Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey

Hello Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey!!

This is your official 25-26 season kickoff announcement and registration process! 

We are just days away from our first practice on Sunday night August 17^th at 7:10 pm.

The following is an overview of the season that hopefully answers any questions you may have, especially for our new players and families.

On that point, we want to extend a very special welcome to our 9 freshmen players! We're so excited to have you officially join our team for the 25-26 season!

Coaching Staff

We are thrilled to announce that our team will be lead again this year by:

Head Coach Steve Hamelin

First Assistant Coach Danielle Karacsonyi

Assistant Coach Nora Curtis

Double-Rostered Players

If you are now or expect to be rostered on another hockey team for the Fall 2025 / Winter 2026 seasons, we need to know which team. This info is required by the Metro League for their initial season team rankings. This info is also very helpful to help us avoid scheduling conflicts. You will be asked to confirm your other team during our Crossbar registration process.

Practice / Game Schedule

All practices / home games at Glenview Community Ice Center / 1851 Landwehr Rd.

Our first practice will be on Sunday August 17^th @ 7:10 pm on Rink A. Our second and third practices are Sunday August 24^th and 31^st at 6:00 pm also on Rink A.

Starting in September, we resume our weekly Sunday night ice slot on Rink A at the slightly later time of 8:20 pm when almost all practices and home games will be held.

25-26 Season Kickoff Information Session

We will have a brief season kickoff meeting for Coaches and Parents only (no players) from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Sunday August 24^th in the 2^nd floor Community Room A/B at the Glenbrook Ice Center. This meeting will be held during our practice that evening.

Uniforms

Our first official game may be scheduled as early as September 8^th, and all players are required to wear our official Glenbrook Girls Varsity game jerseys, pant shells, and game socks for all games.

We request that all new players order their game uniforms from Offensive Zone ASAP if you haven’t done so already. (Note it can take up to 6 weeks for uniforms to be produced and delivered.)

Returning players, if your stuff fits, you’re all set! For new players who haven’t already ordered, and returning players who need to replace something, you can use the following online order form from the Offensive Zone Pro Shop: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebqUN4uROpxhccIYZ3Mh9SBFVqZk-idxlI8JEPyoJmgJsHrg/viewform

Some players may not have their game uniforms in time for our first few games, and that’s normal for all Metro League teams. Don’t sweat it, players can wear their practice jerseys or borrow from the club or teammates.

Team Roster

Glenbrook is a “combined high school” team of Glenbrook South, Glenbrook North, and Regina Dominican High Schools, and per AHAI rules that means we are a “no-cut” team. So, everyone who completes the registration process is on the team, and there will be no try-outs.

We're currently projecting a roster of 25 skaters / 2 goalies for the 25-26 season.

“Healthy Scratch”

AHAI / Metro rules allow up to 30 total players on our official season roster but only allows 18 skaters and 2 goalies (20 total players) to be rostered for and play in official games.

Typically, Glenbrook has at least 1 or 2 players per game who can't make it for various reasons. This is to be expected. However, we are still anticipating the need to “healthy scratch” some players for each game, which means we will ask those players to sit out and not dress or play in a game to comply with the 20-player per game roster restriction.

Each player on our team is as important and valued as every other player. Our team policy is to provide equal playing time for all players as much as possible while still maintaining our best opportunity to win each game. We also try to give deference to our veteran upperclassmen for their dedication and commitment to the team.  

The Coaches and Board believe the fairest way to determine “healthy scratches” for games is by availability first, and by rotating reverse seniority second.

Here’s how that will work; every player is required to check-in or check-out for every practice and game on our Crossbar schedule as far in advance as possible. 48 hours before each game, we will confirm the total number of goalies and skaters checked in. If you have not checked in by then you will be marked as not available and will be a healthy scratch. If we have more than 18 skaters checked-in, we will select the “healthy scratches” from those checked-in players starting with Freshmen, followed by Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors. We will skip over any players who have already been “healthy scratched” in favor of the next player who hasn’t been “healthy scratched” yet.

However, our Coaches have ultimate authority over game rosters and will make the final decisions on “healthy scratches” for every game. This preserves the Coaches’ ability to select the group of players they believe gives us the best chance to win and is in the overall best interests of the team.

Metro League

Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey is an AHAI affiliate playing in the Metro League with 14 girls high school varsity hockey teams this season, 2 more than previous.

We will play all 13 other teams once between September 8^th and December 15^th. We will then be split into Scholastic (upper) and Founders (lower) divisions based on those results.

Our primary season objective as a team is to do well in these initial 13 games and earn a spot as 1 of 7 teams in the upper Scholastic division playing against the other top 6 teams.

We will then play the other 6 teams in our division once again by February 9^th.

That makes a total of 19 regular season games between September 8th and February 9^th.

Scholastic and Founders Cup Playoffs and Championship Finals are February 13^th-15^th.

State Tournament Semifinal Games March 9^th.

State Tournament Championship Final Game March 14th or 15^th.

Each team is required to play a total of 19 games to be eligible for the IL State Championship Tournament.

Click here for more info on the Metro League: Metro Girls High School League (metrogirlshockey.com)

Game Scheduling

We will attempt to schedule most of our games on Sunday nights, either during our 8:20 pm slot at Glenview, or at similar times at other team’s rinks.

The first of our initial round of 13 games could be as early as Monday September 8^th. And our 13^th game must be played by December 15^th. So that will be 13 games in less than 10 weeks. Which means we will likely have to schedule a few games on weeknights / school nights. We will do our best to avoid conflicts with school and with our double-sport and double-hockey rostered players' other teams.

Attendance

Glenbrook Girls Varsity understands and accepts that school and academics, as well as AA and AAA hockey teams and other fall / winter sports teams may take priority. We try to schedule most of our games and practices on Sunday nights, which seem to create the least conflict for our players. The best approach is for every player to check-in for every game possible. 

Postseason Eligibility – PLEASE READ!

Please be advised that to qualify for post-season State Tournament play, Metro League Players must be game rostered for 60% of our 19 regular season games, per AHAI / Metro rules. That means players must be on the game roster for at least 12 of our 19 regular season games = 63%.

Note if you are injured, sick, or have some other personal emergency that prevents you from attending a game, please check-out for that game on Crossbar and immediately contact me (Mark McGuire) and the Coaches to let us know so we can mark you as “IR” or “injured reserve” on the game roster. Games in which a player is marked as “IR” or “injured reserve” on a game roster count as a game played toward that 60% eligibility. Please contact me directly if you have any questions about this.

Play Hard, Have Fun, and Let’s Win!

Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey and the Metro League / IL Girls High School Hockey in general, has traditionally been a fun and low-stress hockey experience for the girls, and we strive to maintain that same spirit every season. We want our players to have fun playing with their classmates (and sometimes against their AA / AAA teammates)! Because if the girls aren’t truly having fun playing hockey, it’s not worth all the time and effort.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t care about winning. Having fun and winning are not mutually exclusive, as this team has proved that in the last 2 seasons! Our main objectives are to have fun, make the upper / Scholastic Division, and reach the State Championship Final Game again.

Playing Time

As with past seasons, Glenbrook is very proud to have a wide range of skill levels on our team again this season. Glenbrook Girls Hockey strives to help all players reach their full hockey potential, regardless of skill level. And because we will have a limited number of practices, our coaches will seek to provide equal game playing time as much as possible. But we are also committed to winning, and deferring to our upperclassmen, as noted above. So, there may be times when our coaches give some players more playing time than others to achieve the best result for the entire team. We expect all our players to support our coaches in this strategy, and to always show respect to every teammate.  

24 Hour Rule

Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey strongly believes in the value and effectiveness of the “24-hour rule”, and we are asking all players and parents to hold themselves accountable. This means players and parents should wait at least 24 hours after a non-emergency situation or incident to contact the coaches or the Board to provide feedback or lodge a complaint. Thank you for respecting this rule.

Team Merchandise

We will be sending out a link to our online team merchandise store in a couple of weeks. Please note this online store will only be open for a limited time (2-3 weeks) so they can go into production and deliver orders ASAP early in the season. Please let me know if you have any specific merchandise requests (no cowbells!).

Season Fees

Glenbrook works hard to keep our season fees as low as possible. This year, because we expect to have a very healthy freshmen class and more players overall, the Board can reduce last year’s fee by $100 per player to $1,295 per player for the 25-26 season. (This fee does not include uniforms and practice jerseys.)

There are 2 payment options via Crossbar; 100% up-front or 3 equal installment payments. We request each player complete the registration process and make payment by next Friday August 8th.

Please note we are open to working with families on finances. Please contact Board President Mark McGuire at gbghpres@gmail.com if you would like to request an extended payment schedule or some other arrangement. All inquiries will be handled privately and with strict confidentiality by the Board.

Volunteers

WE DESPERATELY NEED A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE DOING WITH FACEBOOK / INSTRAGRAM!!!

If you have the time and passion and / or skill with social media, please volunteer today to help us digitally promote and celebrate our team on Facebook, Instagram, and our team’s own website.

We also need a Team Manager to help coordinate locker room coverage and other game time activities as well as team events.

And we will also occasionally ask our parents to volunteer to help the team in various other ways. Please be as generous with your time as you can.

Feedback

And lastly, please know that each of the volunteer members of the Board are player parents too. We are doing our best to provide a fun, positive, and competitive high school hockey experience for our daughters. And we sincerely welcome your input, feedback, concerns, and questions to help us make things better. So please don’t hesitate to contact any of us with your thoughts.

THANK YOU for taking the time to review all this info!

We’re really excited about this season, see you all at the rink in a couple weeks!!

LET’S GO GLENBROOK GIRLS VARSITY HOCKEY!!!

Best Regards,

Glenbrook Girls Varsity Hockey Board of Directors

Mark McGuire – President

Tracy Reeder – Treasurer

Rob Ventura – Registrar

Ben Mautner – New Board Member

Sol Luskin – New Board Member