2024/2025 Season
Hello Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey Players and Families from the Board of Directors!
This is your official ’24-’25 season kickoff email!
We are 17 days away from our first practice, so we wanted to provide an overview of the season that hopefully answers any questions you may have, especially for our new players and families.
To that point, we want to welcome our newest team member Elsie Calahan! She will be a sophomore at Glenbrook South and has most recently been playing with the Chicago Bulldogs 16U team. We also want to welcome back our freshman players Jackie, Cassidy, Claire, Georgia, Penelope, and Sarah to their first regular season with Glenbrook Girls Varsity!
URGENT: USAH Membership Renewal
Please renew your player’s USAH membership for the 2024-2025 season and provide that confirmation to our Registrar Rob Ventura (Rjvplace@aol.com) BEFORE Aug. 13th.
Please note that players with a 2006 and 2007 birth year will also need to complete SafeSport training.
You can renew USAH memberships here: USA Hockey Member Registration
Double-Rostered Players
Please also reconfirm to our Registrar Rob Ventura (Rjvplace@aol.com) what additional team your player expects to be rostered on for the ’24-’25 season, and please specify exactly which team (e.g., 16U Glenview Stars Independent). This information is required by the Metro League for their initial team ranking, and it will also be helpful for our team scheduling.
Switching from TeamSnap to Crossbar
Currently, we are using TeamSnap for our team calendar, roster, and communications. However, Crossbar is a more robust platform that offers many benefits beyond what TeamSnap provides, so we will be switching to Crossbar ASAP. Our goal is to make this transition BEFORE our first practice on August 18th. More details to come on that transition. In the meantime, we will continue to use TeamSnap exclusively for all our team scheduling and communications.
Practices
All practices and home games will be at the Glenview Community Ice Center / 1851 Landwehr Rd.
Per AHAI rules, we cannot practice as a team before August 15th.
Our first practice will be Sunday August 18th @ 7:10 pm.
Our second practice will be that following Sunday afternoon August 25th at 5:00 pm.
The Board of Directors and Coaches will host a but brief 15 minute kickoff meeting for COACHES / PARENTS ONLY at 4:45 pm on Sunday August 25th in the Community Room at the Glenbrook Ice Center before our second practice at 5:00 pm.
For the remaining practices, we have our dedicated ice slot at GCIC on Sunday nights from 8:10 pm to 9:10. And that is when almost all our practices and home games will be held.
Until we transition to Crossbar, TeamSnap will continue as our official team calendar. It is currently up to date, and we will continue to update it until we switch to Crossbar. So please make sure to turn on your TeamSnap app notifications and profile settings to receive TeamSnap emails.
Uniforms
We request that all players wear official Glenbrook game jerseys, pant shells, and game socks for all games. Returning players, if your stuff fits, you’re all set! For new players who haven’t already ordered, and returning players who need to replace something, the Offensive Zone Pro Shop at Glenview Ice Center will be open for 90 minutes before our first 2 practices for players to get properly sized / fitted and place their orders.
Offensive Zone Pro Shop Uniform Fitting Times
•Sunday August 18th 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm (practice starts at 7:10 pm)
•Sunday August 25th 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm (practice starts at 5:00 pm)
Uniforms need to be ordered ASAP as our first tiering round games may be as early as August 26th. Even so, due to normal production lead times, some players will likely need to wear borrowed game or practice jerseys, game socks, and pant shells for those first few games. But don’t worry, this is common for Metro League teams every season.
Roster
Glenbrook is a “combined high school” team of Glenbrook South, Glenbrook North, and Regina Dominican High Schools, and per AHAI rules that means we are a “no-cut” team.
As of now, we are projecting 20 skaters and 2 goalies on our roster for the ’24-‘25 season.
AHAI / Metro rules allow us to have up to 30 total players on our roster, but only 18 skaters and 2 goalies (20 total players) can play in games. In the past, Glenbrook had at least 1 or 2 players unable to make each game for various reasons. So, it should be a rare occurrence where we ask available players to sit-out a game. If that is necessary, we will rotate players to sit out based on seniority, with the least senior team members sitting out first.
Metro League
Glenbrook plays in the Metro League, which will have 14 girls varsity hockey teams this season. Each team is required to play a total of 20 games to be eligible for the IL State Championship Tournament. And each player on every team roster is required to play in 60% - or at least 12 of those 20 games - to be eligible for the IL Girls High School State Championship Tournament.
To make it more competitive for all 14 teams, the Metro League regular season will be split into 2 Divisions based on the results of an initial 5 game tiering or “seeding” round. Those tiering round matchups are determined by preseason rankings calculated by the Metro League. Glenbrook Girls Varsity’s primary objective this and every season is to qualify for the higher-level Scholastic Division with the best teams. So, it is critical for our team to be as prepared as possible for the tiering round which may begin as early as August 26th.
Click here for more info on the Metro League: Metro Girls High School League (metrogirlshockey.com)
Season Schedule: Following is a season overview with critical dates, subject to change:
METRO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL SEASON OVERVIEW
USAH Membership Renewal Due
Before Aug. 13th
send to Rjvplace@aol.com
Double-Roster Teams Due
Before Aug. 13th
send to Rjvplace@aol.com
Team Snap Player Profile Update Due
Before Aug. 13th
update in TeamSnap app or online
Preliminary Roster Due to Metro
Aug. 13th
1st Practice / Uniform Fitting
Aug. 18th
@ Glenview Ice Center
2nd Practice / Uniform Fitting / Team Meeting
Aug. 25th
@ Glenview Ice Center
Metro League Tiering Round
Aug. 26th - Sep
5 Games
Regular Season - Founders / Scholastic Divisions
Oct. – Feb.
15 Games / 4-6 Practices
Girls High School State Round Robin Playoffs
March 1st – 9th
Single Elimination
Girls High School State Semifinals
March 10th
Single Elimination
Girls High School State Championship Final
March 16th
1st & 2d Place in State
Game Schedule
I will be our team’s scheduler this year. After we submit our preliminary roster to the Metro League on August 13th, Metro will use that roster to rank the teams and set the initial tiering round groups. Once we receive that from Metro, we will be able to schedule our 5 tiering round games with the other teams in our group. Upon completion of our 5 tiering round games, Metro will use those results to establish the upper Scholastic Division and the lower Founders Divisions. And once that is done, we will then begin scheduling the balance 15 games of our regular season with the other teams in our division. Note that Glenbrook believes Sunday nights are the best time to schedule games to avoid most conflicts with our player’s other hockey teams and sports teams. So most of our games (home and away) and practices will be on Sunday nights, with some exceptions.
Attendance
All Glenbrook players are expected to attend all Glenbrook practices and games. However, the team understands and accepts that AA and AAA team games take priority for our double-rostered players. Glenbrook tries to avoid these conflicts by scheduling almost all our games and practices on Sunday nights. And we will always do our best to schedule around conflicts, but with 22 players representing multiple AA and AAA teams, we will not be able to accommodate every schedule.
Play Hard, Have Fun, and Let’s Win!
Our team, and the Metro League / IL Girls High School Hockey in general, has traditionally been a fun and low-stress experience, and we strive to maintain that same spirit this season. Because if the girls aren’t having fun playing hockey, it’s not worth all the time and effort! But that doesn’t mean we don’t care about winning. Having fun and winning are not mutually exclusive, as this team proved last season! Our main objectives for the team are to have fun, make the upper / Scholastic Division, make the State Championship Final again, and WIN this time!
Playing Time
As with past seasons, we will have a wide range of skill levels on our team again this season. Glenbrook Girls Hockey strives to help all players reach their full hockey potential, regardless of skill level. And because we will have a limited number of practices, our coaches will seek to provide equal game playing time as much as possible. But we are also committed to winning, as noted above. So there may be times when our coaches give some players more playing time than others in order to achieve a win for the entire team. We expect all our players to support our coaches in this strategy to win, and to always show respect to every teammate.
24 Hour Rule
Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey strongly believes in the value and effectiveness of the “24 hour rule”, and we are asking all players and parents to hold themselves accountable. This means players and parents should wait at least 24 hours after a situation or incident to contact the coaches or the Board to provide feedback, lodge a complaint, or simply ask a question. Thank you for respecting this rule.
Team Merchandise
Tiffany Tuvell is our Board Member responsible for social media, team uniforms, and team merchandise. She has our annual limited time online store set to launch on August 23rd. She will be sending out a link and more details ASAP. Please note this online store will only be open until September 6th so they can go into production and deliver orders ASAP. So don’t delay ordering. And there may still be time to add items, so please let Tiffany know if you have any specific requests (tuvellfamily@gmail.com).
Season Fees
Glenbrook works hard to keep our season fees as low as possible. This year, for various cost reasons, the Board has decided to raise that fee by $45 to $1,395 per player. (This fee does not include uniforms and practice jerseys.) We request those player fees be paid before our first official game, which is expected to be around August 26th. And our intention is to use Crossbar to accept fee payments, once we transition. (More details to follow ASAP on payment method.) Please note we are open to working with families on finances, so please let me know directly if you would like to request an extended payment schedule or some other arrangement. (gbghpres@gmail.com)
Volunteers
We will occasionally ask our parents to volunteer to help the team in various ways. So please be as generous with your time as you can be.
Feedback
And lastly, please know that each of the volunteer members of the Board of Directors are player parents too. And we do our best to provide the best possible hockey experience for our daughters. But we always welcome your input, feedback, concerns, and questions.
That’s it for now, and that’s certainly plenty! See you all at the rink in a couple weeks!
LET’S GO GLENBROOK GIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY!!!
Best Regards,
Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey Board of Directors
Mark P. McGuire – President, Team Scheduler
Alan Nicgorski – Senior Consigliere
Rob Ventura - Registrar
Tracy Reeder – Treasurer
Tiffany Tuvell – Team Manager (Social Media, Uniforms, Team Merchandise)