U11 (Newcastle Village Minor Hockey Association)

U11 (Formerly Atom) Division for the 2024-25 Hockey Season


U11 (Formerly Atom) Player Pathway As per OHF Policy

Player Evaluations, Selections, Tryouts (REQUIREMENT) 

• No tryouts prior to or during the first week of school.
1. No tryouts during the off-season phase (previous season, including March through August).
2. No tryouts during the first week of school where school starts the week after Labour Day.
3. Where school starts prior to Labour Day, there must be four skates/practices starting the week following Labour Day before tryouts commence.

• Must offer a minimum of four practice/skill sessions prior to formal evaluation starting.
• Must have a minimum of three formal evaluation sessions:
1. One skills session, one small-area games session, one formal game. (RECOMMENDATION)
2. Players should not try out based on a specific position, but should be encouraged to play both forward and defense in tryouts. (RECOMMENDATION)
3. Players should be selected for teams based on skill, not positional preference. (RECOMMENDATION)

Fair and Equal Ice Time (REQUIREMENT) 

• All players and goaltenders should receive fair and as close to equal as possible ice time.
• Positional Rotation:
1. All players play all positions (RECOMMENDATION)
• Goaltender Rotation:
1. Full-time goaltender allowed.
2. Goaltenders rotate for equal amount of playing time throughout the regular season and playoffs. (RECOMMENDATION)

Seasonal Structure (REQUIREMENT) 

• Preparation Phase (up to 2 Weeks)
1. See Player Tryouts above.
• Development Phase (up to 4 weeks)
1. Teams must have a period of development time following tryouts prior to the start of the regular season.
• Development and Regular Season Phase (Up to 22 weeks)
1. Recommended maximum of 45 games per year (includes exhibition, league, tournament and playoff games).
2. Seasonal Breaks
• Playoff Phase (up to 4 weeks)
1. Tournament style.
• Off season Phase (end of season to August)

Position-Specific Training (RECOMMENDATION)

• Small-area games in practice/station-based practices/skill-focused drills
• Only 15% of practice time should be spent on team play and strategy/systems with 85% of practice time spent on skills and tactics.
• Limit position-specific specialization (except for goalies).

The Players Pathways details and documents for U11 can be found here https://www.ohf.on.ca/players/player-pathways/u11-player-pathway.