Queen City Hockey Association and Cincinnati Amateur Hockey Association are excited to announce that our two respective hockey organizations will merge effective with this year's spring programs. This unification of our two widely recognized local organizations will serve to strengthen amateur hockey in the Cincinnati area and will affect over 700 local skaters. The combined new organization will offer:

· Enhanced skills training and developmental clinics for skaters of all ages.

· Youth hockey programs for skaters from the age of 4 through High School.

· An increase in the number and strength of competitive travel teams as the new organization expects to build one of the elite hockey programs in the Midwest.

· A larger and more effective house hockey program focused on the development of new players interested in learning this fast paced and exciting sport.

· A size and scale of operations and resources that will enable the new combined organization to better promote the sport of hockey within the region and to offer more and enhanced programs for our skaters and their families.

We are excited about the opportunities this "combining of forces" allows and are committed to quickly and effectively working together to create a great hockey experience for all local skaters and their families. We simply believe that we will be more successful in growing the sport of hockey in the region by combining our talents and resources than we will by continuing to compete. The new organization will play under the new name of Cincinnati Swords for travel operations and Cincinnati Sabres for house operations. The new organization's board will be constructed of board members from both current organizations and will begin meeting next week to address the many operational decisions we face (format of spring pods, determination of coaches and teams for next season, tryout process, etc.). Don Biggs has also agreed to serve as the new organization's first Director of Hockey and will help lead us through many of the hockey related transitional issues we face. We are committed to communicating the answers everyone needs quickly and will soon schedule town hall type sessions for coaches and families to give everyone a chance to learn more about our plans and to ask further questions.  We have attached a copy of the Press Release, a Frequently Asked Questions document and a copy of the new board's organizational structure to this announcement to help address some of the initial questions you may have. We ask for your patience and support as we work through the inevitable transition issues.

 

Tom Thornley                                          Chris Knecht

President, CAHA                                     President, QCHA