Dear NYCGHA members and players,
As we slowly begin our fall season, we wanted to touch base and thank you for your involvement in the organization. We also have a few important details to announce.
First of all, we have fielded a number of questions regarding the surprising number of bye weeks our D7 and D8 teams are experiencing. NYU has the East Rink booked most Saturdays this fall, but we have been assured by Sky Rink that will be back on track shortly.
Most importantly, we have decided to eliminate the $50 annual dues we have charged to players. Over the past 11 years these dues have helped our organization grow and thrive, but we realize everyone is feeling the effects of an unstable economy. Playing hockey in New York City is a costly endeavor, and we would like to ease the burden on our players as much as possible.
However, as the NYCGHA is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, we still welcome donations (which of course are tax deductible). We also ask that you inquire if your employers have sponsorship or gift-matching programs—there are a number of subsidized teams at Sky Rink, and a partnership with us would add to visibility and benefit both the NYCGHA and the corporation involved.
We have had a few questions about our finances, so we would like to summarize things. In a nutshell, the NYCGHA has four major programs each year which further its mission statement:
- Organizing teams in Sky Rink's adult recreational league hockey program
- Chelsea Challenge summer hockey tournament
- Summer Thursday Night Ice instructional clinics
- Holiday scrimmages
Organizing the league teams presents the most interesting challenge for us because of the way Sky Rink structures its fees. Each team that registers for league play has to come up with at least $9,000 at the start of every season. To accomplish this, we try to roster 15 full-time players on each NYCGHA team, setting the cost for each full-time player at 1/15th of the Sky Rink team fee (at the moment, $600). That fee covers only what Sky Rink charges us for ice time.
In addition to the $45,000 that we pay Sky Rink per season, there are additional costs associated with running a team. Some of these costs include:
- Jerseys: As an example, we just wrote a check for nearly $2,500 for new jerseys this season.
- Injury-shortened seasons: As best as our finances will allow, we try to reimburse full-time players when their season gets cut short by a season-ending injury.
- Bad-debt writeoff: While not common, every now and then we say goodbye to a player who has left us with unpaid bills.
- Costs of running an organization, such as liability insurance, accounting, tax prep and filing fees, banking and PayPal fees, and website expenses.
Because of all of the above, the NYCGHA needs to plan each year to raise funds above-and-beyond what Sky Rink charges us. The single biggest source of those funds has been and will continue to be fees we charge to alternates who fill in when full-time players are unavailable.
If we did not charge alt fees, full-time fees would need to be up to $100 higher per player than they are in order to cover additional expenses, and we’d also have the problem that everyone would want to be an alternate instead of a full-time paying player. It is our view that allowing alternates to play for free is not fair to those who pay for a roster spot.
We hope this clears up some of the questions you may have had. Thanks again for your involvement, and see you on the ice.
NYCGHA Executive Board
Jeff, John & Robb
We also have a new P.O. Box address. Please update for your records:
NYCGHA
PO Box 2158
Grand Central Station
New York NY 10163-2100
P.S. For you early risers, there is a new Saturday morning clinic at Sky Rink from 5 to 7a.m. Taught by long-time CP coach John Stoble, its 2 hours for $20 of ice time each week. (There is also a buy-9-get-1-free policy if you want to pre-pay for a bunch of sessions.) More info
