Well, we've been told by the County of Santa Clara that we should not reopen on Monday, February 15, 2021, even though we are following all of the guidelines for Day Camp Guidance from the State of California, the same rules that all rinks in Santa Clara County and around the State had previously used to open.

Back on June 12, we sent the Santa Clara County Health Department (SCC-HD) a message asking how rinks could be open even when the State of California Ordered all rinks in the state closed. The response from SCC-HD said this, "Ice rinks are among the businesses that are currently not allowed to reopen under the current Order for Santa Clara County. The only exception is for use of a summer program (now known as Day Camp Guidance as of July 29, 2020). Per the guidelines -

Summer camps may use recreational facilities like playgrounds and indoor athletic facilities that are not otherwise allowed to open under the Order, but they must ensure that no other groups or individuals are using the same facility at the same time. In other words, an indoor facility or playground must either be part of the organization's own facility and access must be restricted only to children in that organization's programs, or, if the indoor facility or playground is located on a different site, the organization can reserve it for exclusive use by children in its programs during the time of day when the camp or program is in session

Thank you again for reaching out, take care and be safe.

County of Santa Clara Public Health COVID-19 Information

Based on this ruling by the SCC-HD, other rinks in Santa Clara County and the State had reopened at the end of April, and remained open until the most recent Shelter-In-Place Order from the State of California became effective on December 3. We didn't feel comfortable reopening until we installed a Bi-Polar Ionization System and a UV Disinfection System inside the rink to scrub the air throughout the facility. When the Shelter-in-Place order was lifted recently, the previous rules were once again in effect. We had previously completed and submitted Santa Clara County Covid-19 Site-Specific Protection Plan, which was accepted by the County. There are no other orders or rules in effect, and the Day Camp Guidance from the State has not changed since July 29, 2020, so there was no reason to think those same mandates did not continue to be operational.

The SCC-HD now simply told us we could not open, but not why reopening somehow now violated the Day Camp Guidance rules from the State of California, and their own interpretation of those rules as noted above. So, for now, we will remain closed, pending further discussions.

We understand this is extremely frustrating for you (and us) and there is nothing we'd rather do than open the rink back up, even under the limited Day Camp Guidance restrictions. But, for now, we will abide by the SCC-HD ruling until we can get further information.

It should also be noted that, according to Santa Clara County, "The Statewide Public Health Officer Order, reflected in the California Department of Public Health Blueprint for a Safer Economy ("State Blueprint"), prohibits gyms and fitness centers from operating indoors while any County is in the Purple Tier." So, this means that there should be no ice rinks open anywhere in the State of California in a County that is in the Purple Tier. That mandate is not being enforced uniformly, or really anywhere outside of Santa Clara County, so apparently it is legal to operate several ice rinks in Los Angeles County, where the Covid Case Rate (per 100,000) is 34.6 v 15.9 in Santa Clara County, and where the Covid Testing Positivity Rate is 8.1% v 4.0% in Santa Clara. Or, in San Mateo County, Alameda County ...

We will open for certain when the county goes to the Red Tier, if not sooner. The rules from the State for the Red Tier allow Gyms/Fitness Centers to reopen indoors under limited capacity restrictions, and we will of course abide by those restrictions.

Thank you for your support.

Management and Staff
Ice Center of Cupertino

At long last, some good news.

The rink will reopen for a return to the very limited Day Camps beginning on February 15, 2021, under the exact same format that was in effect during the Purple Tier schedule in November, 2020.

In addition to the CDC, State of California and County of Santa Clara mandates for available hand sanitizer and wipes, we want you to know that we have installed two whole rink air scrubber systems that are well beyond anything that is currently mandated. We have posted information on how these systems work here.

They are called a Global Plasma GPS Needlepoint Bipolar Ionization system and V-MAX High Intensity UV Air Disinfection system.

Face coverings will be mandatory for everyone entering the rink, and must remain on at all times, including while on the ice. More information on Face Coverings may be found here.

There is also quite a long list of Rink Rules that are mandated items from either the CDC, the State of California or the County of Santa Clara; this list can be found here.

All payments, registrations and waiver agreement/signing must be done electronically. We cannot do any in-person transactions.

Due to strict occupancy restrictions, only skaters may enter the ice rink. We have included a one-page document on Visiting the Ice Center of Cupertino in the COVID-19 Era here. For more complete details, please refer to the Rink Rules link above.

Every time anyone enters the Ice Center, they will be asked a series of questions to satisfy our Health Screening requirements. We understand this will be repetitive, having to answer the same questions every time you enter the building, but this is also a mandate.

The questions can be found here.

For information on the limited Travel Youth Hockey program, please see the ICE Cougars web site here.

Thank you for your support.

Management and Staff
Ice Center of Cupertino

Cougars 2020-21 Season Coaching Staff

8U	Darren Attebery
10U(1)	Darren Attebery
10U(2)	Kevin Nathan
12U	Brian Farrell
14U	Chris Benoit
16U	Mario Morrissette
Goalie Coach	Carson Murison

Cougars Digital Tryout Registration and Information for the 2020-21 Season can be found here

CAHA is posting updated Tryout Dates, and the Cougars will conduct Tryouts for the 2020-2021 Season no earlier than per CAHA. Stay tuned.

A NORCAL meeting is scheduled for next week to set the actual NORCAL dates.

CAHA Tryout Calendar Update - September 12 (.pdf)

Please note that the 2019 - 2020 Cougars Travel Season has been archived:

2019 - 2020 Season Cougars Travel Teams Archives

Please contact the Webmaster for any updates and corrections:

Contact Webmaster 

• Thanksgiving
• Winter Break
• MLK Day
• Presidents Day

Schedules will get updated as new information becomes available.

Tryouts are complete, and the classification of the Cougars Travel Teams is finalized.

Please make sure to visit the teams' home pages for ongoing updates and announcements, and practice times.

•  8U B1     Home Page  
•  8U B2     Home Page  
•  8U B3     Home Page  
• 10U A      Home Page  
• 10U B      Home Page  
• 12U A      Home Page  
• 12U B      Home Page  
• 14U A      Home Page  
• 14U B      Home Page  
• 16U A      Home Page  

The Vallco master practice schedule can be viewed at:

2019/20 Cougars Practice Schedules

The Cougars season fees for the 2019/20 season are:

8U Teams
Full payment plan of $1,749
5-month payments of $350 each for 5 months

10U and 12U Teams
Full payment plan of $3,249
5-month payments of $650 each for 5 months

14U and 16U Teams
Full payment plan of $3,299
5-month payments of $660 each for 5 months

Once your child has been selected on a team, please choose your child's team's online payment button:

2019/20 8U Team Pay Pal Payment Buttons
2019/20 10U and 12U Teams Pay Pal Payment Buttons
2019/20 14U and 16U Teams Pay Pal Payment Buttons

Please note that Vallco, like all NORCAL clubs, uses the computer-based Electronic Scoreboard for all games.

The touch-screen computer remains at the rink at all times, and is hooked up to the scoreboard right before the game. It is quite easy to use, and we encourage all parents to learn the system.

For your convenience, we are posting a youtube video with detailed instructions on how to use the system.

Time To Score, Inc. Tutorial - Full Version

Interested in getting additional information or registering for the program?  Visit www.escrip.com.  We're Friends of the Cougars (id #5289256), and we'd love your support!