SCAHA: Hello Hockey Families,
As you may know, in late December the first case of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was reported in Wuhan, China. Since that time, many health organizations around the world have been following the virus closely, by Jan. 21 the first case on U.S. soil was confirmed. As with any newly-emerging infectious disease, knowledge evolves with time and recommendations are changing rapidly. We are closely monitoring information from public health officials and will continue to follow their prevention guidelines to help keep everyone in our hockey community stay informed.
This weekend marks our last for SCAHA for the season. We are aware that in Northern California the area's are advising to keep and public gathering to under 1,000 people. From a semifinal perspective, we have 20 games spread across four (4) facilities so the gatherings at each facility on Saturday will certainly be reasonable and, in general, will reflect a typical SCAHA weekend as it relates to attendance.
For Sunday's championships, we will host 10 games total - playing games on both sheets at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo. As long as families do not linger after their championship game, we will be good with that 1,000 person guideline (20 team members x 8 teams in the building at any one time with approximately 3-4 family members per player is approximately 800 people).
We ask our families to please me mindful of this guideline, and keep your attendance to your immediate family only. NorCal - due to their county's requirements - are handing out wristbands and are limiting attendance to just two people per player. We currently do not have such a requirement from the county. The Kings' facility does support LiveBarn on the Internet, so the game is available to watch live remotely for extended family and friends.
We will also be changing our post game handshakes: We will limit them to a single line of fist bumps after the game with the gloves remaining on the hands. We will forgo the extended handshakes when awarding the hardware after the game.
While at the facility:
- Please use the friendly elbow bump or fist bump to say hello.
- Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds
- Cough and sneeze etiquette is encouraged
- Clean frequently touched surfaces
- Please do not linger; after your game, please head on out and enjoy the rest of the afternoon
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
USA HOCKEY: USA Hockey has announced that it has canceled its series of upcoming National Championships, including high school, youth, girls, adult and sled, that were set to begin in various locations across the country on March 26. In addition, the organization also announced it has canceled its Disabled Hockey Festival, which was set to take place over two weekends (March 26-29 and April 2-5) in Pittsburgh, Penn.
“Safety of our participants has always been our top priority and with the current coronavirus situation, our executive committee unanimously decided to cancel these national events,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey.
“We felt it was important to get the news of the cancellation out immediately,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “We’re sure there will be many questions and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we together work through this unprecedented situation.
“While we're disappointed that we had to make this decision, we celebrate the success of USA Hockey teams across the country this year, as well as the time and effort so many people invested into these signature events. We’re thankful to our national sponsors, tournament directors, volunteers and so many others for their support in making hockey an enjoyable experience for all.”
USA Hockey will continue to provides updates regularly on the coronavirus situation at USAHockey.com.
NOTE: There are games/tournaments played throughout the U.S. at the local level that include USA Hockey members that are not national-level events and are operated by districts, affiliates, local associations or even private operators. The decisions relative to those events are made at the local level. We continue to encourage all involved to engage with local health and medical professionals, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, in making educated decisions.
We will stay informed and will let everyone know if events change in this dynamic situation.
If you would like more information on the Coronavirus, please refer to: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
