NEWS

In consultation with its junior member teams and the financial and operational support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, both mandatory and recommended standards for franchises were established and approved by the OHA. These standards included a wide range of areas in the overall operation of hockey teams, including, but not limited to, on ice considerations, hockey and business operations, volunteers and the online presence of teams. A number of independent evaluators were summoned to conduct audits on all OHA teams (120 approximately). The first base line audits were completed in 2012 and secondary audits were completed in the 2014-15 season on all OHA teams. The OHA Board of Directors implemented the “CLUB 90” program to recognize those member teams that, through these independent audits, achieved a score of greater than 90% for the mandatory requirements and more than 80% for the recommended requirements, as established through the OHA Tomorrow’s Game project. While it remains the goal of the OHA to have all of its teams achieve the 90 Club thresholds, the OHA strongly believes that “… the teams who have met this criteria at this time should be recognized by their peers and be able to utilize this significant achievement to continue to further the quality standards that their hockey program has accomplished”.