Vote at Morrison Arena Tuesday, June 23rd!

The membership will elect 3 new Booster Board Members and vote to approve bylaw changes (see note below), followed by the annual meeting of the members of Orono Hockey Boosters Inc.  The meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 23rd at Morrison Arena in Orono, 1025 Old Crystal Bay Rd N, Long Lake, MN 55356.

• 5:00 - 6:00: Members vote
• 6:00 - 6:30: Annual Meeting of the Members
• 6:30 - 8:00: June Booster Board Meeting

The Booster Board candidates are:

Jeff Foster (incumbent) - "I want to continue to enhance the overall OYHA program from mites through Jr Gold."  I will have 4 players in OYHA this season.

Erik Hovland - "I want to provide leadership and serve our Youth through fostering a positive environment that enables inclusion, safety and success at all levels. "

Colby Skelton (incumbent) - "I have three young children (10, 8 and 6) who
play hockey and I want to help improve the program the best I can."

Bylaw Changes

At the annual meeting, the Association will conduct a vote to amend its Bylaws.    We have attached a redlined version of the amended bylaws for everyone’s review.  The board unanimously approved these amendments and, per our Bylaws, final approval requires a membership vote on the amendments.  The amendments are summarized below:

1. The bylaws now contain a reference Minn. Stat. 317A.411 to reflect that the Association will follow the Minnesota non-profit statute with respect to termination or suspension of membership.  This change has been made to provide members with adequate notice of the process for termination and suspension of membership.
2. The bylaws now contain provisions which expressly allow for telephonic and other electronic meetings of both the board of directors and the membership.  The Association’s charitable gaming operations will require more meetings of both the board and the membership.   Virtual meetings will greatly reduce the burden of scheduling in person meetings and may have the added benefit of increasing membership participation in Association matters.
3. The bylaws now contain provisions which expressly allow the board to act by written consent between meetings.  The Board frequently needs to make decisions between meetings.  In the past, the Association has done this by ratifying decisions made between meetings.  The better practice is to use written board consents for these decisions.
4. The bylaws now contain a provision which allows the executive  committee to approve expenditures between meetings up to a limit of $2,000.00 per transaction.  During the season, there are expenditures that need to be addressed on an expedited basis.   As mentioned above, past practice has been to have the board ratify these matters after the fact.   While the amendment still requires full disclosure of any such decisions to the board at the next meeting and that such decisions be reflected in the minutes of the next board meeting. 
5. The bylaws provision relating to level representation has been amended to reflect the fact that USA hockey and Minnesota hockey change the age level designations from time to time. 

OYHA Mission Statement

Orono Hockey Boosters provides a traveling hockey program for youth in the Orono community, including but not limited to students in the Orono Minnesota School District. We operate American Development Model (ADM) programs for kids at the 4-9 year old level as well as traveling teams for boys at the A, B, and C levels for Squirts, PeeWees, and Bantams, and for girls at the U10, U12, and U15 levels. We also are committed to offering a program at other youth levels (Junior Gold) when the demand within our association justifies doing so. We operate under the terms of a Code of Conduct that is signed and acknowledged by all players, parents, and coaches each season.

Our philosophy is to promote the growth and development of players in a fun, fair, and safe environment that maximizes player participation and skill development at all levels while also developing sportsmanship, teamwork, and self-confidence.

We believe that participation in youth hockey should lead to building of personal self-esteem, self-discipline, social skills, and respect for others.

We are committed to evaluating our programs on an ongoing basis to ensure that we are serving our memberships’ needs, developing our players at all skill levels, and providing a positive experience for our youth.