Minor ice hockey

Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from class to class. In North America, the rules are governed by the national bodies, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey, while local hockey associations administer players and leagues for their region. Many provinces and states organize regional and provincial championship tournaments, and the highest age groups in Canada and USA also participate in national championships.

Minor hockey is not to be confused with minor league professional hockey.

Canada

Minor hockey players in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario celebrate the third goal of the game in Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League action

In Canada, the age categories are designated by each provincial hockey governing body based on Hockey Canada's guidelines,[1] and each category may have multiple tiers based on skill.

Age categories

To qualify in a category, the player must be under the age limit as of December 31 of the current season.

Skill categories

There are two broad grouping of skill levels: competitive and non-competitive. From house league/recreation hockey, progression is made to competitive travel hockey. A competitive team will hold tryouts and players will be selected for the roster depending upon skill level and fit. At this level, players chosen to compete experience a higher level of on-ice competition and coaching. Players learn systems; coaches maximize his/her potential and train them to work together as a unit.

Non-competitive

Competitive

Higher-skilled players will typically play on "representative" or "travel" teams that will travel to play representative (rep) teams from other areas. These teams are classified by skill. Not all cities will have teams at all skill levels, depending on size and the popularity of hockey, however even small communities may field teams at multiple levels. (For example: Orillia, Ontario, with a population of 30,000, has four distinct skill divisions for 7-year-olds.) The classifications are typically not certified by any external organization, so there is speculation about what levels are truly better or stronger than others. AAA, AA, and A hockey are nationally recognized as competitive levels of organized hockey, with AAA being elite competition. The competitive level players generally engage in high levels of physical play from a young age. This physical play can lead to injuries and most often these are related to the head.[9] Injuries have become more prevalent as physical play has increased in the sport.

British Columbia

In British Columbia, BC Hockey has a different system for competitive teams. Midget Rep has a BC run Midget AAA league.

All other Rep teams (Atom to Juvenile) are exclusively inter association under the guidance of PCAHA (Pacific Coast), OMAHA (Okanagan), VIAHA (Island), and are labeled as A1, A2, A3, and A4. No Atom level Provincial championship exist as Atom is considered developmental and non competitive.

The Minor Hockey Associations of BC Hockey shall be categorized as A, and designated by the following tiers: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4. For the purposes of affiliation regulations, each Tier designation will be considered a category.

BC Hockey Registrations of male Midget, Bantam and Pee Wee players from the previous three (3) years with the Associations tiers are determined the according to the following schedule:

Average Registration of Male Midget, Bantam & Peewee Players Designation
300 and greater Tier 1
Less than 300, greater than or equal to 175 Tier 2
Less than 175, greater than or equal to 80 Tier 3
Less than 80 Tier 4

The above chart shall be utilized to determine the tier of the “initial entry” team at each division (i.e. the association’s top Midget, Bantam and Peewee team). 1.03 a) Associations may register additional teams in any Division in accordance with the following chart:

Association Designation Second Entry Team Third Entry Team Fourth Entry Team
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4
Tier 2 Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 3 Tier 4 Tier 4 Tier 4
Tier 4 Tier 4 Tier 4 Tier 4

b) Any association registering more than two hundred and fifty (250) players in any Age division of Peewee, Bantam, Midget and Juvenile shall be required to register teams in that division in accordance with the following chart:

First Entry, Second Entry Team Must register two Tier 1 teams Third Entry Team Tier 2 Fourth Entry Team Tier 3 Fifth Entry Team Tier 4

1.04 All Winter Clubs are designated Tier 1. This designation is to be reviewed annually by the BC Hockey Executive Committee following consultation with the District Association.

Quebec

Quebec house leagues are labeled C, B, A. Competitive teams are urbanly known as the "double letters" and are labeled as BB, AA (Atom through Midget Levels), and AAA (urbanly considered as triple-A and higher than the double letters). AAA teams in Quebec only occur from categories Pee-Wee through Junior. The Midget category offers the 'Espoir' Level (primarily 15-year-olds) and falls between AA and AAA distinction. The following are the Levels currently played in the Province of Quebec, as sanctioned by Hockey Quebec:


Controversy Regarding Age Distribution in Canadian Minor Hockey

· In a 2001 study published by the University of Toronto Press, the effects of minor hockey players who are born in the first half of the year (January - June) were directly compared to those who are born in the second half of the calendar year (July - December). The study aimed to determine how age effects a young players probability of playing at a higher level in the future. Given the relatively short age brackets in Canadian minor hockey (players move up 1 league every 2 years before the age of 15), it was hypothesized that players who are born in the latter part of a calendar year are at a disadvantage (theoretically, a child could be playing with peers who are 2.5 years older than themselves under the current Canadian Minor Hockey system). The findings in this research were consistent with the hypothesis; upon extensive testing throughout several leagues and age divisions in Canada, Hurley, Lior and Tracze concluded that age plays a significant factor in a players ability to excel in hockey beyond the Houseleauge level. [10]

· The findings of this study resulted in the proposal for redistribution of player slotting in minor hockey under a new ‘quarter’ system. The system proposed would split a year into 4 quarters, consisting of 3 months each, for example “ 1992(3) refers to players born in 1992 sometime in the third quarter (i.e sometime in the months July, August or September) “. Under this proposed system players would be playing against players of a similar age, never playing opponents who are over 24 months older than them as the current system allows. The proposed system would operate under an 8 year basis, moving players from division to division each year. [11]

· The recommendations made in the study never materialized. However, the research that was conducted is valid and should be taken into account when revising minor league hockey policy in the future.

Finland

In Finland, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association roughly categorizes minor hockey players to under school-ages and school-ages. Children over 16 are considered as juniors, although the youngest juniors are still at the school-age. Minor and junior hockey levels are:[12]

France

In France, hockey teams use the following levels:[13]

Germany

In Germany, German Ice Hockey Federation designates the following levels:

All levels are administrated by the respective sub-federation in each province except for the federal leagues which are administrated directly by the German Ice Hockey Federation.[14] Ages were raised in 2010/2011.

Sweden

The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation designates the following levels:[15]

Linesmen in the middle of breaking up a youth hockey scrum.

Some levels (especially J18 and J20) are directly administrated by the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation, while lower divisions of the Juniors and below are administrated by the respective sub-federation in each landskap.

Switzerland

The Swiss Ice Hockey Federation designates the following levels :[16] using terms from the national languages of Switzerland.

United States

In the United States, USA Hockey designates the following levels:[17]

Girls hockey operates under their own age classifications, namely 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 19U.

Many organizations and leagues that have larger numbers of registered players tend to delineate within the two year window allowed for each age group. In these situations, teams composed entirely or primarily of players in their second year of eligibility are designated 'major' teams, while those with players in their 1st year of eligibility are designated 'minor' teams. (For example, ten-year-olds would be 'squirt majors' while nine-year-olds would be 'squirt minors.') This is especially true in "AAA".

Some leagues separate players six years old and younger into their own group, often referred to using names like "Mini-Mites," "Mosquitoes," or "Microns."

USA Hockey designates four skill levels:

Recreational/Developmental: Includes House League and Select (House All-Star) Teams. May be called "B", "C", etc.

AAU

The Amateur Athletic Union has returned to licensing the sport of Ice Hockey.

During recent years, the AAU has sanctioned several High School Varsity, Junior Varsity and Middle School leagues within the state of New York.

During the 2011-2012 season the AAU began licensing Junior and youth leagues as well. The Western States Hockey League (WSHL) moved their operations from USA Hockey into AAU and Hockey Michigan was formed, providing Mite (8&under) conventional full-ice playing opportunities in the face of cross-ice mandates adopted by the USA Hockey district affiliate. During the 2012-2013 season, AAU Junior and Youth operations have been expanding rapidly and currently span coast to coast.

Although some AAU clubs still use classification terms such as Mites-Midgets, the more correct AAU youth designations are:

Officials

A youth hockey official signalling an icing call.

Officials for youth hockey are often youth players themselves, calling games in lower levels than the one they participate in themselves. Just as players start out playing youth hockey, officials start their officiating career officiating youth hockey, making it up through the ranks as their officiating skill increases. USA Hockey defines certain levels of their officials[18] and so does Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Currently, many youth officials quit after a few games, mainly due to verbal abuse from parents, coaches and players. The other issue faced by young referees is a reluctance from older officials to give them more advanced games. In the US and Canada, news stories pop up from now and then that describes physical abuse on youth officials, in addition to verbal abuse. These problems were addressed in Hockey Canada's "Relax, it's just a game"-campaign, which started in 2002.[19]

A youth official can usually move up the ladder to juniors after about 2 years of officiating, and after a few years move up to senior hockey. This is of course, just as with players, different for each individual as their skill-curves are differently shaped.

Many current and former officials feel that their officiating career has aided them in their professional life as well, being more comfortable with handling critical decisions and upset individuals. The combinations of CEO or lower-level boss along with being an official and police officer along with officiating is quite common in many countries.

See also

References

  1. ↑ HockeyCanada.ca
  2. ↑ "Skills Development: Initiation – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Skills Development: Novice – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Skills Development: Atom – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Skills Development: Peewee – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Skills Development: Bantam – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Skills Development: Midget – Player Development Essentials". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "Canadian Development Model: Parent Information Handbook". Hockey Canada. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  9. ↑ citation required
  10. ↑ http://www.jstor.org/stable/3552374?seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents
  11. ↑ http://www.jstor.org/stable/3552374?seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents
  12. ↑ Juniorikiekon ideologia Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish)
  13. ↑ Passionhockey.com
  14. ↑ http://www.deb-online.de/index.php/nachwuchsligen.html
  15. ↑ http://www.swehockey.se
  16. ↑ http://www.sihf.ch/fr/kids-youth
  17. ↑ "Youth & Girls Hockey". USAHockey. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  18. ↑ http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=OF_05_01&id=20762
  19. ↑ http://www.hockeycanada.ca/1/0/6/5/5/index1.shtml

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