MEMBERSHIP NOTICE

PETITE 'A', 'AA' TOURNAMENT CLASSIFICATION

BY WAY OF MOTION THE ONTARIO RINGETTE BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS ACCEPTED THE GAMES AND TOURNAMENTS RECOMMENDATION TO COMBINE THE PETITE 'A' AND 'AA' DIVISIONS FOR TOURNAMENT PLAY IN THE 1999-2000 SEASON. THUS, IN PROVINCIAL LEVEL PLAY AT TOURNAMENTS THIS SEASON THE PETITE DIVISION WILL BE CLASSIFIED AS PROVINCIAL PETITE. AT THE O.R.A. A.G.M. THIS PAST SPRING THE SURVEY THAT WAS CONDUCTED CONCLUDED THAT THE MAJORITY OF MEMBERS [35 TO 10] WISHED THE PETITE DIVISION TO BE ONE AND SEEDED LATER.

TO CLARIFY THIS RECOMMENDATION, ALL PROVINCIAL LEVEL TEAMS WILL REGISTER AS 'A' OR 'AA' ON THEIR T.R.F.'S AS IN PAST YEARS. THE 2000 PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS IN GLOUCESTER WILL HAVE PETITE TEAMS COMPETING IN THE 'A' AND 'AA' PROVINCIALS.

'A' AND 'AA' PETITE TEAMS WILL COMPETE IN THE SAME TOURNAMENTS. COACHES WILL HAVE AN EASIER TIME TO ASSESS THEIR LEVEL OF PLAY AND G&T WILL HAVE MORE MEANINGFUL STATISTICS TO EVALUATE TEAMS FOR RESEEDING OR FOR WILD CARD SELECTION. G&T CO-ORDINATORS IN EACH REGION WILL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO COLLECT THE RESULTS [LEAGUE PLAY, TOURNAMENT PLAY AND EXHIBITION GAMES] OF ALL PETITE PROVINCIAL TEAMS. THESE RESULTS WILL BE COLLECTED AND TEAMS RANKED ON A TRIAL BASIS EACH WEEK. THE RANKINGS WILL BE POSTED ON THE WEB PAGE.

TOURNAMENTS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP A 'SEEDING' TYPE TOURNAMENT IN THE PROVINCIAL PETITE DIVISION WITH AN 'A' AND A 'AA' FINAL DEPENDING ON ICE AVAILABILITY AND NUMBER OF TEAMS, OR, A TYPICAL ROUND ROBIN FORMAT CAN STILL BE USED. THE G&T CO-ORDINATORS FOR THE REGIONS HAVE EXAMPLES OF VARIOUS SCHEDULING FORMATS DEPENDING ON NUMBER OF TEAMS WHICH CAN BE PROVIDED TO TOURNAMENT HOSTS UPON REQUEST.

September 1999