Despite new restrictions, some Ottawa hockey associations are choosing to keep practicing

OTTAWA - - New provincial guidelines and restriction for hockey arenas and organizations announced this week led some youth leagues to put their seasons on pause, but not everyone is prepared to cancel ice time altogether. 

“As much as these new restrictions are going to cause us more effort and more work and more difficulty, we feel it’s worth it to keep plugging ahead as long as we have to,” says David Christie, head coach and president of the Ottawa Bandits Hockey Association, a team for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities. 

The modified stage two restrictions mean teams can only practice in groups smaller than 10, including coaches – a change that has caused leagues including the Nepean Hockey Association, the West End Hockey League and the City of Ottawa Ringette Association to pause their seasons this week until the guidelines are updated. Parents cannot stay in the building to watch and all dressing rooms are closed. But some teams are pushing ahead, changing practices to keep their players on the ice. 

“There’s a big balance of health and safety, and that also includes mental health. For kids right now, this is all they have. Hockey is the only thing they have to leave the house for,” says Pamela Fellbaum, a mom of two hockey players and a board member for the Gloucester Cumberland Girls Hockey (GCGH) Association. The GCGH has decided to split teams into groups of eight kids and two coaches in order to comply with the guidelines and keep practicing. 

Nina Dyer, whose daughter Sheridan, 18, has autism and plays with the Ottawa Bandits, stresses that it’s the routine that keeps her daughter’s mental health strong. “Every week it’s always the same question: we still have hockey this weekend, right?” 

The Bandits have altered their schedule, which was usually four hour-long sessions, into eight 30-minute sessions. “There’s only so much ice in the city,” Dyer says. Some teams are worried they won’t have enough ice time to divide their groups, but more ice is becoming available as teams cancel practices. 

“Having to reorganize on the drop of a hat was just emotionally exhausting,” says Greg Clarke, district chair for the Nepean Hockey Association (NHA). 

With around 60 per cent of their regular registration at 1,700 kids, he added, “the emotional exhaustion of the volunteers is a factor.” 

The Gloucester Cumberland girls league has been on the ice since early September. “We’ve been working really hard to make sure it’s safe while still enjoyable,” Fellbaum said. She worries the provincial government might be overlooking their efforts.

“There’s certain kids that rely on this activity for exercise but also for their mental health, to stay connected to their teammates,” Dyer says, “It’s really important.”

“We’ve told families: as long as they’re in it we’re in it,” Christie says, “We’ll do whatever we have to do to keep the program running.”