During the NLCA's AGM this past June there was discussion concerning the closing dates of events such as the Men's and Women's and Mixed. It was felt that the closing dates on some of the events handcuffed clubs by not allowing them to plan other events in case the field was not filled and the anticipated ice usage was not required. What was happening in the past was that an event may of had a closing date for the Zones and there was not enough interest from all Zones to fill the field at the provincial level. The host clubs of the Provincial and the Open had to wait till the Open date deadline passed to see if the ice was required, often times it was not. The other problem faced was by the competitors who had signed up for the Zones and with not enough interest at the Zone level got a bye right to the Provincial without having to play. The problem was not so much with not having to play a Zone but with making plans to travel and take time off work for the provincial, if the field was not filled then the Provincial was likely to be played over a shorter period of time. If the participants had more notice of how long the provincial was going to be then travel plans could be made further in advance.

What is going to be in effect this year is for the events that have an Open competition such as Men's, Mixed and Women's if at the close of the registration date for the event there is not enough teams to fill or just fill a Provincial field then a notice will be sent to all clubs through e-mail to ask for the names of any other teams that are interested in playing in the Open for the event but did not sign up for the Zones. Teams wishing to play in the Open for the event must sign up and send back their registration within three days. If there is not enough interested teams to exceed the provincial field then all teams interested will advance right to the provincial and the Open competition will be cancelled.

This will allow the NLCA to schedule the Provincial playoff format much earlier then we were able to in the past. It will also give the teams participating in the event the proper time to plan their travel arrangements. It will also allow the clubs that were scheduled to host the Open to free up that ice for club members use or rentals. The Provincial host club will then have plenty of lead time to organize the event and know in plenty of time the ice requirements.

Please ensure that all interested participants in any event are aware of the deadline for the particular events. If the deadline comes and there is not enough interest the team may lose their right to sign up for the Open.

NLCA Executive