The sections, in the order a reader needs them
- Purpose and principles. One paragraph: ice is shared on current needs, measured against targets, and the unpopular slots are shared too. Fort Saskatchewan's 2023 policy opens by aiming to share desirable and undesirable ice fairly.
- Who allocates, and when. The ice scheduler's role, who reviews the allocation, the dates of the fall allocation and the January re-allocation, and when schedules are published.
- Hours by division and tier. A table of practice targets per week or per season, and whether games come out of the same ice.
- Times by age group. The earliest start and latest end for each division, and any cap on late slots per week.
- Ice sizes and sharing. Which divisions practise on full, half or third ice, who may share a slot, and whether a shared hour counts as an hour or as a share. The shared ice guide covers the choices.
- Prime time and the early and late slots. Your arena's definition of prime, and how the 6 am and late slots rotate. See the prime time guide.
- Conflicts. Teams that share a coach are never on the ice at once, with travel time between arenas; tournament weekends and other blackout dates.
- When there is not enough ice. How a shortfall is shared: in proportion to each team's target is the usual answer.
- Unused ice, trades and returns. How much notice a team gives to return a slot (Fort Saskatchewan asks for 21 days), whether teams may trade, and who gets returned ice.
- Appeals and publication. Who a coach writes to, how fast they get an answer, and where the schedule and the fairness numbers are posted.
Worked example: the sample association's settings
These are the division settings of the invented sample association in the ice allocator. They are an example of the table a policy needs, not a recommendation for any age group.
| Division | Earliest start | Latest end | Ice sizes | Late slots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U7 | 07:00 | 19:00 | half ice or third ice | None |
| U9 | 06:30 | 20:00 | half ice | None |
| U11 | 06:00 | 21:00 | full ice or half ice | None |
| U13 | 06:00 | 21:30 | full ice | 1 a week |
| U15 | 06:00 | 22:00 | full ice | No cap |
Unless the policy says otherwise, the allocator treats a slot starting at 20:30 or later as late, one starting before 07:00 as early, and gives a coach 30 minutes to travel between arenas. Every one of these is a setting on the Rules tab, so the policy's numbers go straight in. With these settings the sample allocates with 0 broken rules, and 2 teams end below target (U13 A and U15 A), each with the reasons listed.
Writing it so it can be applied
A policy that can be applied by a volunteer on a Sunday night is one where every rule is a number or a yes or no: "U9 teams practise between 06:30 and 20:00 on half ice", not "young players should not skate too late". Say which rules are hard and which are preferences. Say what the scheduler does when two rules collide, for example when the only slot a team can take is on its tournament weekend. And say that the association decides the policy while the scheduler applies it, so disagreements go to the board rather than to the volunteer.
Common mistakes
- Writing principles with no numbers, so every allocation is argued from scratch.
- Leaving out how shared ice is counted, so half ice hours are counted two ways in one season.
- No rule for returned ice, so a slot a team gives back sits empty or goes to whoever hears first.
- Allocating by last year's grid instead of this year's registrations and tiers.
- No appeal route, so the volunteer scheduler takes every complaint personally.
Next: how to allocate practice ice fairly once the policy is written.