August AHSHA Update
We are sure that by now, everyone has watched with interest the events that transpired this past week with the arrest of Mary Ann Williams and we wanted to give everyone an update. This is a time when all of us need to be positive and upbeat and talk about the good things of high school hockey and not be caught up in the theft. We need to keep the focus on looking forward to a great new season and not dwell on the past.
The AHSHA Managers\Coaches and Board meetings are being postponed from this Saturday, August 14 to later in the month. The Managers/Coaches meeting will be held in conjunction with the Scheduling Meeting which is now being held on Sunday afternoon, August 22 at the Ice Den at 4 pm in the upstairs meeting room. Our main focus will be on completing the pre-season schedule but we will also give the managers and coaches any information that we would have shared at the managers meeting. The Board Meeting date, time and location will be announced as soon as it is finalized.
The Fall Registration Early Bird Fee of $1299 is good through August 15. The Registration fee increases to $1399 on August 16. Please encourage players to sign up by this date. This is also the team formation deadline, so for teams on the bubble, we will make decisions to combine schools and teams based on the players registered as of August 15. Registration will continue on a space available basis after August 16. We anticipate that some teams may fill up this season as we are planning to have fewer teams. We will communicate what teams are being combined as soon as the decisions are made.
AHSHA is healthy financially and we are finalizing our ice slots with Arcadia , Ice Den, Oceanside and the Polar Ice facilities in Chandler , Gilbert and Peoria for the fall season. We will also be skating at the Jay Lively Arena in Flagstaff when it is rebuilt and at Tim's Toyota Center if Prescott has a team this season.
Here is the press release that AHSHA Issued last week. Please contact us if you have any questions.
FOR IMMEADIATE RELEASE
Arizona High School Hockey Association (AHSHA) moves forward after discovering an apparent fraud situation.
Phoenix, AZ: August 4, 2010
Phoenix Police informed AHSHA of the arrested Mary Ann Williams on charges of theft, fraud and forgery, in connection with AHSHA. Mary Ann was AHSHA Treasurer from June 2003, until being removed in February 2010.
AHSHA became aware of the apparent theft of funds in February 2010 when several checks to league providers failed to clear. Upon discovery, ASHSA league representatives met with Mary Ann and the concerns were confirmed. With confirmation of the discovery, Mary Ann was immediately removed as a board member and treasurer. AHSHA contacted the Phoenix Police Department and have been working to provide supporting documentation. The board has instituted enhanced financial procedures and audit processes as part of an overall finance management review.
With AHSHA being a long-standing resource for high school hockey in Arizona, it was important to inform and notify creditors, players, parents, coaches and managers of the situation, and more importantly of AHSHA's plan to continue to deliver an excellent experience for high school hockey players, league supporters and families. AHSHA delivers high school hockey programs year round to players throughout the state.
AHSHA has been working with creditors to pay outstanding debts which should be completed in August. As part of continued business efforts, claims have been submitted to AHSHA's insurance providers.
AHSHA is a non profit organization (501c3) that registers players and teams, and manages high school ice hockey in the state of Arizona and is a Member Association of USA Hockey. AHSHA has been managing High School Ice Hockey in Arizona since 1999.
Last season, AHSHA had 30 teams representing players from over 75 schools. Most teams are considered club teams by their school programs. Some teams play as pure teams with players on the team from a single school and some teams play as mixed teams with players form multiple schools. AHSHA has both Varsity and Junior Varsity teams.
AHSHA's operating budget has been realigned to fit with its resources, manage debt payments, and still deliver an excellent value to players, families and supporters. Unfortunately, part of the realigning meant eliminating the paid full-time League Administrator and the full time Director of Hockey positions, and operating with an all volunteer organization.
AHSHA continues building player registrations for the fall season which begins in early September. Registration is open at www.thunderonice.com.
With the volunteer contributions of time, resources and money, the ASHSA board has able to effectively focus on assisting in the investigation, put plans in place to move forward, pay off debts and register players for a successful fall high school hockey season.
AHSHA provides need based scholarships to deserving players who are undergoing financial hardship. This year, AHSHA is providing over $8,000 in scholarship assistance. Donations are always accepted and are welcomed as we work through issue.
Any requests for additional information should be directed to Jon Brooks at 602-999-9194 or arizonahighschoolhockey@yahoo.com
Jon Brooks
President
Arizona High School Hockey Association (AHSHA)
PO Box 64383
Phoenix, AZ 85082-4383
www.thunderonice.com
July AHSHA Update
To All AHSHA Parents, Players, Coaches, Managers and Volunteers,
Fall Registration is now open. You can register for the Fall 2010-2011 season on www.thunderonice.com. The cost of the fall program is the same as last year.
Register before August 15 and pay $1299 early bird fee and have your payments using flexi-pay spread out over 5 payments. You pay 40% of the fee at registration and you pay 15% more on September 1, October 1, November 1 and December 1.
Registration fees increase to $1399 on August 16 and you have less months to spread your fees out over. This is the same structure as last year. The later in the season you register: the fewer payments that are available.
You will also have an option to pay by credit card outside of Sportability or to pay your registration fees by check. You can use a special discount code “fall10” on the registration payment page instead of your credit card. An AHSHA representative will then contact you for payment information.
The Fall 2010-2011 Season will consist of 22 regular season games and 15 practices plus playoffs. Each team also gets a credit of $125.00 per player for home and away jerseys and home and away socks allocated to the team account. The plan is to start the season on September 10 and we will try to end the season the first weekend in March avoiding school spring breaks.
At this month’s board meeting, a new division structure was approved for next season. Teams will be classified as 5A, 4A, 3A or JV for the 2010-2011 season. Only pure varsity teams will be allowed to play in 5A. Mixed Varsity teams and Pure Varsity teams will less experience will be placed into 4A and 3A based upon playing ability.
These decisions on where teams will be placed will be made by our Coaching Competition Committee. A preliminary assignment of teams by division is located on the Team School Worksheet posted to the 2010-2011 Fall Registration on the thunderonice website.
There will also be cross division play where the 5A teams will play the 4A teams and the 4A teams will play the 3A teams and the 3A teams will play the JV teams. We are still working out the mechanics of how this will work on Sportability for tracking team wins, loses and statistics.
Another one of our Major Initiatives for next season will be to improve the scheduling process and to get it published on a more consistent basis. Each Team Manager will be asked to take part in several scheduling meetings and have input into the home game and practice slots that are allotted to each team. More information will follow and we hope this we lead to a better more accurate schedule that should be consistent for all teams.
Listed below are the Head Coaches that have been approved for the fall season. We are still in the process of approving Head Coaches for a few teams. Assistant coaches and team managers are still needed for most teams.
Team Position Name
Boulder Creek Head Coach David Zak
Brophy Broncos Head Coach Eric Murrietta
Brophy Broncos JV Head Coach Jason Wright
Cactus Shadows Head Coach Joel Van Conant
Centennial Coyotes Head Coach Greg Vaughn
Chaparral Firebirds Head Coach Dave Warnoker
Corona del Sol Aztecs Head Coach Tait Green
Desert Mountain Wolves Head Coach Barry Harcus
Desert Mountain Wolves JV Head Coach Tony Radke
Desert Vista Thunder Head Coach Dean Argeros
Flagstaff Avalanche Head Coach Mark Donnelly
Gilbert Head Coach Gary Swanson
Hamilton Huskies Head Coach David Smith
Highland Head Coach Andrew Dudley
Horizon Huskies Head Coach Edward Georgevich
Horizon Huskies JV Head Coach Craig Morningstar
Lady Coyotes JV Head Coach Gayle Shalloo
Mesquite Wildcats Head Coach Brian Fanzo
Mountain Pointe Pride Head Coach Marty Gilan
Mountain Ridge Mt Lions Head Coach John McIntosh
North Canyon Rattlers Head Coach Rick Hering
Notre Dame Prep Saints Head Coach Mark Ciaccio
Notre Dame Prep Saints JV Head Coach Chris Clement
O'Connor Head Coach TBD
Pinnacle Pioneers Head Coach Glenn Karlson
Prescott Head Coach TBD
Sunrise Mountain Mustangs Head Coach Jim Baudanza
Tucson Monsoon Head Coach Fred Dail
Thunder U18 Head Coach Rick Hering
Thunder U16 Head Coach Frank Kraljic
Volunteers are always needed to serve on the AHSHA Board, AHSHA Committees, Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Team Managers. Please fill out a staff or board application on the thunderonice.com website for next season. Our next Manager and Board Meeting is scheduled for August 14 at a location TBD.
We are in the process of resolving our financial commitments from last season and hope to have everything completed before the start of the new fall season. By reducing league administrative and operating costs for the upcoming fall season, we are able to pay our bills from last season while still able to fund the new season.
If you have any questions on high school hockey, please contact us at thunderonice@thunderonice.com . You can also call us 602-799-7447.
Thanks for your support of high school hockey. We are looking forward to a terrific Fall Season.
Jon Brooks for the entire AHSHA Board
