U9 Division Update
WIth the new changes to the U9 division including a "tier" segment we wanted to provide an update as to how this will be completed.
First, the U9 conditioning camp is for everyone. This is simply to get the kids onto the ice prior to the mass skate. This will provide the kids who didn't skate an extra opportunity to get back on the ice a little sooner.
For the tiering itself, this will be determined after the mass skate has taken place. The governor along with the coaches will provide their skater rankings. The top 40 skaters will be placed within this new tier division and the teams will be created equally from there. These teams will have games amongst themselves as well as some extra ice provided to invite out of town teams. These teams will have the ability to play sanctioned games with out of town teams over and above the schedule should they choose to do so like previous years. There will also be a tournament for our tier division. As an association we want to make this very clear in saying that the tier division WILL NOT BE PLAYING FULL ICE. The U9 division and under are still small area games programs and as such will follow the hockey canada set guidelines for the younger age groups. The aim of this is to have the higher skilled skaters playing with equal competition to better help their development within the program itself.
The remainder of the skaters will remain in the house division and be equally drafted out to teams like other previous years. Games and practice ice times will be provided by LMHA and set by the Governor and coaches. Games will be scheduled only for other LMHA house league teams. There will also be a tournament within our house league division.
While this is a big change to previous years and we are excited to see how this helps develop all of our half ice players as well as our coaches. For any questions please contact LMHA General Manager Keith Hitchcock at lmhagm@telus.net or LMHA Director of CAHL Jonathan Stronge at cahldirectorlmha@gmail.com.