April Newsletter

Greetings Lightning Families, Players, Staff and Volunteers,

As we close out our 8th Lightning year of operation, COLGHA wishes to thank everyone for making this such a great season!

Good luck to our teams heading to the Brampton Canadettes Tourney on Easter Weekend, and all the best as our athletes transition to spring and summer sports. COLGHA is very busy behind the scenes planning for the end of the hockey year and looking towards next season. Please stay up to date on all Lightning news by visiting our social media sites, website and checking your emails. 

Happy Spring Lightning!

Say Cheese!

For those families still interested in player photos and packages available, please contact sales@acstudiosphotography.com for further information. Visit our WEBSITE for packages and photo groupings available. 

Lightning Spirit Day and Hockey For Hope

Hockey for Hope, in support of My Friend’s House was a huge success. Thanks to the support of sponsors, volunteers and of course our Lightning teams, over $4K was raised along with a huge collection of donated goods and gift cards.

My Friend’s House provides shelter and crisis support, and advocates for equity for women and children in the South Georgian Bay area who are experiencing gender-based violence and abuse. On Saturday February 22nd, Lightning teams played for the women and children in our community. Congratulations and thank you to all who participated and supported this wonderful, annual fundraising event. 

Simcoe Muskoka Girls Hockey League Championships

Huge shout out to our Lightning Teams for their SMGHL season standings! It was a tight race for some of these divisions and as expected it was an epic battle to finish off the year! Thank you for being our House League Heroes!

SMGHL is made up of 5 centres, all working together to provide local league opportunities for girls in Simcoe Muskoka. Congrats to all centres; Collingwood GHA, Barrie Sharks, Orillia GHA, Huntsville Girls Hockey Association, North Simcoe GHA. 

SMGHL Standings

U9 Blue 8th

U9 White 9th

U11 Purple 2nd

U11 Blue 3rd, (SILVER medal finalists)

U11 White 4th

U13 Blue 1st, (Silver medal finalists)

U13 Silver 2nd, (Gold medal Champs)

U13 White 3rd

U15 Blue 3rd, (Silver medal finalists)

U15 White 4th

U18 Lightning 6th

Ontario Women’s Hockey League & OWHA Provincials

Congratulations to the players, coaches and volunteers of our Competitive Teams. All Lightning Comp. Teams placed in the top four of their division loops, with two teams advancing in the OWHL Best of the Best and five teams securing spots at OWHA Provincial Championships, PLUS a plethora of Gold Medals among them from tournaments. Incredible accomplishment!

OWHL & OWHA Standings

U9B OWHL Central North 4th overall, OWHA Provincials

U11B OWHL Central North 1st, CN Division Winners, East/Central North League Silver Medalists, OWHA Provincials

U13B OWHL Central North 2nd

U15B OWHL Central North 1st, Central North Division Winners, OWHA Provincials

U18B OWHL Central North 2nd

U18BB OWHL Central North 4th

Senior C Tournament Team

Senior B Tournament Team, OWHA Provincial Championships Silver Medalists

Congratulations to all players, coaches and volunteers on your accomplishments this season, not just for hockey but your community contribution as well. Cheers to all the Lightning girls and women for a fantastic season, you gave it your all and showed us what hockey is really all about. 

Last minute SHOUT OUT to our U9B Team for their final win of the season at the OWHA Provincial Championships AND Congratulations to our Lightning Senior B Team for bringing home the OWHA Provincial Championship Silver Medal banner!! Well done ladies!

Spring Tryout Registration is OPEN for the 2025-2026 Hockey Season

COLGHA will look to offer U11B/BB, U13BB, U13B, U15BB, U15B, U18B, U18BB Competitive Teams for the 2025-2026 season pending registration numbers and player/team abilities. Tryouts for these divisions will take place in the spring, starting with Pre-Skates April 23rd.

U9B and Senior A/B/C tryouts will take place in the fall, pending tryout packages purchased. 

Please take the time to READ THROUGH the tryout information. Visit our WEBSITE for details. Tryout registration will CLOSE APRIL 21st. 

Preskates and tryout ice times have been posted to our website. Please visit our Master Calendar to view all scheduled ice times. Note that each icetime has tryout specifics, you must click on the time to view the details, for example;

U13 Preskates Practice @ Collingwood Eddie Bush Arena

Team Practice

@ Collingwood Eddie Bush Arena

Wed, Apr. 23, 2025 6:00 PM - 6:50 PM

GROUP A (last names A-L)

2025-2026 Volunteer Coach Applications are OPEN

For further information and to access the coach application/google form please visit our WEBSITE. 

Please be aware of the following key dates: 

Competitive/Rep Applications:

--> Coaching positions will be announced no later than April 21st.

House/Local League Applications:

--> June 1st : application submission deadline

--> June 9th - 23rd : in-person interviews

--> Coaching positions will be announced by July 7th.

Please send any questions to: treasurer@collingwoodgirlshockey.com

 “A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life”.

2025-26 Hockey Season Registration & Summer 3v3/Goalie Clinics

The 2025-26 Hockey Season Registration will open late May, please keep an eye out for further information. Once open, families will be able to register their player for next season (AND summer programming). For details on the 2025-26 season fees and season set up, please visit our WEBSITE. 

Lightning Players and Gal-Tenders will have the opportunity to attend hockey in flip flops! Once again, COLGHA Lightning is hosting our Summer 3v3 and Goalie Clinics. Plan ahead!

3v3, Wednesdays starting July 2nd- August 27th, Central Arena

U9/11 @ 5pm

U13/15 @ 6pm

U18 @ 7pm

Goalie Clinics, Mondays August 11th-25th, Central Arena

5pm or 6pm

Registration will open in May. Please be patient while we wait for the OWHA to flip over to a new season for registration. Price and further details TBA.

U11 Development Stream Opportunity for Players born in 2015-16 NEXT SEASON

We’re excited to share that the Collingwood Lightning will be offering U11 Development Stream (DS) team for the 2025-26 season (pending enough interest from families).

The Development Stream is a tryout-based program available only to registered House League players. It allows players to access extra ice time, participate in additional games, and attend tournaments with a dedicated team (in addition to their House League team).

For more information please visit our WEBSITE. We Need Your Input!

In order to move forward, we need to gauge interest from families. If your child may be interested in trying out for the U11 DS team, please complete the following short form.

COLGHA Lightning Banquet, May 10th

Mark your calendars! It’s a SUITS & SPARKLES event! Saturday May 10th, 5-10pm at The Great Northern Exhibition, 2220 Fairgrounds Rd North, Stayner.

U7 through Senior players. Managers will be in touch soon. 

The Lightning Banquet has a theme and our team of volunteers are busy with preparations. We can’t wait to highlight and celebrate our Lightning players, coaches and volunteers.

Lightning Website and Social Media

Please follow our Facebook and Instagram  feeds for the latest photos and news. If you haven’t seen your team, then become the person that updates us! You can either send your photos and caption to us at collingwoodgirlshockey@outlook.com or post it on Facebook, it will be approved and copied to Instagram.

Don’t forget to check out our WEBSITE for schedules and further Lightning updates. 

Cheers, COLGHA