Travel / Road Trip Safety Tips
Never have alcohol in your possession or allow any player or team staff member to have alcohol in their possession while traveling to and from the arena or at the arena, this includes events within KMHA boundaries.
Never allow anyone who is under the influence of alcohol or drugs to participate in any hockey related activities or to operate a motor vehicle.
Care should be exercised when allowing injured players to operate a motor vehicle.
Before traveling to hockey-related activities monitor weather and road conditions. Never take any chances with poor traveling conditions and recruit reliable adults to transport players. Consult with the coaching staff and the team manager.
When planning overnight trips ensure that your team rooms are all booked on the same floor or in the same area of the hotel and that players are supervised at all times by reliable, responsible adults. Know the location of all fire exits within the hotel.
Communicate with the parents of players with special needs (e.g. asthma, food allergies) to ensure that any illnesses or other needs are attended to. If players will be staying with billets, ensure billets are aware of any special needs or illnesses and that all medicinal guidelines are followed.
Ensure proper guidelines and ground rules are in place when players will be staying with billets, including screening of billets and rules for billets and players.
Trainers are strongly encouraged to take First Aid Kit and medical information files to all hockey-related activities and know emergency telephone numbers and the location of hospitals or other emergency treatment facilities where you are traveling.
Please note that if a player is seen to or comes off the ice indicating that he has banged his head off the ice/boards/glass, the trainer is perform the concussion tests as recommended by Hockey Canada and take note of the players name and always inform the caregivers that it is recommended that they take the player to a doctor to verify that the player is not suffering from a concussion. This is applicable within KMHA boundraires as well.
The questions to ask on the bench are:
- What is your name?
- What is the name of this place?
- Why are you here?
- What month are we in?
- What year are we in?
- In what town/suburb are you in?
- How old are you?
- What is your date of birth?
- What time of day is it? (morning, afternoon, evening)
- Three pictures are presented for subsequent recall
* Any incorrect response is considered a positive test for cognitive impairment after head injury.
When a player is on an away trip without his parents or legal guardians, the coaching and trainer staff are to ensure that any injury’s or suspected illness are communicated as soon as practical to the caregiver, either by phone/e-mail. This is a requirement to ensure that the player gets the medical attention as soon as possible and that caregiver’s are fully informed in a timely fashion; as the coaching/training staff do not have the full medical history for a player.
Insurance Information
Even though an event may be sanctioned, not all parties are necessarily insured. For instance, parents may be participating in a fundraiser, but not in a capacity that grants coverage. In such cases, additional coverage may be purchased from a local broker for a special event.
There are also circumstances where an event falls outside the scope of the insurance policy or the guidelines established by Hockey Canada and the Ottawa District Hockey Association and as a result there is no coverage afforded to any participants. When this situation arises and event organizers intend to proceed with the event they must indicate to the participants in some reasonable way that the event is not covered by Hockey Canada insurance.
It is important that KHMA teams are aware that they should purchase additional Health Insurance when leaving the country. Provincial health care plans will cover a portion of out of province medical expenses and Hockey Canada insurance has specific limits that apply once the primary insurance coverage has been exhausted.
FAQ’s
The following answers are in response to frequently asked questions asked by Branches and Local Associations within Hockey Canada. The purpose of providing these answers is to assist all members in gaining a better understanding of the Hockey Canada Insurance Programs.
- FAQ Document from Hockey Canada (.pdf – 70 KB)
Team Special Events Permit
Before and during the season there are a couple of things to keep in mind in regards to team insurance coverage
Any team event other than practices, season games, and tournament games are not covered under our insurance – you will require a special event permit (extra insurance coverage, please see our website under downloads and forms for the special event form). Some events will not be covered at all. See the guidelines/list of such events at Guidelines and will therefore not be covered under any KMHA/ODHA insurance.
The coach and team manager must inform parents (in writing) on their team if there is no insurance coverage for such an event, so that it is clearly understood that should there be an incident no insurance claims can be made.
Travel Permits
To ensure that you have enough time to get documentation, please submit the completed form to the office as soon as your official team list is completed.
Travel Permits – Tournaments in Canada
- If you are registering for a tournament OUTSIDE the ODMHA, then you do NEED a travel permit.
- If you need a travel permit follow these steps:
- Download the Team Travel Permit form. Click HERE to go to the FORMs page on the ODHA website.
- Fill out three copies (one for you, one for your association and one for your district).
- Give all 3 copies to your association president for signatures.
NOTE – do NOT leave this till the last minute. These forms require signatures from multiple people. It could take a couple of days/week to get all the forms signed off.
Travel Permits – Tournaments in the U.S.A.
- Follow the instructions above regarding Travel Permits for Canadian tournaments, BUT also include the USA Team Travel Permit form from the ODHA website available HERE.
Insurance Highlights
- The Hockey Canada Insurance Program is designed to be a secondary insurer for our participants. The policy is structured in a way that the participants’ insurance pays first and Hockey Canada Insurance pays second.
- Specifically for Tournaments in the US, traveling insurance coverage by ODHA/KMHA is only for a max of 5K in the US and its usage is for use as a secondary policy in US and/or at home. It is highly recommended if you plan on going to the US to get supplemental insurance.
- KMHA will provide some links to insurance companies that provide «sports insurance while traveling» in the very near future.