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Unionville Ice Hockey Club seeks re-sanctioning as district club sport; board to vote next week
Summary
Club leaders presented plans to reaffiliate the Unionville Ice Hockey Club with the district as a sanctioned club sport covering elementary, middle and high school teams; board will consider formal sanction at next week's meeting.
Leaders of the Unionville Ice Hockey Club presented to the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District board on May 12 seeking re-sanctioning of the club as a district-sponsored club sport covering middle and high school teams and continued elementary development.
Leah Burke, introduced at the meeting as the club’s president, outlined the program’s structure, governance and history. The club is a nonprofit, USA Hockey–sanctioned organization with a multi-level program that fields elementary, middle and high school teams when numbers permit. Burke said the club has about 15 confirmed middle school players and 11 confirmed high school players for next season and that the organization aims to reestablish a girls-only high school team when participation increases.
Pat Talbert and district staff described how district sanctioning would change the relationship: sanctioned teams would gain access to district recognition, athletic trainers, inclusion in school publications and representation at school events, while club finances would remain independent per district club-sports policy. Board members asked about medical coverage, concussion testing, ice time, scheduling and whether combined teams (for example, girls combining with other districts) would fall under district sanctioning; district staff said teams that combine with other schools would not be listed as district-sanctioned teams unless the roster was all Unionville students.
Administrators said a formal motion to sanction the Unionville Ice Hockey Club (holistically across grade levels, rather than only middle school) will be before the board at next week’s regular meeting. The district pointed to its existing Club Sports policy 122.1 as the governing framework for any sanctioning.
Unionville students who play in the club would continue to pay dues to the club and the district reiterated that club sports are not funded by district general funds; district support would be mostly administrative and limited in scope, the administration said.
