Welcome to Chebucto Minor Hockey.

OVERVIEW - The Chebucto Minor Hockey Initiation Program will emphasize the FUN of playing hockey. We develop the players by using some of the best developed programs through Hockey Canada and make player development a close 2nd to enjoying the game.

Goals for the Initiation age category are fun, introduction of basic skills, reviewing of basic skills, and refining of basic skills.

Through the assessment process the players will be grouped according to their age. At their own age groups, their skill level will be assessed and again grouped accordingly. The kids will be assessed as to their individual abilities on skating techniques, mechanics of skating, stick handling, shooting, passing, team play.

We believe that having fun and development go hand in hand and one cannot be achieved without the other. To what degree or level your child wishes to achieve will be totally up to the child and or the parent(s) as the players develop and move on to Atom, Pee Wee, Bantam, Midget and onto Minor Junior.

For more information on Hockey Canada's Initiation Program guidelines and objectives, please CLICK HERE .

GROUP PLACEMENT FOR IP PLAYERS - Initially all IP players will be grouped according to their age. At their own age groups, their skill level will be assessed and again grouped accordingly. The kids will be assessed as to their individual abilities on skating techniques, mechanics of skating, stick handling, shooting, passing, team play.

GROUP PLACEMENT FOR NOVICE PLAYERS - Novice players will be assessed using the Hockey Canada National Skill Standards & Testing (NSST) Program (CLICK HERE). This program is based on the fundamental philosophy that skill development should be fun and challenging. The evaluation has been designed to ensure consistent and quantifiable assessment of a player's skill level. The skills assessment will focus on the basic skills of the game: skating, agility, turning, stopping, pivoting, shooting accuracy, passing accuracy, etc. The results will be made available to each player, and will also be used as a part of the player placement process. This presents an opportunity for coaches to run the skills assessment mid-season or at the end of the season to demonstrate skills improvement through the year.

RECREATIONAL Hockey is for all players (male and female), not electing to play on, or selected to play for competitive or female Teams. There is no body checking allowed in recreational hockey.

Age "DIVISIONS" within minor hockey, set by the Canadian Hockey Association, are as follows:

ATOM

9 - 10 yrs old

PEEWEE

11 - 12 yrs old

BANTAM

13 - 14 yrs old

MIDGET

15 - 17 yrs old

MINOR JUNIOR

18 - 20 yrs old

Atom plays within an internal "House League " and most of the games are played at the Spryfield Lions rink on Saturday afternoon. They get 1 hour of practice and one game per week, for a 20-week (approximate) season.

PeeWee, Bantam, Midget, & Minor-Junior Recreation teams will play in the METRO MINOR HOCKEY LEAGUE. This is an affiliation of Dartmouth (Whalers) MHA, Cole Harbour MHA, Eastern Shore MHA, East Hants MHA, Bedford, Halifax (Hawks) MHA, TASA, and Chebucto Minor Hockey. Typically there may be two games a week, one home and one away (and some Team Practices). In this league, there is some travel to other rinks to play other recreational teams. CMHA also rents ice from a number of rinks, including St. Mary's University, Devonshire, Forum/Civic, Centennial, and the Spryfield Lions Rink. Home Ice time and Practices may be at the Spryfield Rink or at another of these rinks. The Schedule and standings for these levels is posted on www.mmhl.com.

TEAM SELECTION - The pre season ice time will be used to evaluate the players and their skill level. This is done to create teams that are even as possible. This is not to put any pressure on the kids. We only ask the they do their best. There are many skill levels in Recreation Hockey. If you are watching the kids during evaluations, think of this as the starting point of the year. We are interested in the development of the players. The best players are not usually the ones who impress us. It is the ones that struggle but never give up. They are the ones who will improve the most.

Our competitive programs play in the Central Minor Hockey Federation which includes teams from Halifax, Chebucto, Tasa (Tantallon), Bedford, Sackville, East Hants (Lantz), Dartmouth, Cole Harbour, and Eastern Shore (Musquodobit Harbour).

They will play a twenty week schedule that starts in early October and continues through to the end of March. In adidition, teams typically play in three or four local tournaments (Christmas with the Hawks, TASA, Joe Lamontagne, SEDMHA), one or two tournaments outside of HRM, and exhibition games with teams from other parts of Nova Scotia.

For some stronger teams they may win the right to compete in inter regional, regional, and provincial play downs.

Chebucto has a player base of roughly 500 playerss and usually ices two competitive teams at midget (15-17), bantam (13-14), peewee (11-12), and atom (9-10) levels. Our teams are made up from 16 or 17 players giving us 130 plus competitive players each year.

The peewee, bantam, and midget levels allow body checking and the players must complete an off, and on ice course before they are allowed to try out.

Chebucto Minor Hockey has a proud heritage. In addition to providing a positive hockey experience for thousands of children we have also had several players go on to higher levels, and some even as far as the NHL, including Ryan Flinn from Thornhill. Our association has also produced several accomplished hockey players - check out "Celebrating Chebucto" for a list of players that have continued from our association to play at a high level.

PLAYER EVALUATION PROCESS (ATOM, PEEWEE) - Player evaluation for Atom and Pee Wee players will consist of two components: a standardized Canadian Hockey Association (CHA) national skills assessment and a "Game Situation" assessment.

A. CHA National Skills Assessment - This program is based on the fundamental philosophy that skill development should be fun and challenging. The evaluation has been designed to ensure consistent and quantifiable assessment of a player's skill level. The skills assessment will focus on the basic skills of the game: skating, agility, turning, stopping, pivoting, shooting accuracy, passing accuracy, etc. The results will be made available to each player, and will also be used as a part of the player evaluation and placement process. This presents an opportunity for coaches to run the skills assessment mid-season or at the end of the season to demonstrate skills improvement through the year. Goaltenders will not be on the ice during this assessment, but will participate in a skills assessment designed specifically for goaltenders. For additional information on the CHA Skills assessment visit the Hockey Canada web-site at www.hockeycanada.ca.

B. Game Situation Assessment - The "Game Situation" is the second part of the player evaluation and placement process. All players and goaltenders will be evaluated and assessed based on effort, creativity, team play, and ultimately, the players' ability to apply their skills to the game. Players will be evaluated in a number of game situations and may be moved from group to group until final placement is determined. Typically there are two groups for each category: Group A and Group B. An evaluation for one player may be complete before another and nothing can be concluded about placement from this until the entire process is complete.

PLAYER EVALUATION PROCESS (BANTAM, MIDGET) - Player evaluation for Bantam and Midget players is designed to include both a "Basic Skills" assessment and a "Game Situation" assessment.

A. Skills Assessment - The Skills Assessment has been designed to ensure consistent and quantifiable assessment of a player's skill level. The skills assessment will focus on the basic skills of the game: skating, agility, turning, stopping, pivoting, shooting accuracy, passing accuracy, etc. Goaltenders will participate in a skills assessment designed specifically for goaltenders.

NOTIFICATION OF TEAM PLACEMENT - Team placements will be posted to the Chebucto Minor Hockey web-site and the time and location of the first tryout will be provided with the team list. Players will not be notified by phone nor will they be informed at the rink. At the last tryout players will be notified of when they can expect to see the team lists posted to the web-site - this will typically occur within 48 hours of the last tryout session.

The Female Game of hockey is one of the fastest growing female participation sports in the province of Nova Scotia. The competition within the South Conference League alone has doubled in the past 3 -4 years and is steadily growing each year. At present the South Conference League is comprised of the HRM , Valley & South Shore Regions .

For more than ten years girls in our community have represented Chebucto while playing in Recreational and Competitive Hockey within our association and while playing for female teams outside our association. As the number of female participants grew Female Hockey, in Chebucto took its foothold.

The first all female hockey team in Chebucto was a BANTAM team that played in the CMHF in the 2000 -01 season. The team was made up of several Chebucto girls and a few players from outside our association.

The second all female hockey team came together in the 2003-04 season and participated in CMHF as a PEEWEE team made up of Chebucto, Sackville, Halifax, and TASA girls.

The 2006-2007 PEEWEE team was the first all-Chebucto female team in the history of our association, and won the Central Minor Hockey Federation Tier II Championship - another first for Chebucto Girls!!

With the growth of female hockey in the region, our girls have the opportunity to participate in our Community High School female hockey programs and further develop their skills.

Chebucto is proud of all of our Alumni female players currently displaying their hockey skills for our local University Women's Varsity Hockey Teams. Chebucto Female players have been recognized for their contributions to the sport of female hockey along with their academic achievements and have received Scholarship Awards from HNS toward furthering their education.

GOALS - Our goal at Chebucto Minor Hockey Association is to offer a quality female hockey program to provide our young girls an opportunity to participate, learn and develop skills and relationships that can last a lifetime and lead to further participation in the sport of female hockey.

We are working toward having all of our girls that are interested in playing female hockey, playing for Chebucto, representing our association in all of the different age groups. This will enable our girls to enjoy the game of Female Hockey, develop and display their skills & talents within their own community.

To ensure we achieve our goals we need the support of our Chebucto girls and their families through participation and involvement in our programs. We are also always looking for volunteers for the Association. So bring the whole family and come be part of the Chebucto Community Hockey experience!!

The coach selection process is designed to ensure that coach selection and placement is fair, open and objective, and results in the most qualified candidates being selected.

An invitation for interested parties to submit applications is posted on the web-site and in newspapers in the spring of each year, shortly after the new Executive is in place. Candidates must complete an application form and submit their name and resume to the coach selection committee, which is a sub-set of the Executive. Coaches for the top competitive teams will be selected first, followed by coaches for the second competitive team. Coaches for the recreational teams will be selected by the VP, Recreational Hockey following a similar process.

After interviews are held, recommendations are brought forward to the entire Executive for approval and all candidates are informed of the decision. Names of coaching staffs for each team will be posted to the web-site.