Michigan Senior Women’s Hockey League

Meeting Minutes ~ August 24, 2006

Meeting Overview

President Joanne Lukasik called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.

President’s Report

In the opening remarks, Joanne said there were more positives than negatives last season; the league grew and we had great success at Nationals. Congratulations to the Ice Dogs and Michigan Ice Breakers for a strong performance in Nationals as well as the Windsor Bulls who were winners of the Ontario Provincial C division. Thanks to the Frozen Assets for a great job hosting Ruicci Cup last season. We are looking for a host team for the 2007 Ruicci Cup Tournament!

The league has continued to grow, and this year there will be 38 teams as we have lost one Advanced I team but have picked up two new Recreation II teams.

This past year we ran a Developmental league that was a huge success. Thanks to Board Members: Amy Martin, Terry Mathews, Carrie Sirola and former board members Deb Ruzsvanszki and Renee Dobrzelewski for their hard work to make them a success. With this league and the Chicks with Sticks program we were able to bring 2 new teams and about 35-40 players into the league to fill vacant positions. Thanks to everyone for helping this league continue to grow each year.

Joanne introduced the Board members, Terry Mathews (VP), Amy Martin(VP), Lisa Mello (Secretary), Johnna Rhone (Treasurer) and absent Carrie Sirola (MAHA/USA Hockey Rep) and Adrianna Sable (Referee in Chief).

Treasurer’s Report

Joanne went through the financial status of the league.Last year’s revenue: $18,940.00; expenses: $5,103.24, Ruicci Cup expenses: $12,051.79 and our current balance is $ 4,665.68. If anyone is interested in a detailed report of our bank statement contact Joanne directly.

Vice-President’s Report

V.P. Terry Mathews discussed the mandatory coaches/manager’s meeting on September 13, 2006 at the Taylor Sportsplex, directions are in your packets. This meeting will be used to go through the MSWHL Handbook’s rules as well as new USA Hockey rules for the upcoming season. USA Hockey has a video that will be shown. All of this information will be available on our league website soon. In your team packet there is information, including a handout of the rule changes, score sheets, Ruicci Cup checklist, list of critical dates and game/roster tracking form. For the Sept. 13thmeeting each team must have The Acknowledgement of Rules & Regulations form signed by a team representative and turned in that night.

V.P. Amy Martin talked about the USA Hockey rules changes and information about it will be put on our website soon or you can go to the USA Hockey website for more information. At the Sept. 13th meeting we will be viewing a video created by USA Hockey that highlights the changes.

MAHA/USA Hockey Report

V.P. Terry Mathews reported that the National Tournament will be held in San Jose, California on March 23-25, 2007 and the State Tournament will be the in February. More info to come.

Division/Team Structure

V.P. Amy Martin announced the divisions.

Advanced I:Michigan Icebreakers, O’Leary Hawks, Black Beauty, Harrow. Advanced II: Varsity Graphics, Ice Dogs, Mission, McDonald’s, Windsor Bulls, Smoothie Kings. Intermediate I: Ice Cubes, Polar Bears, United Wrecking, Metro Blades, Wildcats, Howell Lady Blues, Steel Mags, Stingrays. Intermediate II: Frozen Assets, Flyers, Phantoms, Black Ice, Iron Maidens, Michigan Devils. Recreation I: Ice Picks, Ice Pack, Lady Wings, Nighthawks, Belle Tire, MotorCity Storm, Capital Crush. Recreation II: Kensington Swarm, Ann Arbor Cyclones, Ann Arbor Flames, Berkley Predators, Silver Bullets, Puck N’ Chicks, and a New Team. Complete schedules must be sent to the Director, President, and web site to be posted. Games start October 1, 2006.

Teams broke into sessions and created their schedules for the first half of the season, October – December.

  • Mandatory Coach’s/Managers meeting September 13, 2006, Taylor Sportsplex- Conference Room A
  • The next league meeting is TBD. Information will be posted to the league website soon.

Lisa Mello

MSWHL Secretary