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Rutland Amateur Hockey Association Jr. Spartans

RAHA Annual Picnic Sep. 22!

Come join the fun at the RAHA Annual Picnic on Sep. 22. The picnic will run from 3PM - 5PM at Spartan Arena.  Pizza will be provided! We will also take this time to have our 1st year 10U players and new 12U and 14U players try on jerseys for sizing so orders can be placed. See you there!

RAHA Board Meeting Sep. 10

Good evening RAHA families,

 Just sending a reminder that the next RAHA Board meeting will be held at 6PM on Tuesday Sep. 10 at the Rutland Regional Medical Center CVPS/Leahy Conference Center. Hope to see you there!

Message from the President: August

Hello RAHA families,

   I would like to thank everyone for coming to the Annual Meeting yesterday in which we re-capped our 2018/19 season but also set the direction for 2019 and beyond. Over the last few months RAHA has been in uncharted waters given the turnover at the Board level. I must give my sincere thanks to Amanda Costantino, Bob Bruttomesso, Corey Kendall, Heather Olsen, Lauren Downs and T.J. Sabotka for navigating this organization through some rough seas over this time. 

  Now that we are sailing out of those rough waters, it is time to move forward. RAHA is a wonderful organization that is well established and poised to take our program to the next level. We have a strong core who is committed to living the RAHA values and providing the best program possible for the youth of our community. As a member of that core, I express my deep gratitude that you have supported and entrusted me with the privilege of shaping the organization and development of your children. This is a sacred responsibility that I take seriously and as President I will do everything I can to meet or exceed your expectations.  

  As discussed at the Annual Meeting our main focus is for players to have fun, develop their hockey game to the best of their ability and enhance skills that transcend the game itself; teamwork, self-confidence, camaraderie, humility, and overcoming adversity to name a few.  Some of this will be achieved through on-ice coaching while other aspects will be administrative. Although these are two separate avenues, the common thread between on-ice and administration is communication and consistency.  

  However, this does not happen in a vacuum. I am encouraged by the amount of people that were at the Annual Meeting as I see a positive energy that is ready to be unleashed.  It is my hope that this level of involvement continues whether through attendance at Board meetings or volunteer opportunities. As President, I firmly believe that multiple perspectives coming to the table help strengthen the organization by allowing ideas to be open for discussion and consideration. Open dialogue and listening to ideas help us create and affords us the benefit of making informed decisions. All are encouraged to get involved to help us move RAHA to the next level. 

  Our next Board meeting will be held on Sep. 10 at Rutland Regional Medical Center and our annual picnic will be on Sep. 22 at Spartan Area. More details will be coming via the RAHA website. If you have any ideas or topics to discuss and solutions to offer please send these along with any applicable attachments to rahahockeyvt@gmail.com a minimum of one week prior to the Board meeting so we can work to place it on a meeting agenda. 

  I am excited to get our 2019/20 season started and based on the number of people present at the Annual Meeting, I think you are too. The smell of the ice, sight of the lamp being lit, sound of the puck on a tape-to-tape pass and all of the other things that make hockey the best game on the planet are right around the corner. Let’s make it a great season. Let’s play some hockey! 

Go RAHA Jr. Spartans!!!

Sincerely,

Brian Olsen, RAHA President

 

Come Play Hockey!!!

Come Play Youth Hockey!

The Pathway to Youth Hockey in Vermont.

These local associations host Learn to Skate and Learn to Play programs for 4 to 8 year olds in the state of Vermont. These programs support USA Hockey’s American Development Modelwith age-appropriate, age-specific competition and training for boys and girls at any age that is fun and low cost to help introduce the game of hockey to your kids in your community. Through hockey, players learn teamwork, dedication, determination and perseverance and commitment.

Please click on the links below you to find out more information today!

This fall area rinks will be hosting the Bruins Academy Learn to Play Hockey Program. We will have several locations all over Vermont. The program is available to boys and girls from 4 to 8 years old that have never signed up for hockey before. This program is designed for kids that are NEW to hockey. Included in the registration fee is a full set of CCM equipment to keep valued at $500 retail, which includes skates, stick and a professional personalized fitting, and four weeks of on-ice instruction led by certified coaches. The Boston Bruins are thrilled to share their passion for hockey with the next generation of hockey players in Vermont.

Our goal once the Bruins Academy is finished, is for your child to sign up with a local association and become part of the local hockey community in Vermont.

***Locations, dates and times will be posted on our VSAHA website this fall.

Have a question about introducing your child to hockey? Contact @ Mike Smith

RAHA Annual Meeting & Board Elections

August 13, 2019
Dear RAHA Families,
Thank you to everyone who came out tonight for RAHA’s annual meeting and Board Election.
 
   For those of you who were unable to make the meeting, it was great to see so many new and returning faces.  We heard some terrific suggestions on ways to help further improve our organization (topics included: recruiting, “pitch the pitch”, fundraising ideas, website improvements, marketing ideas etc.,).   Below you will find the Presidential Report that I shared with those in attendance this evening. 
 
   The RAHA Board felt it was a very productive evening, with a good turnout, fresh ideas and most importantly excited to have new members to add to RAHA’s Board of Directors.  We would also like to say that even prior to this evening’s elections, the RAHA Board agreed that both presidential candidates had so much to offer and the RAHA Organization would benefit tremendously with having them both on the board going forward.  
 
Without further ado, the RAHA Board election results are as follows:
 
President: Brian Olsen 
Vice-President: Heather Olsen (holsenhockeyvt@gmail.com)
Treasurer: TJ Sabotka
Secretary: Corey Kendall
 
   The votes were extremely close, which confirmed our decision as a Board to ask that Lane Patorti join as an Appointed Member of the RAHA Board of Directors.  Lane’s extensive knowledge with youth hockey, coaching and business management will be a such an asset for the RAHA organization.  At this time, the RAHA Board is excited to announce that Lane Patorti, has accepted the role as an Appointed Member on RAHA’s Board of Directors.   Congratulations and welcome!! 
 
   Again, I appreciate all of the support, feedback, ideas, encouragement and patience you have all demonstrated these last few months.  I have no doubt that this season is going to be great!!!   Especially as more RAHA members continue to express their interest in volunteering their time during the season and also in the appointed positions on the RAHA Board.  We all want the same thing for our organization and our players, so please consider joining the Board or attending our monthly meetings, which will be held on the second Tuesday of each month.
 
   Enjoy the rest of your summer & please feel free to reach out to me with any questions and or concerns you might have.  My personal email can be found above or you can also contact us at rahahockeyvt@gmail.com.   Thank you,   Heather Olsen
*************************************************************************
Rutland Amateur Hockey Association 2019-2020 Season
 
On behalf of all executive members of the Rutland Amateur Hockey Association, I would like to welcome you to our Annual Meeting and Board Elections. 
 
President’s Report
 
   The season starts off with the Executive Board saying good- bye to a few of its members.  Former President, Patrick Lowkes and also RAHA’s registrar, Sara Utley, both having served as members of the board for many years.  We, the current RAHA Board, extend our sincerest thanks to Patrick & Sara for their years of service to RAHA and wish them both great success in their future endeavors. 

    In addition, I would like to personally extend my sincerest appreciation to all of you, the RAHA members who have been patient and understanding as the current board worked through these last few months.  Everyone that I have had the pleasure working with thus far, not only shares my passion for the continued success of our organization but also recognizes and emphasizes the importance that RAHA has on the children of our community.

  Regardless of who takes on the role of President later this evening, I know that I can confidently speak on their behalf in saying that we all want the very best for our organization and most importantly for our players.
 
As we look forward ….
   In an attempt to create a better level of transparency between the RAHA Board, including the Youth Hockey Committee, and its members (which include parents, guardians, coaches, referees etc.) the Board is making all of the necessary changes to have meeting dates, monthly agendas, meetings minutes, programs etc. readily available on the RAHA Website.  Please be patient just a little bit longer as we work on making some changes to RAHA’s Website and Social Media outlets, to make the sites a little more user friendly for those of us doing the updating and also for all of our members.  

   I do understand that there is a lot of information to cover in a short period of time tonight, and that this may not be in the typical annual meeting format that  some of you might be accustomed to.  I will say that I have personally worked with and received total support from the VSAHA President these last few months on all of the steps that we, the RAHA Board, have taken to get the season up and running and also move forward with Board Elections and our By-Laws amendments.  The By-Law Amendments Addressed the following:

Clarification of membership positions (such as player members, voting members etc.,)
Board of Directors: (composed of a maximum of Twelve (12) voting members of the Association)
• The Four elected officers and their lengths of terms are as follows:
o President : three year term
o Vice President: two year term
o Treasurer: three year term
o Secretary: one year term

• Up to eight (8) additional members to be appointed by the Board of Directors.  Those positions are: 
o Safety Officer
o Scheduler/State Representative
o Coaching Coordinator
o Player Agent/Chair of Youth Hockey Committee
o Registrar
o Fundraiser
o Marketing/Public Relations
o At-Large
The term for appointed Board members shall be for two (2) years ending July 1 or until succeeded. Should a Board vacancy occur, the Board of Directors, by majority vote, shall appoint an Association member to serve for the balance of the board position’s lengths of terms.
 
Finances:
Our treasurer,  TJ Sabotka has provided us with a Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Statement which covers July 2018 to June 2019 (which can be found on the table near the door)  According to TJ’s reports, as of June 30, 2019 RAHA’s current assets at $125,283.64.  Unlike in years past, we did not have a very big push last season for fundraising and there was minimal participation by our members.  We did however host the state tournament and that did help offset some of our costs. We had an operating loss of $2,506.63 for the 2018-2019 season.  This year, fundraising will definitely be a part of our season’s success and upon completion of tonight’s elections, which will allow us to get input from our newly elected president, fundraising information will be available in the weeks to come.   

TJ Sabotka will be available a little later this evening and more than happy to answer any questions that you might have in regard to our financial status.

Some important dates to remember:
Next Board Meeting:  Tuesday, September 10 @ RRMC
Annual RAHA Kickoff Picnic:  Sunday, September 22nd, from 3 to 5 pm @ Spartan Arena. 2018-2019 Tom Lord recipients will be acknowledged.  Details will follow.
 
   I would like to end this by saying let’s all work to align ourselves with a common goal and that is to remember that Rutland Amateur Hockey Association is for the benefit of our children and the children in our community. 

   As we go forward, we need to really concentrate on our core values.  Remember that every single one of us are role models to these children.  They look up to us.  They learn from us.  Be supportive, be encouraging, emphasize what great sportsmanship looks like regardless of a game’s outcome, help them learn how to be a great teammate, have fun with them, learn with them and always put your best foot forward because these kiddos are always watching.  So, lead by example. 
Thank you for your time & here’s to a great 2019-2020 season!! 
Heather Olsen
RAHA Interim President