Volunteer System Information

UPDATE 9/4/2008

Volunteer Information

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Minnetonka Youth Hockey Association. Without the hundreds of volunteers contributing tens of  thousands of hours each season, MYHA could simply not exist. We greatly appreciate the work that everyone does to help make our children’s hockey experience a positive and enjoyable one and to make the MYHA program successful.  With that in mind and, in order to make your MYHA volunteer life as easy and flexible as possible, we utilize an on-line automated volunteer system.  Note the most important features in YELLOW or RED.  New changes to the volunteer system in 2008-09 are in GREEN.  Highlights of this system include:

·         You are in control. You choose the shifts, dates, and times that meet your schedule.  With this great freedom also comes responsibility. This system will only be successful and continue in its present format if you accept the responsibility to sign up and complete your shifts.  In rare instances, in order to ensure that all shifts are covered for tournaments or jamborees, for example, we may need to assign shifts to families.  If this happens, everyone will receive advance notice and we’ll first assign shifts to those families with the fewest completed hours.

·         Sign up on-line at your convenience. View all open shifts in one central location and select those that best fit your hectic schedule.

·         You control your own password-protected account. Sign up for shifts and view validated hours/shifts, scheduled shifts, remaining hours, and remaining open shifts.

·         First come, first served sign-up. Once you’ve registered and are in our system, you can sign up for your shifts at any time. This includes Mites!

·         Rollover from last year – to save you time, we’ll roll over your information from last season, so you don’t need to re-enter it.  Of course, if any of your information has changed, such as e-mail, name, phone number, or number of players, we ask you to update your account on-line.  This takes only a few short minutes.  Also, for your convenience, we’ll also roll over any volunteer hours which you didn’t quite get to last season.  If you forgot your password, simply hit the password Reset button on the Volunteer Information page, enter your e-mail address, and a new temporary password will be sent to you.  Use the temporary password to access the system (copy and paste is easiest), then change your password to one of your own choosing.  Remember, the volunteer system keeps all passwords encrypted and confidential, so we cannot retrieve them for you; you’ll need to Reset your password if you forget it.  If you’re new to MYHA, follow the instructions under Sign-up Instructions on the MYHA website.  This takes only 3 minutes to do!

·         Volunteer username easier to remember – while the password is still case-sensitive (e.g., ‘HoCkEy’ is different than ‘hockey’), your username (e-mail address) is all lowercase, so you don’t need to remember which letters are capitalized.

·         Easier for multiple-player families. No more working with multiple team managers to get all your players’ times covered. Shifts are managed at the family level, not the team level.

·         Additional shorter shifts. In order to better meet your needs, we offer a variety of shift lengths and shift types. You may, for example, complete your minimum 10 hours with three 3.5-hour shifts or a 5-hour and a 6-hour shift.  In 2007-08, we had nearly 2,000 volunteer shifts, ranging from 1 hour to 6 hours.  There’s definitely something there to accommodate every volunteer schedule.

·         Additional volunteer opportunities. In addition to the standard opportunities, we’ll be adding new ones. More information on this will be available later.

·         Better tracking and reporting. The new on-line system will contain features to ensure that all shifts are covered for each event, attendance is monitored and promptly credited, no-shows are vigilantly managed, and successful completion is actively encouraged.

·         Modest volunteer requirements.  You only need to volunteer a minimum of 10 hours per player (a minimum of 20 hours per family, for two or more players).  This works out to slightly over 1 hour per month per player.  For those of who who’ve asked, there is no maximum number of hours.

·         Greater tournament coverage.  For families with one player, at least 3 of the 10 hours must be completed at a Travel tournament or Mite Season-End Event.  For families with two or more players, at least 5 of the 20 hours must be completed at a Travel tournament or Mite Season-End Event.

·         Head coaches receive full volunteer credit. Each HEAD coach (only one coach per team) officially rostered with MYHA and holding a current USA Hockey card will receive FULL volunteer credit (up to a maximum of 20 hours).  Head and/or assistant coaches for more than one team can only take advantage of this credit once (i.e., no transferring hours).  Families must submit a miscellaneous volunteer opportunity of Head Coach10 (for 1 player) or HeadCoach20 (for 2 or more players) in order to receive this credit.

·         Assistant coaches receive full volunteer credit.  Each ASSSITANT coach officially rostered with MYHA and holding a current USA Hockey card will receive FULL volunteer credit (up to a maximum of 20 hours).  Assistant and/or head coaches for more than one team can only take advantage of this credit once (i.e., no transferring hours).  Families must submit a miscellaneous volunteer opportunity of Assist Coach10 (for 1 player) or Assist Coach20 (for 2 or more players) in order to receive this credit.

·         Team managers receive 5 hours of tournament volunteer credit.  Each team manager (limit one per team) will receive 5 hours of Tournament volunteer credit.  Teams will normally want to work the remaining hours for their team managers.  Credit for managers will only be given at the time the shift is completed, not at season’s end if it is discovered a family has excess hours they wish to donate to a manager.  Families must submit a miscellaneous volunteer opportunity of Manager05 in order to receive this credit.

·         MYHA Board members receive full volunteer credit.  For the first time, during the 2008-09 season, MYHA board members will receive full credit for their board work.  Of course, most board members also volunteer in other capacities such as coaches, managers, tryouts, etc. as well as filling volunteer duties on an emergency basis.  Families must submit a miscellaneous volunteer opportunity of Board10 (for 1 player) or Board20 (for 2 or more players) in order to receive this credit.

·         Junior Gold families receive 5 hours of tournament volunteer credit.  For the first time, during the 2008-09 season, MYHA will provide credit to families with Jr. Gold players.  Families must submit a miscellaneous volunteer opportunity of JrGold05 in order to receive this credit.

·         Credits not transferable.  The coaching, managing, board member, and other credits are not transferable to other families.

·         Team Sponsors exempt from volunteer hours. Standard sponsorships will be exempt from 10 hours.  Upper-level sponsorships and advertising boards will be exempt from all hours (up to 20). Contact Rob Hoerauf at sponsors@tonkahockey.org for further details.

·         Volunteer program success reinforced. Volunteer buyouts will increase to $300/player and $600 maximum (two or more players).  Buyouts must be paid by December 1.  Buyouts after December 1 are $500/player and $1,000/family.  During the 2007-08 season, we saw an increase in no-shows and families who did not complete all of their hours.  We also want to avoid the issue where families did not complete their hours, then bought out at the very last minute, resulting in a inordinate number of no-shows.  Also, to ensure fairness for everyone, we require a $250/player and $500/family volunteer deposit from ALL families, except those who have already paid a sponsorship or buyout check. This will be collected via check. The check will NOT be cashed UNLESS the volunteer hours are not fulfilled.  The check will be destroyed at the end of the season if all hours have been completed.  Any hours not completed will be charged at $50 per hour.  This is a no-deposit, no-play policy.  The checks for Travel Teams will be collected prior to roster signing. The checks for Mites will be collected when the teams are formed, although you can also pay at registration or any other time prior to this. Finally, there will be a $50/hour no-show fee assessed against volunteer deposits for all no-shows. Due to the high level of individual control with the new system, deposit forfeiture and no-show fees should not be issues, but we want to ensure that our players are well supported and that our many volunteers are protected.

·         Player Parents Only.  Only player parents may volunteer during the course of the season for safety, liability, and service reasons.  This means no siblings, relatives, neighbors, babysitters, etc. - only player parents and legal guardians.  Also, no children under the age of 18 are allowed in the concessions area at any time.

We’re excited about the ever-improving volunteer system.  Here, you are in control of your volunteer destiny, with all the benefits, flexibility, and accountability that go along with it. We’ll keep everyone updated as this system continues to evolve. Contact the MYHA Volunteer Director Jim Krueger at hockeyvolunteer@comcast.net with any questions.

We’re always looking for new ways to improve the volunteer program and enjoy hearing your comments.  If you’re interested in joining the Volunteer Committee, please let Jim Krueger know.