The DC Stars Expect to Have a Great Season Even Without Our Home Ice at Fort Dupont

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UPDATE FROM THE BOARD

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Dear Team,

It was good to see so many of you at practice Friday night. The familiar sounds of pucks on sticks and skates cutting the ice were great to hear. I was grateful to get a chance to talk to many of the parents during practice and to provide a little update on the status of Fort Dupont and its impact on our upcoming season.

Since I didn’t get to talk to everyone and due to new information from this morning, I want to take this opportunity to provide a fuller update regarding the delayed opening at Fort Dupont.

HEADLINE: The DC Stars Expect to Have a Great Season Even Without Our Home Ice at Fort Dupont

Despite repeated assurances that the rink would be ready, we received news this morning that Fort Dupont does not expect to reopen this season. The delay is caused by technical challenges that the rink's project team and construction contractors will not be able to overcome in a timely manner. For those interested, I am happy to provide more details off-line. Candidly, it is a very frustrating situation for all of us.

Moving Ahead with a Full Slate of Practices.

While it is not the ideal start to the new season that we had all anticipated, the board has been preparing for this possibility for the past few weeks. We have already secured new ice slots for many of our practices. The Ice Gardens in Laurel have been very helpful and will host a lot of our practices. Unfortunately, they cannot accommodate all our time slots. This means that some practices will be at St. James and other locations. 

Check TeamSnap Regularly

The practice schedule for September was uploaded last week. More dates/times/locations will be added today. Additional practices will be added as soon as we contract for the ice. We are also considering a couple off-ice sessions at Corobus Hockey Training Center in Clarendon. These will be small groups of players rotating between conditioning and skills training. 

What About Home Games?

It is the league's responsibility to reserve ice for gamedays, and they are working diligently to make sure that we have ice. The board is in close communication with the league to help ensure that game times and locations will give our players the best possible chance to compete. 

The news that Fort Dupont will not open this season is certainly not what we wanted to hear. Not only does it cause stress and complications for our team (and the other teams based at Fort Dupont), but it means one more year of the DC Stars not having a rink to call home. However, we are fortunate. Ice hockey, despite its hard-hitting on-ice reputation, is a family. Already, we are getting offers from other teams to share ice. And the league is working in good faith to find scheduling solutions.

Coaches’ Call

Gentle reminder: we have our annual Coaches’ Call on Thursday. It is a great chance to meet the coaches and listen to their expectations for the season. Please RSVP on TeamSnap.

We will also use the call as an opportunity to answer any questions about Fort Dupont and the season’s schedule.

Looking Forward

Games are currently set to start as early as September 26^th with the JV facing off against Sherwood in Rockville. The varsity’s road to a winning season is set to begin October 17^th. Please pay close attention to TeamSnap since the schedule is still a bit fluid.

We are also looking forward to the Caps game on November 15^th against the Devils. We have a few community events in the works and a soon to be announced get together at the Rush Rink is also being organized.

Thank You

On behalf of the entire volunteer board, thank you for your patience as we sort out the scheduling challenges. Our commitment remains to make sure that the student athletes of the DC Stars get a competitive and exciting high school hockey experience.

Parents and players are all welcome to reach out to me with questions/suggestions. I will provide weekly updates throughout the season.

Heath Cox on behalf of the Board