August 1st.  A Scholarship Committee will be formed at the next Board Meeting and scholarship funds will include rollovers from the prior year and current year fund raising.

Acceptance/Commitment Letters:  The Peewee Tier II team commitment letters have been distributed.  Other teams should have thiers distributed shortly after all notifications have been completed.

The Board is aware of the details of delayed notifications especially with the Peewee parents.  At this point (6/17 12:45), there should not be any parents that have not been contacted either by Coach Bryce or Coach Steve.

With the effort to offer positions to as many players as possible and with the TAHA program asking for help over the last week, we created an unnecessary situation of anxiety for players and family.  While this was unintended, we realize we did a poor job and will make every effort to improve those situations and prevent recurrence. 

Dues Structure and Schedule:  The Board agreed that all teams will have a $400 deposit due by June 25th.  A payment schedule for any balance due will be presented at the next meeting.  On a preliminary basis, a discount of $100 per second or third player per family will be offered as well as a $100 discount for payment of the complete amount on June 25th.

WMAHA Treasurer:  The job description for the WMAHA Treasurer position that consist primarily of bookkeeping responsibilities will be prepared prior to the next Board meeting so that an appointment can be made for this position.

Grizzly Cup:  The Board determined that the Grizzly Cup will be held January 15 - 18 (MLK Weekend) and will feature the Tier teams (Squirt through Midget).  A sanctioning request from USA Hockey will be submitted in the next two weeks.

TAHA:  Over the weekend, the TAHA organization asked to be folded in with the Jr. Grizzlies and a plan to finalize this is being prepared to address the number of teams, how to include all thier players in our existing structure, and how many teams may need to be expanded or created.  At this point, it sounds like the Predator Cup Venue will be the tournament for our developmental teams this year.

Other items that will be finalized at the next meeting are:

Holiday travel blackout dates

Labor Day tournament options

• Tryout and Team Status Notifications

If you are a player that tried out for a position last weekend and have not been contacted by a coach to discuss your team status, please hang tight and don't panic. 

There were a handful of players that had incorrect telephone numbers on the list or the coaches were caught in a game of phone tag.  This should not be interpreted as an indication of your status for a team.  More than 140 players were contacted during the week and the logistics were quite daunting.  If you have not been contacted by Monday evening, please email Mr. Peter Vittands or Mr. Richard Kay.

• 4-on-4 Schedule

Just so we can keep everyone on the same page, Week 7 for Midgets is June 15th and we will continue through Week 10 (July 6th).

Bantams and Peewee's will play Week 8 this Thursday (June 18th) and continue through Week 10 (July 2nd).

Please check your bye schedules.

• Lost-and-Found

There were a number of items found in the locker rooms following tryouts this last weekend.  To claim your items, please call Mr. Darin Peck at (801) 915-4442. 

• Jr. Grizzly Tryouts Concluded

To all the players and families that took time during your busy summer schedules and on behalf of the coaches, "Thank You" for attending tryouts and giving 100% of your effort on the ice.  We hope your experiences this past week were rewarding for you as a player and informative for you as a family.

For all those players and families attending tryouts over the weekend, I think it would be appropriate to collectively thank the Coaches, Board and Parent Volunteers that organized and ran this years tryouts.  It was once again a HUGE success with real growth seen in all Divisions.  This is a direct testament to the continued drive of WMAHA toward offering the best hockey product available in the Salt Lake area.

Based upon the preliminary turnout and skill evaluation, the original plan to field two Bantam teams, two Peewee teams, and one Midget team will in all likelihood occur.  The Squirt plan of two teams is still in the works as supplemental tryouts may become necessary before the end of the summer.  At this point, coaches may decide on supplemental tryouts for the other Divisions later in summer.

As the coaches informed the players on the ice in the closing minutes of their last on-ice session, each player should expect a telephone call from their coach informing them of their status and asking for a commitment should they have made the higher team in their Division.  For those players that are on the 'bubble', they will be offered the summer to work on specific aspects of their game with a second tryout later in the summer.  Bubble players are those players with very close to the necessary attributes desired by the coach, but are not quite there in skill level yet.  Telephone calls should be expected on or before June 12th.

In any event, players should anticipate working hard over the summer regardless and be preparing for their Division Camps (Peewee and Bantam) which will be announced soon.

Once again, a big thanks to the Coaches, Board and Parents who volunteered large blocks of their time to make this years tryouts a success!

• WMAHA Jr. Grizzly Board Meeting

A Board meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 16th, at 6 p.m. with a location to be determined.  Continue to check this webpage for the location.

• Jr. Grizzly Tryouts HUGE Success

The first night of the Jr. Grizzly Tryouts were once again a large success as we are continuing to see sustained growth of the WMAHA organization over each successive year.

Thanks in large part to the great leadership of our Board and the planning of our coaching staff we worked approximately 40 Peewee players and goaiies and 35 Bantam players and goalies during the first night of the tryouts.  Last nights efforts were focused primarily on individual skills, skating and puck handling, one-on-one's and small area game situations.  Evaluators were present in the stands while the parents were asked to wait outside the arena.

Tryouts will continue this Saturday at Steiner when all age groups will be on the ice demonstrating their skills in game situations.  Good luck to all our prospective players this weekend and many thanks to the hard work of our coaching and volunteer staff!