AMERY YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION
POLICY & PROCEDURE MANUAL

Policy/Procedure: MITE PROGRAM -- Policy J

Approved: September 6, 2004

A)    OBJECTIVES 
1)      Enjoyable introduction and experience in ice hockey.
2)      Provide a healthy environment for fun and learning
3)      Teach the basic fundamental skills.
4)      Stress participation, fun and skill development.
5)      Development of communication at the players’ level of learning.
6)      Introduction to games and player achievement program. 

B)  PHILOSOPHY

     The philosophy of the AYHA at the Mite level is to encourage a noncompetitive environment in which children and youth can learn the basic skills without the distractions that are often associated with an overemphasis on winning.  Mastery of the fundamental skills and the fun of playing are essential to the development of a lifelong interest in hockey.  The AYHA Mite program must be conducted in a manner to accommodate the new players who wish to play hockey and to reduce the number who become disenchanted and drop out.

 C)  REGISTRATION 

1)      AGE – All children will register as Mites that are or turn during the calendar year the ages of 4 through 8.  Also depending on a child’s size, development and birthday, some families may choose to take advantage of the Learn to Skate Program instead of the Mite Program.

2)      FEE – Fees will be set annually by the Board of Directors.

3)      Children under the age of 4 will be required to register for the Learn to Skate Program.

 D)  EDUCATION 

1)      All Mites will be required to attend 10 education sessions that will be coordinated by the Mite Coordinator.  These 10 sessions will be held on Saturday and Sunday every other weekend (five weekends) until all 10 sessions have been completed.  There will be no education session during holiday weekends, this is to encourage participation.

2)      The education sessions will consist of two 45 minute session to accommodate both the beginning and advanced age Mite skaters.

3)      The education sessions will focus on the fundamentals of skating and hockey.  The skating emphasis will be in the following areas:  Edge control, ready position, Forward start – right/left, forward stride, control stop, backward skating, backward stop control turn, forward and backward crossover. The hockey emphasis will be in the following areas:  Lateral (side to side) dribble, forward to backward dribble, wrist shot, backhand shot.

4)      No Mite team will be allowed to participate in any games or scrimmages on weekends that an education session is scheduled.

E)  SKATER GROUPING

1)      After all skaters have been registered AYHA will conduct a Skills Grouping Session.  This session will be coordinated by the Splitting Committee.  During this session skaters will be grouped according to skill into basic groups based on the players skill level;

As the number of skaters grow at the Mite level these group can be subdivided into:

2)      The objective of the Skills Grouping Session is to determine the players with the skill level to compete at the Mite “A” level (Super Mite).

3)       Not all skaters are required to attend the Skills Grouping Session; only the skaters that would like to play on a Mite “A” (Super Mite) team are required to attend this session.  A Skills Grouping Session will only be held when needed to set a Mite “A” team. 

F)     Super Mite Program.

1)      A Super Mite team will consist of between 11 and 16 skaters; the exact number will vary from year to year based on the results of the Skills Grouping Session.

2)      If the Splitting Committee determines that there are 22 or more skaters that are at the Super Mite skill level then two or more Super Mite teams will be formed.

2)  No external games or scrimmages will be scheduled until 10 practice sessions have been completed.

4)      Emphasis will be on skill development and learning the fundamentals.

5)      All skaters will be given the opportunity to play all positions.

6)      Scoring records should be de-emphasized.

7)      Travel of greater than 50 miles from Amery for a game is prohibited except for one weekend per season.  This one weekend can be used for an overnight tournament.  Current communities with hockey programs within the 50 mile radius of Amery are:  Baldwin, Barron/Chetek, Burnett County (Siren), Cumberland, Grantsburg, Hudson, Menomonie, New Richmond, Rice Lake, River Falls, River Valley (St. Croix Falls), Somerset, and Spooner.

8)      No more than two games or scrimmages per weekend will be allowed except when participating in a tournament and excluding WAHA Regional Playoffs and the State Tournament. 

G)    Mini-Mite Program

1)      A Mini-Mite team will consist of between 10 and 19 skaters, if there are more than 19 skaters they will be divided into two or more teams based on their skill level.

2)      No external games or scrimmages will be scheduled until 15 practice sessions have been completed.

3)      Emphasis will be on skill development and learning the fundamentals.

4)      All skaters will be given the opportunity to play all positions.

5)      Games will be played across the rink, especially in the case of new players being introduced for the first time (for players who have mastered the basic fundamentals, the entire rink length may be used).

6)      Games and scrimmages will be operated in two minute intervals to allow for easy changing of lines.

7)      Scores will not be kept during any Mini-Mite game held in Amery and no games statistics will be published in any newspaper.

8)      Travel of greater than 50 miles from Amery for a game is prohibited.  Current communities with hockey programs within the 50 mile radius of Amery are:  Baldwin, Barron/Chetek, Burnett County (Siren), Cumberland, Grantsburg, Hudson, Menomonie, New Richmond, Rice Lake, River Falls, River Valley (St. Croix Falls), Somerset, and Spooner.  This excludes WAHA Regional Playoffs and the State Tournament.

9)      No more than two games or scrimmages per weekend will be allowed except when participating in a tournament or jamboree.

10)  An end of year game will be scheduled every year with a team from a near by community and this game will celebrate the teams year long accomplishments.  Special events and awards should be scheduled for the skaters during this game. 

H)    PRACTICE TIME

1)      Practice times need to be set up to fit the needs of not only the Mite players but also the association as a whole.  As the number of teams within the association changes the Mite practice ice time will also change to fit the ice time needs of the whole association.

2)      As the number of players grow it will be most advantageous to have the Mite teams share their week night practice times.