The NDMS Executive have met and developed a refund plan for the 2020/2021 season.
First and foremost we want to thank all our NDMS families for your patience, your support and your willingness to pivot and adjust throughout this challenging hockey season. This season has been like no other, and there is no way that we could have known what to expect, but as an executive we appreciate everyone who was able to adjust plans, manage with new and ever changing rules, and still showed up at the rink to ensure our players could continue to develop their hockey skills throughout this year.
During the discussion about refunds the executive had to take into account many different factors to make a decision about refunds. We realize that nobody in the organization had a “normal” hockey season. Although all our teams had virtually the same amount of ice usage, some teams had games and some teams didn’t, some teams had half ice practices while other teams had full ice practices. The COVID rules meant that we had to increase ice time to meet the challenges of the smaller team caps which added to our costs. We also made a conscious decision at the beginning of the year to lower registration fees at the start of this season knowing that the pandemic was impacting the finances of many of our families and was also likely going to impact our season. Standard rates were lowered with a $100 discount to U9 players, taking them from $350 in previous years down to $250 and a $125 discount applied to the U11-U18 rates, taking them from $700 in previous years down to $575. Rates for our younger players were already very low due to the financial assistance provided by our anonymous sponsors. We have been very fortunate that our Mites through U9 divisions have been subsidized for the past 3 seasons due to a very generous donation by these anonymous donors to encourage younger players in our community to play hockey.
So after all factors were taken into account the executive made decisions about refunds for this year. We believe we have made a fair and equitable plan based on the original registration fees, the costs to the organization, and the realities of the season that everyone experienced. Because our sponsors paid a portion of the registration fees for our Mites to U9 divisions, you will see that part of the refund plan sees us returning funds to our “Legacy Fund” to be used to support reducing the costs of these divisions for future years.
NDMS Refund Plan is as follows:
Mites - $20/player will be moved to the Legacy Fund for all players who paid for Mites Session #2
U7-U9 - $100/player will be moved to the Legacy Fund to support reduced registrations for future years
U11-U18 - $150/player will be refunded to each player as a credit to your registration fees for the 2021-22 season.
If you would like to have a cash refund now, you can request a cash pay out of $125/player. If you wish to have the rebate of $150 applied to next year’s registration – no further action is required. Should your players plans change come September, not a problem you can request a payout at that time.
If you would like a Cash Refund now of $125 please submit your request in writing to Marnie Sicker at [email protected] Please include your players name, team and the email to be used for e-transfer. Only those received in writing will receive refund of $125. Refund request deadline is April 30, 2021. Refunds will be issued in May.
PLEASE NOTE – These amounts may vary in instances where registration has not been paid in full or if jerseys have not been returned. If you still have your jerseys – please contact us to make arrangements to return. No refunds will be paid out until the jerseys have been returned. Also a reminder for those families who have not paid your registration fees, you will not be able to register for hockey next season in Norwood or in any other association until your registration fees are paid. Outstanding balances owed to NDMS are flagged in the Hockey Canada registration system. Please discuss payment plan options or any concerns with our treasurer at [email protected]
Again, we believe this refund plan is fair based on the amount that families paid to play hockey this year, relative to the amount of ice time that each team received. If you have any questions or concerns about these decisions you can contact me at [email protected]. We will be holding our annual meeting to elect a new executive for next years hockey season on May 31 at 7:00 pm. If you are interested in holding a position on the executive for next year, I would be happy to talk to you about the opportunities that exist or answer any questions that you might have.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Barton-Crowley
NDMS President 2020-21