Orillia Minor Hockey plans to keep players on the ice this season

Orillia Minor Hockey (OMH) plans to continue operations despite the surge of COVID-19 cases locally.

When the OMH board met Tuesday night to discuss the fate of the 2020-21 minor hockey season, it decided players can still safely take to the ice, with some modifications.

“We are working with the city to keep the players on the ice for as long as we can in a safe manner,” said OMH president Steve Fagan.

He said the OMH board is waiting to hear back from the City of Orillia on how to manage the organization under the new restrictions that come with Simcoe County and Muskoka now being in the province's red zone. Under the new restrictions, only 10 players at a time can be on the ice for training and skills-development sessions. Games and practices are not allowed.

Despite games and practices being cancelled for the foreseeable future, Fagan said it was important to find a way to keep players on the ice and in motion.

“We believe that, in the pandemic, one of the things that has been lost specifically to children is their physical and mental health,” he said.

“Even though we can only provide a limited amount of skating for them, we still provide some health benefits and some normalcy for them when many other avenues of their lives have been changed.”

He said OMH’s goal is to provide some exercise and a social outlet for players to connect with friends in a safe setting. Competition isn’t even a consideration at this time.

“We aren’t concerned right now with keeping players' skills up; we are more concerned with the physical and mental health of the players,” Fagan said.

“Hockey is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be a life-long thing. We are here to help the people who have a love for the game of hockey, and to keep them playing in some capacity.”

OMH is working on a plan to accommodate players and families who do not feel safe at the rink at this time and do not want to participate in this hockey season. Fagan expects the plan to be finalized by the end of the week, and members will be made aware immediately.

“We understand that certain people have different priorities and are experiencing different times in the pandemic,” he said.

However, he encourages members to keep playing through the pandemic and said OMH is working tirelessly to make sure all players are safe.

“We think we provide a very safe environment from COVID. We have had no cases. Everybody in our program is from Orillia or very close to Orillia, and Orillia has been very lucky to not have significant COVID-19 issues to this point,” Fagan said.

“We feel we can continue to put together a very safe product for our members to get some normalcy in their life in a time that is not very normal right now.”