Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Policy

Our new Volunteer Policy requires that each family will need to volunteer a minimum of 5 shifts/credits for each child or commit to one full-time position with their child’s team for each child registered with RJMHA. Juvenile-aged players and parents are exempt from the volunteer requirements and fees.

Please review the Richmond Jets Volunteer Policy, so you understand all the volunteering requirements for the season.

 

Volunteer Policy FAQs

 

What do I do if I don’t have a cheque?

Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator: volunteer@richmondjetsmha.com to arrange an alternate payment.

Why are U21 Juvenile families not required to complete the volunteer hours?

We do not offer tournaments or tryouts/evaluations for U21 Juvenile teams.

How did you decide on the deposit/fee amounts?

We looked at programs offered by other associations both within Hockey and in other sports and found that $200 was a fair number to use as a deposit. Many associations use a much higher amount, and we may adjust this deposit in the future depending on how the program performs. We have decided in the 2022-2023 season, the opt-out amount will be $300 per player as a deterrent, as well as to fully fund the costs of maintaining an opt-out option and covering shifts.

How did you arrive at 5 shifts/credits per player?

We looked at all of our required positions for the year and divided it by the amount of expected registered players, discounting those families that would be taking a full-time position?

Why does someone in a full-time position not have to also do shifts?

The commitment for a full-time position is much higher than the hours required to complete the shift requirements, with many of the positions requiring over 20+ hours of a time commitment throughout the year.

Why do families with 2+ children only have to complete 8 shifts?

We looked at the association, and this is a very small part of the entire Jets organization these parents are already paying registration fees for 2+ kids and having the extra time commitment of getting 2+ kids to and from the games, practices, etc., and we decided to give them a bit of a break. 3

I have 2+ players and signed up for a full-time position - do I still need to sign up for 5 shifts for the second player?

No. Because of the time commitment of a full-time position, volunteering for one of these positions will fulfill the hours required for both players.

Isn’t this just another way for the association to make money?

No. The goal of the program is to ensure that we have enough volunteers for all of our events and that everyone meets their volunteer commitments. Minor hockey does not operate without the dedication of our volunteers. Ideally, RJMHA does not want to cash any cheques during the season. If we do happen to cash a cheque, we use those funds to pay people to staff those positions.

Does this mean that you are paying your replacement staff $30-40/hr?

No, generally we provide our replacement staff with a $20/hr honorarium. The extra money is to incentivize people to meet their volunteer commitment. Many associations that we spoke to found that if the deposit was too small people would simply pay funds and not complete their hours. This is not the goal of this program and we will continue to adjust the deposit amount to ensure that people are meeting their volunteer hours rather than simply opting out of their commitment.

What happens if I’m a rep parent and I’m unable to find enough time during the tryouts/evaluations?

There are a number of team official positions which are available for each team. In addition, all association members are welcome to sign-up to volunteer at any of our tournaments to complete their volunteer commitment. Finally, we have asked that anyone taking a full-time position, do not take a shift as this will ensure that we have enough positions available for everyone to meet their commitment. That being said, we encourage all families to complete their commitment as early in the season as possible so that you are not scrambling at the end of the year to make up your hours.

What happens if I cancel my cheque before it’s cashed?

If we are unable to collect the owed funds, we will add the funds and an NSF fee to your child’s registration fees for the coming year(s). We also will not approve player transfers to other associations or organizations if there are outstanding fees on a player’s account.