AROUND THE BOARDS
ACTON BOXBORO YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
PO BOX 629 ACTON MA 01720 www.abyha.org
Volume 4, Issue 1 September 2001
Greetings from your Program Director Jerry Melanson Wins Massachusetts Hockey
By Mike Carroll, ABYHA Program Director Assistant Coach of the Year Award
By Fred Isbell, Director of Marketing & Communications
Welcome everyone to the 2001/2001 Acton
Boxborough Youth Hockey Association Season. We Jerry Melanson, long-time
look forward to another season of great hockey for all coach and volunteer for the
members. The ABYHA organization strives to meet ABYHA, was awarded the
the four major goals during the year. The first is to prestigious Massachusetts
create an opportunity for as many of our town youth as Hockey Assistant Coach of
possible to play the game of hockey. The second is to the Year Award at the
develop the hockey skill set of each and every one of annual state meeting of
our members. Third is to increase the number of Massachusetts Hockey held
volunteers in our program. Fourth, and most on Cape Cod in June. Jerry
important, is to make sure the kids have fun. won the award after the
Massachusetts Hockey
Another key program objective is effective awards committee reviewed
communication. I have received feedback that the a submission that included
communication process within the program may not over one hundred personal
have been clear as it should be. As the Program testimonials from current
Director, I have taken an opportunity to outline the Nick DeMarco, players, coaches, parents,
structure of the AB program. Within this newsletter I Coordinator of the
Massachusetts Hockey
and alumni.
have enclosed a chart to show how information should
Coaching Education
be disseminated throughout the program as well as Program, presents Jerry Melanson was
who to contact with a question. Utilizing the chart Jerry Melanson with presented the award in a
should improve the distribution of time critical team the Assistant Coach Of ceremony presided over by
items (e.g., practice schedules and game schedules) The Year Award
Dan Esdale, President of
through their associate directors and optimize our Massachusetts Hockey.
communication through team managers. USA Hockey Executive Director Doug Palazzari also
attended. Nick DeMarco, Coordinator of the
I would ask each of you to help work with the ABYHA Massachusetts Hockey Coaching Education Program,
program in meeting these objectives. I hope each of presented the Assistant Coach of the Year Award to
you can contribute in some manner to make your Melanson. DeMarco commented on his selection for
child’s experience the best possible. Please support the award: “The awards committee was extremely
them in their efforts, applaud them in their impressed by the ABYHA submission of Jerry
accomplishments and get your satisfaction from the Melanson for Massachusetts Hockey Assistant Coach
fact that they are having fun. of the Year. When we reviewed more than one
hundred testimonials and saw the incredible grass
Let’s make this a good and rewarding season for all.
roots support for Jerry Melanson, we realized that he
See you at the rink. Have a great hockey season!!
was the ideal recipient for this award. We congratulate
September 2001 ABYHA Around The Boards Page 1
Jerry on this award and sincerely thank him for his Hockey Magazine for a special feature that includes
many years of service”. coverage on Coach Jerry. Stay tuned – we will be
announcing an event for later this fall celebrating
Mike Carroll, Program Director for the association, Jerry’s accomplishments and award and saying “thank
agrees. “Jerry Melanson is a tremendous asset to our you” for his many years of service to ABYHA!
program, to Massachusetts Hockey, and to youth
hockey in general. In so many ways, Jerry is the
“ultimate Assistant Coach” for players of all ages. The ABYHA Associate Directors: Who They Are
ABYHA program would like to extend our and What They Do
congratulations to Jerry for winning this prestigious
award and thank him for his many years of dedicated Associate Directors of Ice Hockey teams are non-
service”. voting board members that assist the ABYHA Director
of Hockey with a variety of administrative activities.
For the full text of the articles that appeared in local There is an Associate Director at each hockey level,
newspapers on Jerry’s award, go to the ABYHA web from Mites through Midgets. The Associate Directors
site at www.abyha.org and click on the picture of Jerry are liaisons between the teams and the Director of
on the home page. Hockey. The primary responsibility of the Associate
Directors is to maintain communication between the
Director of Hockey and the Coaches at their level.
Thanks – Mission Melanson Accomplished When Hockey information needs to be distributed to
each team, it goes from the Director of Hockey to the
Fred Isbell, Director If Marketing and Communications
Associate Director and to the coaches.
Thanks to all of you who responded to this year’s
For Time-Critical Teams Items, the Associate Director
campaign on behalf of Jerry Melanson. We were
will forward the pertinent information DIRECTLY to the
successful due to the outstanding
Team managers at their level. Time-Critical Team
response from all of you – as the
Items are defined as required information needed that
Chairman of the Massachusetts
is out of the programs control (e.g., game and practice
Hockey Awards Committee told me,
schedules). The Director of Ice and the Director of
once they read the ABYHA
Leagues shall forward pertinent game and practice
submission and saw the outpouring
schedules to the applicable Associate Directors.
of support for Jerry, there was no
one else they could award it to! Coaches and Parents may contact the Associate
Many thanks to Karen Sincavage, Director to confidentially discuss concerns. The
who helped coordinate a massive Associate Director will attempt to resolve any problem
direct mail campaign to past and present ABYHA that arises on a team when notified and if necessary,
players, parents, and alumni, and Pat Hayes, who take those concerns to the Director of Hockey.
shared her experience from the past Bob Caldwell
William Thayer Tutt campaign to us. As some of you Some specific activities of the associate director
may have heard, the William Thayer Tutt Awards was include obtaining all the signed team rosters,
given to an individual in Belmont MA who, like our distributing schedules, evaluation material, and
Coach Jerry, has given many years of outstanding pertinent hockey information from the Director of
service in support of youth hockey. However, the USA Hockey
Hockey folks were very impressed with Jerry and by
ABYHA’s submission. Jerry was a “finalist” in this The 2001-2002 Associate Directors are:
year’s awards and is automatically entered in the Mite Mary Beth Regan 978 635-0257
running for next year. We received almost 150 Squirt Sharon DiCicco 978 635-8024
individual testimonials, which were put into a bound Pee Wee Kathy Marrion 978 263-5887
book for both the Massachusetts Hockey and USA Bantams OPEN
Hockey Awards Committees. Articles on Jerry’s MA Midgets Lou Messina 978 562-2871
Hockey award have appeared in both the Beacon and
Nashoba Publications, and look in this October’s USA There is an open position for the Associate Director at
the Bantam level. Please call the Director of Hockey if
September 2001 ABYHA Around The Boards Page 2
you are interested in the position. This position • 36 full sheet of ice for Greg Carter skill sessions.
doesn’t require an extensive knowledge of hockey and Typically 6 skill sessions per team.
is not a significant time commitment. Associate Due to the lack of available ice, the program has
Directors are expected to attend monthly board decided to conduct each team’s skill session as part of
meetings (generally the second Tuesday night of each their original practice ice.
month). It’s an opportunity to contribute to your
child’s hockey program and a great way to be Scheduling of practice ice – The program strives to
informed about the organization. accomplish the following in its scheduling of ice:
• To avoid any direct game vs. practice conflicts
throughout the season.
ABYHA Ice Activity and Involvement
• To attempt to equally distribute undesirable
By Mike Carroll, ABYHA Program Director and Acting practice dates and times.
Director of Ice Activities
• To make scheduling information available to the
Each year the program obtains the ice required for program as quickly and accurately as possible
each team. The number of teams varies from year to • To ensure each team receives an equal number of
year, but typically we need 14 full sheets of ice per practices.
week for the season. Due to the increase in player • To attempt to avoid tournament vs. practice
participation, the program will have 15 teams (Mite conflicts when advanced notice of a scheduled
through Bantam) requiring 15 hours of full sheet tournament is provided.
practice ice per week. This will allow each team to
typically conduct two practices per week. Acton Boxboro Youth Hockey
Association Web Site Takes the
To acquire the needed ice for the season, the following Silver Medal in Massachusetts
facilities were contacted in May: NVO, Boxboro; Hockey State Competition
Valley Sports, Concord; Navin, Marlboro; NESC,
The Acton Boxboro Youth Hockey
Marlboro; Groton School, Groton; Middlesex School,
Association (ABYHA) web site
Concord; Chelmsford Forum, Chelmsford; Lawrence
(www.abyha.org) was awarded
Academy, Groton; Belmont Hill, Belmont; Burlington
second place in the Massachusetts
Ice Palace, Burlington. Our program has secured the
Hockey Web Site of the Year competition announced
following ice this season:
at the Massachusetts Hockey state meeting June 16th
2001 on Cape Cod. ABYHA came in second to the
Location Day Times
winner, the Whitman Hanson Kingston Hawks Youth
NVO Monday 5:45-6:45 & 6:55-7:55 PM
Hockey Association. The following criteria were used
NVO Tuesday 5:45-6:45 & 6:55-7:55 PM
in evaluating program web sites for the award: easy to
NVO Wed 5:45-6:45 & 6:55-7:55 PM
use; clean and sharp looking (does not have to be
NVO Thursday 7:35-8:35 & 8:15-9:15 PM
professionally done but can be); program Information
NVO Friday 5:50-6:50 & 7:00- 8:00 PM
to include rules, regulations and program by-laws;
NVO Friday 7:05-8:05 & 8:10-9:10 PM
content updates; links to Massachusetts and USA
NVO Saturday 7:00-8:00 AM
Hockey; program contacts (Board of Directors); and
NVO Friday 8:00-9:00 AM
applications and forms. An awards committee,
Valley Sports Saturday 6:40-7:40 & 7:50-8:50 AM
established and chaired by the Massachusetts Hockey
NVO Sunday 10:30-11:30&11:45-12:45 PM
President including the Massachusetts Hockey
Valley Sports Sunday 8:00-9:00 PM
Webmaster, reviewed all the association websites on a
This totals 19 full sheets of ice per week. Our ice regular basis.
requirements were defined in consideration of the
Feedback from the Massachusetts Hockey Webmaster
following:
was very positive. “Congratulations to Acton Boxboro
• 2 practices per week per team
Webmaster Joan Hudacheck (wife of past ABYHA
• 4 Full sheets of ice per week for LTS for 2 12 week
Program Director Mike DiCicco). This website has all
sessions from mid October through mid March
the bells and whistles and all the information as a
September 2001 ABYHA Around The Boards Page 3
program parent you could ever need or want. The
decision on which site was number one was so close it ABYHA 2000-2001 Survey Responses By Level
was almost a toss up and all I can add is great job
Joan. Keep up the fantastic work; you make the name Bantams
Webmaster important to all of us out here. Acton 2% Mosquitoes
Boxboro was the most professional and I loved the 10%
ability to download the parents’ booklets, which Peew ees
included rules and regulations and the program by- 19%
laws. Joan Hudachek utilizes the Adobe Portable
Document Format (PDF), keeping all the members up- Mites
to-date with current information, applications and Squirt 40%
forms”. 29%
Internet Marketing Consultant and noted author LTS/Mosquitoes, nine people in the Mosquito
Richard Seltzer, the author of The AltaVista Search Intramural Program responded to the survey. People
Revolution who also reviewed the site, agreed. “The surveyed had, on average, 3.8 years experience with
site for the Action Boxboro Youth Hockey Association ABYHA. The high response rate was very
is remarkably content rich and useful. All the encouraging, indicating a strong willingness to
information a hockey player, parent, or fan would want participate in a program survey.
is available -- in a simple format that is readily On a five-point scale, the average rating of their child’s
accessible and loads quickly. Even people with slow
modem connections can benefit from all of this. The ABYHA 2000-2001 Survey
emphasis is on utility rather than on flash. Average Scores By Question
Congratulations on building and maintaining a site that
is so well-suited for serving its community”. Seltzer will Overall Experience 4.4
be highlighting the ABYHA web site in an upcoming
Overall Coaching 4.5
book on successful web sites and Internet/Electronic
Commerce.
Question
Skills Sessions 4.1
Members of Acton Boxboro Youth Hockey Association Program
4.1
Communication
also agreed, citing the ABYHA web site as a critical
component of program communications in a recent Placement/Evaluation 3.8
survey and a major improvement over past years. For League Satisfaction 3.7
more information on this award, please go to the
Massachusetts Hockey web site at 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0
www.masshockey.com/Woty/ .
overall experience was 4.4, mid-way between “good”
and “excellent” and interpreted as “very good”. The
highest-rated aspect of the ABYHA program was the
ABYHA 2000-2001 Program Survey
overall coaching, followed by the ABYHA Skills
Fred Isbell, Director of Marketing & Communications
Sessions and overall program communication. The
lowest-rated aspect of the ABYHA program was
The Program conducted a survey of its members
league satisfaction, followed by player
during the 2000-2001 season through a survey handed
placement/evaluation. The best predictor of the
out at tryouts in March with the Regis-tration kit and
respondent’s overall level of satisfaction was their
included in the April Newsletter. 87 members
perception of the overall coaching their son/daughter
responded to the survey – an overall response rate of
received during the year.
41% of the program (Mite to Bantam). The response
rate was directly correlated to the level – the highest Qualitative feedback was also received on what people
number of responses occurred at the Mite level, liked best about the program, and suggested areas for
followed by Squirts, Pewees, and Bantams. Though strengthening. Results were given to the Board of
targeted at ABYHA teams and not directly at Directors and Associate Directors at each level.
September 2001 ABYHA Around The Boards Page 4
White ABYHA Jersey Pin Now Available
The new white ABYHA jersey
pin is now available at $2.00 per
pin. Please contact the
equipment manager Mike
DiCicco at 987-635-9668 if you
would like to get these for
tournaments or team gifts, etc.
These and other ABYHA pins will be available for sale
at ABYHA team photos in October. Look for a flyer on
ABYHA merchandise later in the year with this and
other ABYHA logo products
Key Dates:
9/26 – Team Manager Meeting 7:30 PM NVO
nd
Green Room (Rink1, 2 floor)
10/3 – LTS/Mosquito Registration 6:30 PM AB High School
10/9-10 - Team Photos: AB High School Common Room
10/10 – First Learn To Skate 5:45 & 7:00 PM
11/10 – An Evening of Celebration to Honor Coach Jerry
7:30 PM at NVO.
11/15 – Mosquito Team Photos and Team Photo Makeup,
AB High School Common Room
Acton Boxboro Youth Hockey Association
P.O. Box 629
Acton, MA 01720
September 2001 ABYHA Around The Boards Page 6