2009/10 Restructuring

One permanent change that has also been approved is a change in the make-up of our entries into the Alliance leagues. For 2009/10 and forward we will be entering 2 AAA teams and only one AA team at each age level from Minor Atom to Minor Midget. Our Midget teams will continue to be composed of one AAA team and 2 AA teams. The AAA teams will be competing in separate divisions (East/West) and the 2 teams would only meet in crossover game and the playdowns. The AAA teams will be tiered. Players will be selected for the first AAA team and the balance of the players attending tryouts will compete for spots on the second AAA team or the AA team.

The first 2 Forest City tryouts will be run concurrently with the tryouts for our second AAA team. London Junior Knights coaches will be at the Forest City tryouts and will extend tryout invitations to selected players. Players who were members of the GLHA Associations in the 2008/09 must attend the Junior Knights open tryouts or the first 2 Forest City tryouts. Anyone not attending these sessions or who refuses to accept an invitation to the Junior Knights AA tryouts will be limited to playing Forest City MD Tier 2 hockey for the 2009/10 season. They will not be eligible to play as Affiliated Players (AP’s) for Tier 1 teams.

Players can declare themselves to be GLHA players up front. These players will be limited to playing no higher than MD Tier 2 and will also not be eligible to play as an AP for any team in the Seeded League.

We have some FAQ’s and answers based on early questions that we have been receiving. You can read the full Alliance Hockey announcement here on our website. Details on our tryouts (process and dates) will be available shortly.

In the meantime please be sure to register either on line here at our site or in person at Pete’s Sports. The registration times at Pete’s Sports are: Wednesday April 15 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday April 18 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Sunday April 19 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. If you have any questions regarding the proposal please view the FAQ section below or contact any Board member. We look forward to seeing you on the ice in August.

FAQ’s Why is this change happening? The GLHA was concerned with the lack of variety of competition within the Forest City league. The Junior Knights AA program has been very successful at the AA level and many Alliance partners were concerned with the strength and success of our teams year in and year out. Alliance hockey asked both associations to work together to investigate a made in London solution that would in effect help both parties and also protect the Junior Knights Rep Hockey program. By adding a second AAA team it opened up an opportunity for our AA players and others to compete at the AAA level. Keeping our AA team helps our Alliance partners in the seeded league and also strengthens our AAA program in terms of future players to these teams. The London Junior Knights AA players will be the AP's to the two AAA teams. This also solves the variety of competition problem that the GLHA program was facing.

Will our Second AAA team be competitive? We expect they will, but our focus in conjunction with our coaches is that development of these players will be first and foremost. We believe that this higher level of competition will develop more players and strengthen our first AAA team.

Registration - How does this change? This will be seamless to the current Junior Knights players and no different to new registrants. You will register for the Junior Knights program like always. Our tryouts commence mid August and you can register for our open tryouts as always.

What is this I hear about Seeded Tryouts? These tryouts are only for players that missed the Junior Knights open tryouts or do not want to tryout for the Junior Knights. They will run for 3 hours during the middle of the London Junior Knights tryouts. We expect the bulk of these players are current Tier 1 & Tier 2 players from the GLHA. These will be run and administered by the GLHA but will be observed by Junior Knights coaches. If I am attending the Junior Knights tryouts do I have to go to these first 2 seeded tryouts with the GLHA ? No, if you have registered for our tryouts and have not been successful you will be able to go directly to the GLHA tryouts in September. Why have these first 2 Forest City tryouts? The London Junior Knights are the Rep Hockey program in London and are carded as such. The GLHA and its member Associations are entering 4 Minor Development (Tier 1) teams in the Seeded league. These tryouts allow our AA and AAA coaches to observe and identify potential players for one of our teams. These players will be invited to our AA tryouts and will compete for positions on our teams. If you want to tryout for one of the AAA teams you will need to enter our Open tryouts. What happens if I want to play Seeded hockey for one of my association teams and do not want to go to the Seeded tryouts ? In other words, I want to play for say, West? You must attend these tryouts (3) hours. If you do not get asked to come to the Junior Knights tryouts you simply go back to your Forest City tryouts with your Association that begin in September. If however, you are asked to come to AA tryouts and refuse, or you come and are offered a card by one of our teams and refuse, you cannot play for a Seeded (Tier 1) team and must return to Tier 2 or house league hockey. You also can not AP to the Seeded Tier 1 team. Bottom line it is imperative you attend these tryouts in order to play Seeded (AA or MD Tier 1) hockey. If I play Seeded hockey for a GLHA team can I AP to a Junior Knights AAA team? No, all affiliations with our AAA teams will come from within the Junior Knights program. If I do not go to the Seeded tryouts when invited, and end up on a Tier 2 team can I affiliate with the Tier 1 team (Seeded) within my home Association? No, by refusing to come to the Junior Knights tryouts when invited or offered a roster spot you must play Tier 2 hockey and affiliation is not permitted. If I am Selected to come to the Junior Knights tryouts and don't make a team, what happens? Our tryouts will be done prior to the commencement of the GLHA association tryouts in September. You would simply return to these tryouts, no different from the way it has happened in the past.

Where will the AAA teams play? The First team (Gold) will play in the West division and the Second (Green) will play in the East division of the Pavilion League.