Thursday, October 27, 2016

WMOT News - October 2016

Arena Renovations

Centennial Arena Renovations to Commence in March

No doubt many of you are curious why the League is shifting to Central Arena beginning on March 26th (Game #24) for the balance of the playoffs. The reason is that the city is undertaking a major renovation of Centennial Arena. Improvements to the lobby, new dressing rooms and replacement of one of the ice pads are all in the plans. That work will continue through the summer and into September. As a result, the League will start a bit later next season, on October 15th.

Player Survey Results

95% of Players Love the League

In response to the statement “I look forward to playing every week”, the average rating on a scale of 1 to 5 was 4.68 compared to the average of 4.64 over the 14 years we’ve been running this survey. But 95% of you gave us the top score of 5! When asked about the 2-line (“cherry-picking”) rule, 47% of you were in favour of keeping it, while another 17% wanted the officials to be more consistent in calling it: 25% preferred to eliminate it altogether. For complete survey results go to https://www.surveymonkey.net/results/SM-VF8H9Z8N/.

League Governance

New Constitution in the Works

This League is a not-for-profit corporation run by a Board of Directors on behalf of its members (the 248 players). Today that Board is made up of a League Executive who meet several times a year to discuss and review all matters pertaining to the management of the corporation, from financial operations to rule changes to securing permits from the City (you can find copies of the minutes from those meetings on our web site). The current League Executive is made up of 12 members headed up by Cal Roberts who is the President. Our member constitution was developed when the League was founded in 1982 (you can find the by-laws on our web site). Since then a lot has changed and so the League Executive has decided a revised constitution is in order, which means crafting a new set of by-laws which will more closely reflect how the League operates today. Once that constitution has been developed, you will be asked as a membership to approve it at a League-wide meeting.

League Web Site

More Enhancements to Come

Over the last few years we have made some significant upgrades to the web site. Chief amongst those: allowing you to register and pay online; player statistical tracking; the capability to create standardized game sheets; and this season the ability to view the complete statistical history of a player over multiple seasons. The architect of all those changes – and the person who has hosted and managed the site since its inception in 2003 – is Mark Roberts, Cal’s son. We have many more improvements in mind – creation of a membership directory, a mobile-friendly version of the web site, auto-notification of game times - but if you have ideas of your own, please feel free to let us know by sending an e-mail to Stephen Shaw.

League Demographics

Boomers Rule

Did you know that the average age of a player in our League is 59? We have 7 players in their 70s. The youngest player was born in 1981; the oldest during the middle of the Great Depression (1935). Two thirds of the players live in the Toronto area – one third in the adjoining regions, mainly to the north and west. Of the 245 registered players, 23% are between 35 and 53; 26% are between 54 and 58; 26% are between 59 and 64; and 25% are 65 or older. We are a Baby Boomer League, at least until the Gen Xers take over.

Officiating Crew

Majority of Players Think Officiating Is Great

The job of a hockey referee has to be the hardest in all of sports: players yapping at the officials all of the time; penalized players complaining that the ref missed the call on the “other guy”; players moaning about the refs “ruining the game” or “being lazy” or “not knowing the rules”, and on it goes. It’s a wonder anyone even wants the job as thankless as it is – and it’s not like we pay the refs anywhere enough for all the grief they get. Yet our officials – led by Jerry Cantarutti and Ben Campoli – do an excellent job, notwithstanding the caterwauling. How do we know? Because you’ve told us, in the Player Survey: almost 95% of players say the officials do a great job. So, the next time you think of berating a ref for a missed call, or an unjust penalty, please stop and consider: would you ever want their job?

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