The MHAL continues to follow the
direction of the province, municipalities, and our public health unit, while
adhering to our Return to Play policies and procedures outlined and found on
our website.
The hockey world is a close-knit group, and as such, you have undoubtedly begun to hear how other local hockey associations are handling their operations. Discussions surrounding the increase of Covid cases in school-aged youth (both vaccinated and unvaccinated) have been occurring behind the scenes over the past few days at both local and provincial levels. We are expecting an announcement by the Health Unit regarding possible restrictions and/or a need to pause the season temporarily, later today or at some point over the weekend.
We have now had a few Lancer teams affected by Covid. Sadly, positive cases and/or close contacts are part of our new reality. We have been in contact with the Middlesex Health Unit; however, their responsiveness has been delayed due to an overwhelming case load. Please carefully review and follow instructions from the health unit website as they continue to evolve. If your player is part of a team where there is a presumed case (teams have been notified already), we ask that you exercise all necessary precautions in order to limit the spread and await further instructions from the MLHU. If you have any questions, please reach out to mhalcovidcoordinator@gmail.com
With this in mind, we ask that you prepare yourself and your player(s) for possible last minute interruptions and challenges to the schedule. Please continue to monitor the organization calendar, our social media, and the website for cancellation or change updates.
This situation continues to change by the hour. We will do our best to update you as the information comes in but we are waiting for guidance from the MLHU and the City before we can comment any further.
We are as dissapointed as everyone else but hope to provide some clarity in the coming days.
Update - 12/18/21: The city has provided some modifcations to their current guidelines.
Effective Sunday, December 19,
50% capacity limits apply to all dressing rooms. Those limits will be posted at the entrance of the dressing room
- *No outside food or drink is permitted within the arena*
All other protocols such as proof of vaccination, active screening and masking remain in place.
We have been told more directions from the Health Unit will be sent out early next week. In the meantime - please continue to screen for any symptoms, ensuring that anyone entering facilities can successfully pass the questions within the health screening. If you and your player have reservations surrounding attending scheduled ice please do not feel obligated - do what feels right for your family.
Thank you,
MHAL Executive