September 8, 2026
Hi Jr. Generals families!
We’re officially into September, which means it’s almost time to trade summer schedules for rink schedules. ๐ Before everyone is back on the ice, we have a few things to share — including a big thank-you, a pretty great Winterhawks giveaway, and our Welcome Back Potluck this Saturday!
๐๐ First Ducks Game: Done!
Our first Ducks football game is officially in the books!
A HUGE thank you to Tina Phifer, Dana and Erin Quartly, Sean Breslin, Meg Schneck, and Noah Slackman, who spent most of their Saturday volunteering at the LAHA beverage trailer at Autzen.
It was a long day, and these events are a great fundraising opportunity for our association — but they only work when people are willing to give up a pretty significant chunk of their weekend to make them happen. We really appreciate you!
We don’t have our final numbers from the U of O yet, but we’ll share how much LAHA earned as soon as we receive them.
๐ How About Five Winterhawks Tickets?
We have something pretty fun to add to the season this year!
LAHA has FIVE tickets to the Portland Winterhawks game on March 27 — and these are some seriously fun seats, right next to the penalty box at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They’re valued at $90 each, and we’re giving all five tickets to one lucky LAHA family!
Throughout the season, you’ll have lots of ways to get your name into the drawing:
- Refer a new player to LAHA? One entry!
- Serve as a spectator monitor? One entry!
- Run the clock, work the penalty box, or keep score at a game? One entry!
- Volunteer at a Ducks game?TWO entries!
- Volunteer at multiple Ducks games? Two entries every time!
And we’ll add more opportunities throughout the season whenever we need some extra LAHA hands.
One important thing: We can keep track of Ducks volunteers and referrals pretty easily, but we won’t necessarily know every time you run the clock, keep score, work a penalty box, or serve as a spectator monitor.
When you volunteer for your team, please report it to your Team Manager. Team Managers will keep track of volunteer activities and submit them to me once a month so we can make sure everyone gets the drawing entries they’ve earned.
Every time you help, you can earn another chance.
Five tickets. March 27. Right next to the penalty box. One LAHA family is going! ๐
๐๐ฉ THIS SATURDAY: Welcome Back Potluck & Gear Swap!
Saturday, September 12 | 1–4 PM
Wayne Morse Shelter
Come hang out with your hockey people before the season gets rolling!
It’s a potluck and it would be helpful if you sign up to bring something so we have a rough idea of what’s coming — but truly, no big deal if you don’t. We mostly just want you there.
And bring your old hockey gear! Skates that have been outgrown? Pants? Pads? Gloves? A stick that’s too short now — or just mysteriously became not the favorite?
Bring it for the gear swap. Give it away, swap it, or feel free to put a price on it and sell it. Let’s get perfectly good hockey gear out of our garages and onto kids who can use it.
We’ll have Shoot the Puck at the Piñata, hockey bean bag toss, tug of war, and mostly just time to hang out and talk hockey.
And bring your skates, because we’ll also have FREE 1/2" skate sharpening! Get them sharpened and ready to go for the season.
And yes, we are serious about the Jell-O Mold Contest.
Break out Granny’s 1950s cookbook and find us a good one. Fruit suspended in Jell-O? Absolutely. Marshmallows? Sure. Something involving cottage cheese that nobody has made since 1963? Even better.
Impress us. There will be a prize for the winner. ๐
An RSVP will help us get a rough headcount, but please come whether you RSVP or not!
๐ Evaluations Are Coming
You’ll also start seeing information in TeamSnap about practice start dates and our upcoming evaluation skates.
We want to take a minute to explain what evaluations actually mean at LAHA, because they’re about much more than deciding who plays where.
As we continue building a stronger, more development-focused hockey program, we need a way to actually measure development throughout the season. Are our players improving? Where are they growing? Where do they need more support? Are our coaches effectively developing their players? How are our teams progressing?
Evaluations give us a starting point. When we evaluate again later, we have something meaningful to compare it to.
Yes, evaluations also help us make appropriate team and roster decisions when necessary. At some age levels, registration numbers can create situations where we simply cannot roster every player for games. That’s one reason we created the practice-player option— so that when numbers force difficult decisions, we have another option besides simply cutting a player and sending them away. We want kids to have opportunities to keep practicing, developing, and being part of LAHA.
But an evaluation skate should not be interpreted to mean that only our strongest players belong here.
It doesn't.
We want to develop hockey players.
Some kids have played for ten years. Some have played for two. Some will make enormous strides this season. Some will need more time. That’s youth hockey.
Our job is to meet players where they are, help them grow, and continue building a program where kids can love hockey and be challenged to become better players. So come to evaluations ready to skate hard, have fun, and show us where you are right now.
Then let’s see where you are at the end of the season. ๐๐
๐ฑ Keep an Eye on TeamSnap
Things are going to start moving quickly from here. Please keep an eye on TeamSnap for practice start dates, evaluation information, team updates, and other season details.
And we’ll see everyone Saturday at Wayne Morse!
Go Generals! ๐๐
Ashlee
LAHA President