A note to Coaches from: 

David Hoff

Northern Plains Coach-in-Chief

I wanted to send out a quick update that hopefully you can pass along to the coaches and associations in your area.  USA Hockey, along with the coaching section has made the following decision regarding coaching certification for the coming season-

We recognize the coming certification season may not be perfect in that face-to-face clinics may be a challenge in many areas- they may be planned and organized but have to be changed at the last minute because of the changing times related to the virus.  There may be coaches who simply do not feel comfortable going back into a classroom environment yet.  We do plan to offer virtual clinics through Zoom, but this may not be preferred, or may not work for some coaches.

SO- any coach who would like to sign up and receive Temporary Certification for the coming season is able to do so between now and the end of June.  There was an email that went out yesterday to all coaches who were registered last season letting them know of this possibility.  The email will contain a link where coaches will go to sign up and complete the payment process online.  This temporary certification will cost $50.00 which is what it has always been.  There will be certification clinics available, but this temporary certification is being offered to all coaches, so they do not have to worry about attending a certification clinic in person or online for 1 season if they prefer not to do so.  Any coach who opts to apply for the temporary certification will stay at their current level of certification for 1 more season (will expire on 12-31-21).

The reason there is a deadline of 6-30-20 for the temporary certification sign-up is so we as a coaching section can continue to plan for the certification clinic needs this fall.  We recognize the challenge that comes with trying to provide online certification for possibly an extremely large number of coaches.

This temporary certification will also be recognized by USA Hockey for coaches of National Tournament bound teams if a coach of one of these teams feels more comfortable with temporary certification this year, and then will resume the process of attending a certification clinic next season.

I would ask everyone to try to understand our reasoning- the coaching section believes in the importance of coaching education, but also recognizes the challenging and ever-changing times we are in currently.  Because of this, we are offering each coach the opportunity to sign up for a 1-year temporary certification card.  We really are simply offering any coach the opportunity to extend their current certification for 1 season and then resume the process of attending a certification clinic in the fall of 2021 if that is their preference

Remember- if a coach does not like the idea of paying for temporary certification, he or she will have the opportunity to attend a face-to-face clinic or complete an online Zoom clinic if preferred.