Message from HEO with respect to transmission within hockey

Date: October 22, 2020
Re: Message from HEO President
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On October 21, Dr Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Ottawa, reported several outbreaks related to a variety of youth and adult sports teams within the city. We look forward to reviewing the City of Ottawa’s data to better understand how these outbreaks impact our hockey programs within HEO. HEO hockey programs, like schools and workplaces in eastern Ontario, and especially the City of Ottawa, have experienced a handful of individual cases. For the most part, with limited exception, these cases have come to hockey from elsewhere and have not been responsible for spread within a cohort. In each and every case, HEO individual members and teams have worked closely with the four Public Health Units associated with HEO to make sure the right steps are taken to contain transmission. For those of you wondering if only the high performance cohorts have been affected with individual cases, I can tell you that one in three of the handful of individual cases has been association with house league cohorts. Whether cases come to House League or High Performance programs isn’t as important as how quickly we find and manage them. Obviously, we would all like to have no cases within hockey, but that is not realistic, particularly given the COVID situation in the City of Ottawa.
 
Working in conjunction with the public health authorities, HEO has implemented a thorough set of safety protocols which encompass hygiene, screening, education and reporting. Our programming has been and continues to be fully compliant with Province of Ontario and municipal restrictions. We will continue to closely monitor the COVID climate and are prepared to adjust expeditiously as the situation unfolds.
 
As the provincial sport organization (PSO) responsible for hockey in eastern Ontario, we’re proud of the efforts our participants and volunteers have made to comply with constantly evolving public health requirements, and we’re confident that those Associations and Leagues continuing to offer programming at this difficult time will do so in a responsible and careful manner. We’re hearing from many that the opportunity for our minor and older players to pursue an activity they love is incredibly important to them, from a physical and mental health standpoint. Local administrators’ decisions to shut down or offer programming at this time are very difficult ones to make. You have our support wherever you may be in the Framework.
 
Some of our participants in minor and junior hockey also attend skill development session and team based events with private hockey operators, as well as participation in other sports. As you know, HEO has no authority to regulate private operators. This is why we encourage our participants who take part in multiple bubbles to take a close look at the COVID safety protocols in place with private operators and other sports, and to consider limiting their participation in multiple bubbles. We’ve heard from some of you that you are considering asking your players to choose either your sanctioned hockey program or others, in an effort to protect themselves and one another. It’s within your authority as a Member of HEO to impose the type of restrictions and sanctions you feel are necessary to run your programs safely and effectively.
 
This is, without a doubt, a difficult time for players, volunteers, hockey administrators, officials and all of the hockey families who love this game. Our number one priority always has been and will continue to be the health and wellbeing of our players, coaches, staff and volunteers. We will continue to work away at ensuring we create and maintain a safe environment for hockey, while planning for the future that will see a return of “traditional“ hockey. Thank you for all that you do.

Gary Hopkins
President - Hockey Eastern Ontario