U9 Program Overview

U9 (2016-2017) 

U9 Registration

This is a community based program with a focus on learning the fundamentals of hockey and development of individual skills. Players can anticipate a fun environment that will help develop and refine basic motor skills, and introduce the players to the concepts of fair play and cooperation.

U9 hockey will be delivered through a progressive, learn-to-play curriculum with practice drills and skill sessions, as well as informal games like shinny, freeze tag and obstacle courses.

Players can register for U9 even if they did not participate in the U7 program.

Program Information

  • Players will take part in evaluations to measure the individual skill level of each player. Upon completion of evaluations, players will be placed on a team with other players of similar skill level.
  • Teams will be tiered from 1 to 6 and will play against other similarly tiered teams from across the league.
  • There are no full time goalies or position specialization - all players will rotate through all positions.
  • Teams will consist of 18-20 players.
  • Games and practices will take place on Saturday or Sunday, and will be half-ice. Two teams will split the ice for practices.
  • Game format will be 4 on 4 and played with 1 referee on each half of the ice. When 2 teams are playing a game, each team will split into 2 groups to play 2 separate half-ice games.
  • Under the Hockey Alberta One Standardized Tiering Model, the Standard of Play will be 18 games and 18 practices through the season from October to March. Teams may request additional practice ice times which could take place during the week. Teams pay for additional ice times at a pre-determined rate, and may offset these expenses with various fundraising activities (e.g. bottle drives).
  • When ice times occur Monday through Thursday, they will start no earlier than 6:00pm and end by 8:00pm.
  • Weekend games will start no earlier than 8:00am and end no later than 9:00pm, while weekend practice times may start earlier.
  • There is no formal score keeping, game sheets or statistics.
  • Arena locations for practices and games will vary.
  • All teams will participate in the Minor Hockey Week tournament in January and can expect to play at least 2 games.
  • All teams will participate in a end of season Jamboree in March.

 

For more information on what you might expect to see in a U9 program, please refer to the following resources: