Attendance Policy
SQUIRTS, PEEWEES, BANTAMS
Committing to the team: All players committing to Squirt, Peewee, and Bantam hockey at MWC are making a commitment to the team. This attendance policy is intended to help guide families in choosing between Squirt/Peewee/Bantam hockey and the Development Team.
Importance of game attendance: Players must be present for their team as ice hockey heavily relies on rapid, synchronized teamwork, situational trust, and consistent line chemistry. When a full roster is present, coaches can maintain fluid line changes, distribute ice time without physical exhaustion, and the team functions as a united group. Missing players disrupt these core tenets of a competitive hockey team, which ultimately limits both individual player development and the collective success of the team.
Importance of practice attendance: Attending practices is also critical because it is where players develop essential individual skills, learn team strategies, and build the physical conditioning needed for safe game play. Coaches build practice plans specific to the needs of the team and who will be in attendance. Consistent practice attendance strengthens team chemistry and trust, ensuring everyone can execute plays cohesively when game day arrives.
Attendance requirements:
- Attendance is mandatory for all tournaments, playdowns, and state tournament games except for illness, injury or other serious and rare situations communicated to coaching staff well in advance whenever possible
- Attendance is expected for all other regular season games, except for illness, injury or other serious and rare situations communicated to coaching staff well in advance whenever possible
- Attendance is expected for all scheduled team practices and other scheduled activities (including off-ice training and film review) except for illness, injury or other serious and rare situations communicated to coaching staff well in advance whenever possible with the additional understanding that occasional conflicts will arise due to school and family commitments.
Prioritization, Communication, and Consequences:
During the MWC regular season, it is expected that players treat hockey as their priority sport. Players must RSVP in Crossbar at least 48 hours advance for all events. Please RSVP for games at least one week in advance to add coaches and team managers time to find substitutes or reschedule, if needed. Unexcused absences, and absences exceeding this policy reduced ice time in games when the player is in attendance. This may also factor into program and team placement in future seasons.
Ice Time Awareness:
Due to ice time constraints, practices often finish later at night than is ideal. End times are often 8:25pm for Squirts, 9:15pm or occasionally 9:50pm for Peewees, and 10:25pm for Bantams. Please be mindful of these realities when making your commitment to our competitive teams vs the development program.
MITES, ATOMS
We encourage Mites and Atoms to be present at a majority of scheduled events, and request a RSVP in Crossbar 48 hours in advance to assist coaches in planning.
We ask all families to be understanding that ice time is a limited commodity and scheduled events may be at times early in the morning or immediately after school. As examples:
- Atoms regularly will have Sunday 7:45am skates (occasionally 7:30am)
- Mites road games may often start at 7am or 8am, for which players will need to arrive in advance to get dressed and warmed up.
- Mites will typically have one practice per week on a weekday at 4:10pm.
In addition, recurring schedules are common and those ice slots may regularly conflict with other sports and non-sports programs the family would like to participate in. We appreciate your understanding and respect the need for you to select which program is the best fit for your family, which may include selecting a Learn To Skate or Learn To Play Hockey program as an alternative.