Minor ice hockey

Not to be confused with Minor league.

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 also participate in national championships.

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

United States

In the United States, USA Hockey designates the following levels:^[1]

• Mini Mite (ages 5-6) (Levels A)
• Mite (ages 7-8) (Levels AA, A, B)
• Squirt (ages 9–10) (Levels AAA, AA, A, B)
• Peewee (ages 11–12) (Levels AAA, AA, A, B)
• Bantam (ages 13–14) (Levels AAA, AA, A, B)
• Midget Minor 16 and Under (ages 15–16) (Levels AAA, AA, junior varsity highschool-B)
• Midget Major 18 and Under (ages 15–18) (Levels AAA, AA, varsity highschool-B)
  • AAA: Tier 1 (http://myhockeyrankings.com/) Highest Level (90% play Division 1 College Hockey)
  • AA: Tier 2 (http://www.csdhl.org/) (http://myhockeyrankings.com/) Second Highest Level (60% play Division 1 College Hockey)
  • A: Tier 2 Average Hockey Level (50% of pee wee & bantams end up playing AAA-AA)
  • B: Tier 2 Lower Hockey Level
• Juniors (ages 16 and up)

Some leagues also have a younger level referred to as "Mosquitoes."

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,^[2] and each category may have multiple tiers based on skill.

Age categories

• Mini Mite (ages 1–2)
• Mite (ages 3–4)
• Tyke (ages 5–6)
• Novice (ages 7–8)
• Atom (ages 9–10)
• Pee Wee (ages 11–12)
• Bantam (ages 13–14)
• Midget (ages 15–17)
• Juvenile (ages 18–20)

Smaller communities will often combine the Mite and Squirt^{[clarification needed]} levels into a single Initiation (or Pre-Novice) category.^{[3] [4]}

Skill categories

There are two broad grouping of skill levels: competitive and non-competitive. A competitive team will hold tryouts and players will be selected for the roster depending upon skill level and fit. Children can "play up", which means they play on team that is older, for example a 12-year-old can play on a U14 team instead of the normal U12 team.

Non-competitive

• HL ("House League") teams are intra-city and players may be of any skill level.
• Select teams will consist of better House League players who in addition to HL play, will play in additional games and practices which are organized on an ad-hoc basis.

Competitive

Higher-skilled players will typically play on a 'representative' (a "rep" or "travel") team that will travel to play rep teams from other areas. Rep 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 multiple level. (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. A particular association might have an HL team that is stronger than the rep teams because their players either showed little interest in the tryout process or team picking decisions were poorly done at the rep level.

• Select Competitive teams play in a local travel format
• C
• B
• AE ("Additional Entry")
• A
• AA
• AAA is the highest caliber of minor hockey

British Columbia

In British Columbia, BC Hockey has a different system for competitive teams. Rep teams are exclusively inter-city, and are labeled as A1, A2, A3, and A4. A larger association will have their best team in each division labeled as an A1 team, where a smaller association may have their strongest team may be labeled as an A2, A3, or A4 team. Other teams from the same association would be labeled one level below.

Quebec

Quebec house leagues are labeled C, B, A. Competitive teams are labeled "Double Letters" CC, BB, AA, until Bantam (body checking starts only in "Double Letter" Bantam). Midget offers AAA and Espoir (only 15-year-olds) as the highest levels.

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:^[5]

• G- and F-minors (age 11 and younger)
• E-minors (ages 12 to 13)
• D-minors (ages 14 to 15)
• C-juniors (age 16 and younger)
• B-juniors (age 18 and younger)
• A-juniors (age 20 and younger)

France

In France, hockey teams use the following levels:^[6]

• Moustiques (age 9 and younger)
• Poussins (age 11 and younger)
• Benjamins (age 13 and younger)
• Minimes (age 15 and younger)
• Cadets (age 18 and younger)

Germany

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

• Kleinstschüler (Bambini) (ages 9 and younger)
• Kleinschüler (ages 11 and younger)
• Knaben (ages 13 and younger)
• Schüler (ages 15 and younger)
• Jugend (ages 17 and younger)
• Junioren (ages 19 and younger)

All levels are administrated by the respective sub-federation in each province except for the federal leagues that are administrated directly by the German Ice Hockey Federation: DNL, Schüler-, Jugend- and Junioren Bundesliga. Ages raised in 2010/2011.

Sweden

In Sweden, Swedish Ice Hockey Federation designates the following levels:

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

• U11 (ages 11 and younger)
• U12 (ages 12 and younger)
• U13 (ages 13 and younger)
• U14 (ages 14 and younger)
• U15 (ages 15 and younger)
• U16 (ages 16 and younger)
• J18 (Juniors 18 and younger)
• J20 (Juniors 20 and younger)

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 province (landskap).

Switzerland

In 2007, the Schweizerischer Eishockeyverband (the Swiss Ice Hockey Association) defined uniform age categories,^[7] using terms from the national languages of Switzerland.

• Bambini (9 and under), Italian for "children"
• Piccolo (11 and under), Italian for "little"
• Moskito (13 and under), German for "mosquito"
• Mini (15 and under), Latin for "small"
• Novizen, Novices, or Novizi (18 and under), meaning "Novices"
• Junioren, Juniors or Juniores (20 and under), meaning "Juniors"

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 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. 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, started in 2002.

A youth official can usually move up the ladder to juniors after about 2 years of officiating, and after a few years more 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

• Junior ice hockey

References

1. ^ USAhockey.com
2. ^ HockeyCanada.ca
3. ^ rules for Alberta p165
4. ^ http://www.hockeyarena.net/index.php?ref=597037
5. ^ Juniorikiekon ideologia Finnish Ice Hockey Association (Finnish)
6. ^ Passionhockey.com
7. ^ Swiss-icehockey.ch

External links

• Hockey Canada – Minor Hockey
• USA Hockey
• Youth Hockey Drills and Skills