Meet the Coaches Night
November 21, 2014
OA High School Cafeteria – 5:30 p.m.
Coach Mark Homer thanked everyone for coming. The "Meet the Coaches Night" is a good opportunity for new parents to not only meet the coaches but to get an overall feel for what the OA Hockey program will be about.
Coach Homer introduced his assistants:
Sean Bertoni – Assistant Coach. Sean is a goaltender which is great to have on staff. Sean adds a different perspective to the team. He is from Franklin and takes care of the goalies as well as the defensive core.
Mike Fitzgerald – Assistant Coach. Mike played for Xaverian and junior hockey for the South Shore Kings. He also coached with the River Rats program. Mike is a volunteer coach who will be there as much as he can. Mike's expertise is how he sees the game; he is an excellent student of the game.
Dan Cabral – JV Coach. Last year's JV coach (Jeremiah) has moved on to coach the Varsity program at Blue Hills Regional. Dan is from Stoughton and helped out with the hockey program. Dan is very excited about being here and is on board with everything we are looking to do and understands the connection between JV and Varsity. Dan is an advocate of the coaches knowing what is going with the JV program at the Varsity level. This is very important to the program, especially in case of injuries. It is much easier if both JV and Varsity are doing the same things (drills; plays) which makes the transition easier for the players from the JV to the Varsity level.
Now to talk about the season.
- Bill Matthews (Athletic Director) does not want players driving other players to the games.
- The players take a bus to the away games; if your player can't be on the bus, you must let the coach know ahead of time. The coach needs to get Athletic Director approval ahead of time.
- The schedule is on the website. Jarek (our website administrator) has been doing a great job. The schedule shows everything there is right now for both JV and Varsity.
- There can be changes during the year. There will probably be two more games for JV (for a total of 20 games). There will not be a tournament at Christmas this year. The practice schedule will stay pretty much the same as last year (there is still an early morning practice for JV players).
Communication:
- Coach Homer will go to Keith to disseminate information for the parents.
- Coach Homer is responsible for all decisions. He will consult the other coaches, but he will make the final decision. If a parent needs to be in touch with the coach, call or email the coach. The door is always open however the coaches will not be available after the games. Please understand that the coaches are not avoiding anyone, the door is always open, but after a game is not the time to address any issues. Additioally, the coaches would prefer that the player comes to the coach if there are any issues. It's fine for the parent to get in touch with the coach if the player is uncomfortable but please be aware that the final conversation will occur between the coach and the player. The player may not get the answer they are looking for but the kids should speak up for themselves. It's all part of the unity of the team. The captains are all aware of this as well.
- The captains are the eyes and ears of the team. We have a great set of captains with excellent leadership skills. They are in charge of the locker room. If there are issues, the coach wants to know about it right away. The captains will help initiate the conversation with the coach. A question was asked about captains at the JV level. Coach Homer is in favor of this however it would be a decision that would be made more as the season progresses; Dan can assess who might be able to handle the responsibility.
Tryout Information:
- Registration – please be sure that your registration is all set. Both the registration fee and the booster fee must be paid before December 1st. All information is provided on the OA Hockey website (
- Physicals – physicals are only good for 13 months from the date of the exam. All players must have a current physical on file in order to try out. Physicals must be turned in to either the Oliver Ames High School nurse or Mr. Matthews by Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. or the player will not be allowed on the ice on December 1st. If you have a physical scheduled for your child on Wednesday, November 26th or the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving, please email the nurse or Mr. Matthews ahead of time so that they are aware of this. They will still need to receive the physical via email ahead of time in order for the player to try out. Physicals will not be accepted at tryouts.
- IMPact testing – All players must have a current IMPact test on file in order to try out. If you are unsure of whether or not your child has a current physical and/or IMPact test, please email the nurse or Mr. Matthews by Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Again, all information can be found on the OA Hockey website.
- Tryouts will begin on December 1st. There are no early morning tryouts this year. Tryouts will run through Sunday the 7th. The 3 scrimmages held during the week will be used as evaluating tools. Not all the players will go to all the scrimmages.
- There was a question as to how many players make Varsity and how many players will dress for the games. The Hockomock League lets you dress 22; this will breakdown to 2 goalies and 20 skaters for Hock games. For non-league games; we will dress 2 goalies and 18 players. There will be 4 lines. The 4th line doesn't always get a lot of ice time. The kids that don't get a lot of ice time at Varsity games will skate in the JV games. There will be a "floater" group, but they will practice with Varsity; and this could change throughout the year.
Please understand that if a player is benched, it is the coaches' way of explaining to them what they are doing wrong and so that the problem can be worked on. The players need to know that it is ok to make mistakes. The coaches will discuss what happens with the player. Again, it may not always be the answer the player is looking for, but the player will understand why the decision is made.
Thank you again for coming. The coaches are really looking forward to the season. Although he is cautiously optimistic, he does have high expectations for the season. If anyone has any questions, please contact Coach Homer at .
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