Weymouth's Squirt B team will be playing Milton in the District 3 championship game Tuesday night at 8pm at the Weymouth Connell rink.
Come out and Cheer them on !
More cross-ice games and practices, and a greater emphasis on skill development and fun are the backbone of the American Development Model.
The two most important gifts that coaches and parents can give to their players and children are to allow them to develop a true passion for the game and to develop that passion on their terms.
This is why I am involved in USA Hockey’s American Development Model, to help put our kids in an environment that allows them to reach their full potential without losing their innocence. In simpler terms, it’s giving the game back to the kids.
For more information on the American Development Model, including on- and off-ice practice plans, video of multiple-station practices, contact information for your ADM Regional Manager and much more, please visit ADMKids.com.
Our game today is too structured and over-coached; we shortcut the development process for “wins.” In previous generations, a player’s passion and creativity was developed on the pond and structure, positioning and team play was taught inside. That is not really an option for our youth players of today.
We need to make sure that we bring the components of the “pond” indoors. It should be our mission to give our kids an environment that allows them to grow a strong passion for the game and gives them multiple opportunities to make mistakes, be creative and learn through trial and error.
The best way for this to happen is using cross-ice or small area games not only to bring the pond inside, but to set up the optimal teaching environment. By allowing our kids to play full-ice hockey in both games and practices, especially at the younger ages, we create an environment that ingrains poor habits that we spend hours at older ages trying to fix.
Full-ice hockey has created generations of players that pace themselves and take two- to three-minute shifts. Scoring chances come solely from individual play, and not from a great pass, support, team play or creativity. It honors the selfish player.
We spend so much time focused on “staying in our lane” and where we stand for a faceoff, that it gets in the way of what the true goal is, and that is giving our young players the proper base of skills and passion that will be at the core of their later success.
We do not hand our children a trombone and ask them to perform in a school concert until they have mastered many of the basic skills, yet in our hockey culture we expect our young athletes to perform on the large stage right away, and we are upset if they are not successful.
The second big advantage of small area games is that it allows coaches and youth hockey associations to maximize their ice and get as many kids on the ice as possible with as many touches and opportunities in each practice session and game. With the amount of time we spend preparing for a practice and or game (getting dressed, travel to and from the rink) we must make sure that the time spent on the ice is as productive as possible.
Not to mention that at $200 an hour, at the low end, we need to maximize the opportunities. The studies show that one cross-ice game is worth three or four full-ice games in terms of time spent with or at least around the puck, and that a properly run practice is worth five to six games.
Cross-ice or small area games are all too often used at the end of practice as a reward, which is fine, however they can be utilized in so many other positive ways. In fact, I find it best to actually teach skills and concepts through them.
It is important to expose our young players to as many situations in which they are not only challenged physically, but as important that they are forced to use their minds. These games put players in situations where they have to make hockey decisions that have consequences, and they develop their hockey sense along with their physical skills.
Basic full-ice warm-up or skating drills do not help to develop the complete player. Cross- ice and small area games help to develop the intangible skills that allow players to survive when the size, strength and speed playing level is much more even. The ability to know where to go without the puck, and the ability to protect the puck, the ability to make a good hockey decision quickly under pressure are just a few of the critical skills that are developed and needed to play our game.
To me, it is simple. Now is the time to take a hard look at what we are doing and grasp the concepts of the ADM and run with them so we are having a larger impact on the environment that we are placing our players in.
Roger Grillo is an ADM regional manager for the New England and Massachusetts Districts.
There was about two minutes to play in the playoff game and I was anxiously pacing behind the bench, barking out whatever instructions seemed important at that very moment. You watch the game and you watch the clock in those final seconds, sometimes precisely at the very same time.
We were up by a goal, poised to advance to the next round of the playoffs, when I felt a tug on my jacket.
"Ah, coach," one of the players said on the bench.
"Yea," I answered, concentrating more on the game and the clock than on him at that instance.
"Is there any snacks today?"
"Whaaaat?" I barked exasperated.
"Did anyone bring snacks today?"
"Huh," I looked away.
"I hope they didn't bring apple juice." The young boy said. "I don't like apple juice."
The moment froze me in all the playoff excitement, the way all special and meaningful moments should. If somehow, I could have captured that conversation on tape, I would have had one of those special sporting moments for parents everywhere, the kind you need to play for coaches and executive and trainers and managers and all of us who take kids hockey way too seriously. It isn't life or death, as we like to think it is. It isn't do or die as often as we pretend it to be. In one tiny moment in one game minor hockey was reduced to what it really is about. Apple juice.
OK, so it's not apple juice. But what apple juice happens to represent in all of this. The snack. The routine. The ritual. Kids can win and lose and not even give a second's thought about either, but don't forget the post-game drinks. If anything will spoil a good time, that will.
You see, it's all part of the culture of hockey. Not who wins, not who scores goals, not which team accomplished what on which night, but about whether mom and dad are there, where their grandparents are in the stands watching, whether their best friend was on their team and they got a shift on the power play, and yes, about what they ate.
When you get involved in hockey, when you truly put your heart into the game and into the environment and into everything, it can be when it's at its best, the game is only part of the package. It becomes a social outing for the parents. It becomes a social outing for the children. It should never be about who is going for extra power skating and who is going straight from minor tyke to the Philadelphia Flyers but about building that kind of environment, the kind of memories kids and parents and families will have forever.
Sometimes, when I stand around arenas I can't believe the tone of the conversations I hear. The visions are so short-sighted. The conversations are almost always about today and who won and who lost and who scored.
Not enough people use the word fun and not enough sell it that way either.
Hard as we try to think like kids, we're not kids. Hard as we try to remember what we were when we were young, our vision is clouded by perspective and logic, something not always evident with children.
Ask any parent whether they would rather win or lose and without a doubt they would say win.
But ask most children what they would prefer: playing a regular shift, with power play time and penalty killing time on a losing team rather playing sparingly on a winning team, and the answer has already come out in two different studies. Overwhelmingly, kids would rather play a lot than win and play little. Like we said, it is about apple juice. It is, after all, about the experience.
You can't know what's in a kid's mind. I was coaching a team a few years ago when I got a call from a goaltender's father. It was the day before the championship game. The father told me his son didn't want to play anymore.
"Anymore after tomorrow," I asked.
"No," the father said. "He just doesn't want to play anymore."
"Did something happen?" I asked.
"He won't tell me," the father said. Hung up the phone and began to wonder how this happened and who would play goal the next day when I decided to call back.
"Can I talk to him?" I asked the father. The goalie came to the phone.
"I don't want to play anymore."
"But you know what tomorrow is don't you? Are you nervous?"
"No."
"Then what? You can tell me."
"I don't like it anymore."
"Don't like playing goal?"
"They hurt me," he said.
"Who hurt you?"
"The guys," he said.
"What guys?"
"Our guys. They jump on me after the game. It hurts me and scares me."
"Is that it?"
"Yea."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yea."
"What if I told you they won't jump on you and hurt you anymore. Would you play then?"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Then I'll play."
And that was the end of the goalie crisis. The kid was scared and wouldn't tell his parents. The kid loved playing but didn't love being jumped on after winning games. You can't anticipate anything like that as a coach. You can't anticipate what's in their minds.
It's their game, we have to remember. Not our game. They don't think like we do or look at the sport like we do. They don't have to adjust to us, we have to adjust to them. We have to make certain we're not spoiling their experience. Our experience is important too, but the game is for the children and not for the adults. We can say that over and over again, but the message seems to get lost every year.
Lost in too many coached who lose perspective and who think nothing of blaming and yelling and bullying. Lost by parents who think their son or daughter is the next this or the next that and they are already spending the millions their little one will be earning by the time they finish hockey in winter, 3-on-3 in the summer, power skating over winter break, special lessons over the March break, pre-tryout camp before the AAA tryouts in May and a couple weeks of hockey school, just to make sure they don't get rusty.
I have asked many NHL players how they grew up in the game. My favorite answer came from Trevor Lindon, who has captained more than one team. He said he played hockey until April and then put the skates away. He played baseball all summer until the last week in August. He went to hockey camp for one week then began his season midway through September with tryouts. No summer hockey. No special schools. No skating 12 months a year. "I didn't even see my skates for five months a year. I think the kids today are playing way too much hockey and all you have to do is look at the development to see it really isn't producing any better players. We have to let kids be kids."
When I asked Gary Roberts recently, did he think he had a future in hockey. "When I got a call from my agent before the OHL draft," he said. "Before that, it was just a game we played."
Do me a favor: Until the agent comes knocking on your teenager's door, let's keep it that way. A game for kids. And one reminder, I don't care what the age: Don't forget the snacks.
Steve Simmons writes a city column for the Toronto Sun when he isn't coaching his Avenue Road minor atom select team or Vaughan peewee house league team. His syndicated Sunday sports column is the most read sports column in Canada.
New program emphasizes development from the Boston Globe
Add Mike Milbury (left), father of two young hockey players, to those who believe Massachusetts youth hockey has gone to hell in a puck bucket, a theory underscored by the fact that not one Bay State boy will suit up in Vancouver for the Olympics.
“What we are doing is just not right,’’ said Milbury, NESN’s outspoken commentator. “We are not developing players. We’ve got a lot of parents out here spending a lot of time and money and it’s obvious that we’re still not getting it right.’’
But the former Bruins defenseman from Walpole believes that help has arrived. USA Hockey, in tandem with the NHL, over the last two years began rolling out a new initiative, the American Development Model, across the country. Now four Massachusetts rinks have committed to the program. ADM’s focus is getting young players to the rink, but not grinding them into the ice by encouraging them to join travel teams, play in countless out-of-town tournaments in pursuit of $5 trophies, or play the game year-round
For many young players, and especially their parents, that runs counter to the way Massachusetts youth hockey has operated for the last couple of decades (often to pull money out of parents’ pockets). Roger Grillo, the ADM director for the Massachusetts-New England region, wants players and parents to know they now have an alternative.
Beginning next season, rinks in Dedham, Hingham, Bedford, and Dracut will be fully ADM-compliant, meaning that their programs will focus on skill development, building a love and passion for the game, and finding a comfortable balance between developing skills and playing games.
“Not everything Massachusetts has done is wrong,’’ said Grillo. “But the balance is out of whack. I mean, in some cases we’re talking mites [5- and 6-year-olds] out there checking, playing as many as 60 games a year.
“The idea behind ADM is for kids not to play year-round, to have balance in their life, play other sports, and when they come to hockey, have a passion for the game, not get burned out. Some of what goes on in Massachusetts, well, it’s like taking a T-ball player, dropping him in Fenway Park and saying, ‘OK, kid, let’s see what you’ve got.’
“It’s just not healthy. The kids don’t develop their games.’’
According to the ADM website (admkids.com), 60 percent of those who try hockey drop the sport by the time they reach peewees. Another considerable percentage, said Grillo, will leave soon after peewee.
“It’s a scary environment in Massachusetts,’’ said Grillo. “For some parents, it’s like an arms race. They think, ‘If I don’t get my kid on a travel team, if he’s not playing 80 games a year, uh-oh, he’s falling behind.’ All that happens is that the kid really doesn’t develop - because he’s too busy playing - and he gets burned out.’’
“Finally, a break in the iceberg,’’ said Milbury, who didn’t start playing the game until age 12. “Time for a change. It should not be a 12-month-a-year sport, and kids shouldn’t be put in a car for a three-hour drive to New Hampshire where they’ll be in a game that has three 12-minute periods and they play, what, 10 minutes each?
“Limit their games. Increase their training. Keep them focused, happy, and having fun.’’
Defense! Defense! Defense! That was the battle cry Tuesday evening as the Weymouth Wildcat Squirt B hockey team advanced to the Massachusetts District III Playdown Finals with a 2-0 victory over Canton.
A loyal fan following for this squirt team, combined with a growing interest and add to that, a mass e-mail by coach Needham to everyone in his “contacts” folder, packed approximately 500 plus fans into the Connell Rink in Weymouth to take in this semi-final game.
The pre-game message in the Weymouth locker room was, “Limit the mistakes. The team that makes the fewer mistakes will win this game.” Truer words were never spoken!
The first period opened like a prize fight with the two opponents looking for an opening to land the first punch. Much of the play was contained in the neutral zone and any offensive attempt by Canton to gain the Weymouth zone was immediately turned safely up ice and out of the zone.
Weymouth had two quality scoring chances midway through the first period when Declan Foley found Zack Needham in the low slot for a one-timer. Canton goalie, Nicholas Donovan came up big, sliding cross crease to make the save. Andy Stark tried to put back the rebound past Donovan, but the Canton goalie would have none of it.
“Fewer mistakes, fewer mistakes” say it with me, “fewer mistakes”.
At the seven minute mark of the first period, Noah Bell shot the puck deep into the Canton end and gave chase as Canton tried to clear the puck. An errant pass through the middle was intercepted by Tracy Porter (sorry Brett), correction, Jonathan Dimodica and he was off to the races against Donovan. Dimodica shot low stick side. The puck was past Donovan and found net faster than Usain Bolt out of the blocks.
The first period was a defensive battle and this battle was won by Weymouth. They held Canton scoreless in this stanza, but the Wildcats were not looking to win a battle, they were looking to win the war.
Weymouth took its 1-0 lead into the second period and play continued much as it had in the first, with few offensive chances either way. Neither team wanted to make a ………………, you guessed it, mistake and give the opponent an offensive edge.
Hockey is a fast paced game where split second decision making is required. If one hesitates, quite often, one is lost………..and when Timmy Noll took possession of the puck deep in the Canton zone and no one challenged him, he made them pay. Noll faked a move to the goal, pulled up and dished to Meagan MacNeil cutting to the net. MacNeil’s shot found five hole and the Wildcats now had a two goal lead.
Time expired in the second period. Weymouth was up by two and there was only a ten minute, stop time period between them and the District III finals.
Drop the puck!
Canton came out in the third period flying. Weymouth went into full defensive mode, challenging every offensive threat and dumping the puck deep into the Canton zone. Canton would not go quietly. They threw everything at Weymouth but the kitchen sink and still could only muster four shots against Wildcat goaltender, Patrick Tevenan, each one, routinely turned aside or tied up for a face-off.
Weymouth called a time-out at the 4:38 mark of the third to settle the troops. With more than half the period gone, reality was sinking in. They had a very good chance of going to the finals, but this game was far from over. Many teams can score two goals in less time than remained on the clock.
“Remember! No mistakes!”
Canton pulled Donovan with two minutes remaining in the period for the man advantage. The last two shifts were set for Weymouth. All they had to do was kill 120 seconds of 6 on 5. Hold it! Or better yet, cross check. That’s right! With 48 ticks left on the clock, the Wildcats made their first mistake of the game. Stark was called for a retaliatory cross checking infraction and sent to the box. Weymouth would have to play the remainder of the period 6 on 4.
Jack Dolan, Meagan MacNeil, Andrew Clark and Matt Hawes were called upon to finish the game…….and that is just what they did. Down two, they controlled the puck and repeatedly fired the puck from their zone for Canton to chase, never allowing them a good look at Tevenan. Time expired, the scoreboard read, “Weymouth 2 – Canton 0” and the Wildcats had earned themselves a spot in the title match. Their opponent will be the winner of the Braintree East / Milton semi-final game.
Congratulations to the players and coaching staff of the Weymouth Squirt B hockey team for their hard work and dedication to a sport they clearly love. I coach this squirt team alongside coaches Dan Needham, Nate Bell and Keith Stark and have watched this group of kids evolve from a bunch of individuals playing the game of hockey into a team of players that get “it” each time they lace up their skates. What’s “it” you ask. “It” is the understanding that they are part of something. That something being, a team, and all that goes along with being a good teammate.
One step forward and two steps back is no way to grow membership.
That’s why USA Hockey’s new Membership Development department created a system that focuses on adding new players while keeping current players by tackling issues of growth and retention at the youngest age groups.
Statistics show that the number of children between the ages of 4 to 8 playing hockey has been shrinking. Over the last 10 years, acquisition of new players has dropped from 47,752 to 39,212. To add to the shrinking numbers, 43 percent of new players stop playing hockey by age 9, proving that retention is as important as recruitment.
“The biggest factors holding kids from playing our sport are cost and commitment,” said Pat Kelleher, assistant executive director for Membership Development. “The perception that the game is too expensive and too time consuming keeps kids from trying hockey, and the reality of it forces them to leave after a year or two.”
While tackling these issues will continue to be a top priority, Kelleher and his staff have created a new program that will provide modest benchmarks to youth hockey associations around the country.
The 2 & 2 National Challenge is a call to action for local associations to acquire two additional 4- to 8-year-old players than they did last year. The second half of the challenge is to improve the retention of two more 4- to 8-year-old players.
Based on 1,391 associations within USA Hockey, if two new players join each local program and two more players come back for another season of fun, there would be 96,755 players at the 4- to 8-year-old age group, or a 6.1 percent increase.
“We realize growing the game [by 6 percent] at the 4- to 8-year-old level is a lofty goal,” said Kelleher. “But when we talk to local associations about bringing in two new kids and keeping two more kids for the next season, it’s a more manageable and achievable goal.”
Women and men used to gaze up at the stars, awed at the sight and size of the universe, much like Detroit Red Wings fitness trainers used to be in awe at the sight and size of Brett Hull's butt during his final Motor City days.
My understanding of the sky's map is limited to the Big Dipper (good nickname for Buffalo's Tyler Myers, by the way) and the constellation Orion. Orion is located on the celestial equator and can been seen across the world, much like Pat Quinn's head. Its name, Orion, refers to a hunter in Greek mythology. Since my late teenage years, whether I am in Mingo Junction, Ohio, or Vancouver, British Columbia, I always look up and locate Orion. It's my satellite to home and youth.
I first became aware of Orion from the now bankrupt movie production company Orion Pictures Corporation, which made movies from 1978-1998. I remember the company's animated intro prior to the start of a movie: stars from the constellation would twirl into the letter "O" before the entire word "Orion" was spelled out.
It seemed as if 46 percent of movies produced in the late '70s and early '80s, my HBO sweet spot years, were produced by Orion. I am sure this number is probably much lower. "Back to School," "10," "Hoosiers," "Platoon," "No Way Out" and others all began with the animated Orion logo. I would like to publicly thank the now defunct movie company and HBO for my astronomy acumen and the indelible image of Bo Derek jogging on the beach with wet, braided hair. ("Before the Internet, there was HBO." Now there is a slogan to believe in.)
Today, kids, teenagers, adults and Sean Avery don't so much stare up to the trees, clouds, airplanes, stars and 6-foot-9 NHL linesman Mike Cvik as much as they used to; now, most stare down at their cell phones and personal digital assistants (Jim Balsillie's PDA BlackBerry, yo). As a result of all this "looking down," we miss so much up in the heavens. We even look down at these things during dinner, hockey games and Heisman Trophy presentations. People even look down at their PDAs while they drive. Who needs a moon roof on a clear summer night when I can play Tetris on I-95 while I soar through the E-ZPASS lane?
This is my gigantic preamble to why you should one day sign up your young son or daughter to play youth hockey at a local rink near you. If nothing else, it gets them away from electronics and teaches them a small slice of humanity that they can take forward through life, a life with more heart and less battery power. The rink's cold robs electronics of their battery power and signal reception, anyway.
So, if you are a first-time hockey parent, or dream of one day spending more than $10,000 and sacrificing weekends for a decade of glamorous youth or "minor" hockey, here are 13 important things you need to know about the youth hockey universe -- and hockey in general -- to help speed up the assimilation process in joining the "Congregation of Independent Insane in the Membrane Hockey Community Union" or COIIITMHCU. If you move those letters around you eventually get Chicoutimi. A miracle from the star-filled heavens above. (I'm sure my fellow COIIITMHCU members will offer even more, and we can post next week.)
1. Under no circumstances will hockey practice ever be cancelled. Ever. Even on days when school is cancelled, practice is still on. A game may be cancelled due to inclement weather because of travel concerns for the visiting team, but it would have to rain razor blades and bocce balls to cancel hockey practice at your local rink. It's good karma to respect the game.
2. Hockey is an emotional game and your child has the attention span of a chipmunk on NyQuil. The hockey coach will yell a bit during practice; he might even yell at your precious little Sparky. As long as there is teaching involved and not humiliation, it will be good for your child to be taught the right way, with emphasis.
3. Hockey is a very, very, very, very difficult game to play. You are probably terrible at it. It takes high skill and lots of courage, so lay off your kid. Don't berate them. Be patient and encourage them to play. Some kids need more time to learn how to ride the bike, but, in the end, everyone rides a bike about the same way.
Your kids are probably anywhere from age 4-8 when they first take up hockey. They will not get a call from Boston University coach Jack Parker or receive Christmas cards from the Colorado Avalanche's director of scouting. Don't berate them. Demand punctuality and unselfishness for practice and games. That's it. Passion is in someone, or it isn't. One can't implant passion in their child. My primary motive in letting my kids play hockey is exercise, physical fitness and the development of lower-body and core strength that will one day land them on a VH1 reality show that will pay off their student loans or my second mortgage.
4. Actually, I do demand two things from my 10-year-old Squirt, Jackson. Prior to every practice or game, as he turns down AC/DC's "Big Jack," gets out of the car and makes his way to the trunk to haul his hockey bag inside a cold, Connecticut rink, I say, "Jack, be the hardest, most creative and grittiest worker ... and be the one having the most fun." That might be four things, but you know what I mean.
5. Your kids should be dressing themselves and tying their own skates by their second year of Squirt. Jack is 67 pounds with 0 percent body fat and arms of linguini, and he can put on, take off and tie his own skates. If he can, anyone can. I don't go in the locker room anymore. Thank goodness; it stinks in there.
6. Do not fret over penalties not called during games and don't waste long-term heart power screaming at the referees. My observational research reveals the power-play percentage for every Mite hockey game ever played is .0000089 percent; for Squirts, .071 percent. I prefer referees to call zero penalties.
7. Yell like crazy during the game. Say whatever you want. Scream every kind of inane instruction you want to your kids. They can't hear you. In the car ride home, ask them if they had fun and gently promote creativity and competiveness, but only after you take them to Denny's for a Junior Grand Slam breakfast or 7-Eleven for a Slurpee. Having a warm breakfast after an early morning weekend game will become one of your most syrupy sweet memories.
8. Whenever possible, trade in your kids' ice skates and buy used skates, especially during those growing years and even if you can afford to buy new skates every six months. Your kids don't need $180 skates and a $100 stick no matter what your tax bracket is. They will not make them better players.
9. Missing practice (like we stated above) or games is akin to an Irish Catholic missing Mass in 1942. We take attendance at hockey games very seriously. Last week, the Islanders' Brendan Witt was hit by an SUV in Philadelphia. Witt got up off the pavement and walked to Starbucks for a coffee, and then later played against the Flyers that night. Let me repeat that: BRENDAN WITT WAS HIT BY AN SUV ... AND PLAYED THAT NIGHT! Re-read that sentence 56 times a night to your child when they have a case of the sniffles and want to stay home to watch an "iCarly" marathon. By, the way Philadelphia police cited Witt for two minutes in jail for obstruction. Witt will appeal.
10. Teach your kids not to celebrate too much after a goal if your team is winning or losing by a lot. And by all means, tell them celebrate with the team. After they score, tell them not to skate away from their teammates like soccer players. Find the person who passed you the puck and tell him or her, "Great pass." We have immediate group hugs in hockey following a short, instinctive reaction from the goal scorer. I am proud of my boy for a lot of things, but I am most proud at how excited he gets when a teammate scores a goal. He is Alex Ovechkin in this regard.
11. There is no such thing as running up the score in hockey. This is understood at every level. It's very difficult to score goals and unexplainably exhilarating when one does. Now, if we get to 14-1, we may want to take our foot off the gas a tad.
12. Unless their femur is broken in 16 places, Mites or Squirts should not lie on the ice after a fall on the ice or against the boards. Attempt to get up as quickly as one can and slowly skate to the bench.
13. Do not offer cash for goals. This has no upside. Passion and love and drive cannot be taught or bought. I do believe a certain measure of toughness and grit can be slowly encouraged and eventually taught. Encourage your kid to block shots and to battle hard in the corners. It will serve them well in life.
Enjoy the rink. Keep it fun, keep it in perspective and enjoy the madness. In this digital world of electronics, you may find hockey to be the most human endeavor you partake in. Cell phones run on batteries. Hockey players run on blood. Blood is warmer. Welcome.
WYH apparel and accessories can be purchased at Connel Rink during skills on Sunday nights during the month of February. If you are looking for something in the meantime, please email Kathy Keefe of H/C Sporting Goods at or call 781-648-7000.
We have three major events taking place! Please see below, and forward to your teams, parents and volunteers. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!
Neely Skate - A - Thon Presented by Liberty Mutual:
The first annual Neely Skate - A - Thon is taking place the entire month of February. Kids can now go to the Bruins website and create their own fundraising page. FMC rinks throughout the state will be hosting the skates various days and times throughout February. Prizes for the top fundraisers. Start raising today!!! Please see the attached flyer or follow the link: http://bruins.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=58397
Boston Bruins Foundation WINTER CLASSIC TICKET CONTEST:
Enter the Boston Bruins Foundation NHL Winter Classic Raffle and join the Boston Bruins Foundation in their mission to assist charitable organizations that demonstrate a strong commitment to enhancing the quality of life for children throughout New England. Raffle tickets are $2.00 and the Winner receives four tickets to the Winter Classic and a two night stay in the Westin Hotel.
Lori DiGiacomo
Manager of Youth Hockey Development
W: (617) 624 - 1960
C: (857) 891 - 4411
We would be very excited to welcome Weymouth Hockey members to our hockey games! We are pleased to announce we have added our group discount online on Ticketmaster for you to purchase tickets online.
Friday 12/4 vs. Vermont - $18 ticket Friday 12/11 vs. RPI - $15 ticket Saturday 1/2 vs. U Mass - $15 ticket Saturday 1/16 vs. Merrimack - $15 ticket Friday 1/29 vs. U Mass - $15 ticket Saturday 2/20 vs. Providence - $15 ticket Friday 3/5 vs. Northeastern - $15 ticket
If the “youth” password sells more than 20 tickets for a game, we will welcome Mass Hockey members to that game through our scoreboard.
Teams also have the option to purchase tickets through our Group Sales coordinator if they would like blocks of tickets together without the online convenience charges. For groups of 20+ tickets are only $18 or $15 each, same as the online discounts. You can contact our Group Sales Coordinator Sarah Ashton at 617-353-GOBU or
for more information and to reserve tickets for the above games.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey, with the counsel of Dr. Michael Stuart, its chief medical officer, today issued the following information regarding the H1N1 infection, including recommendations to reduce the likelihood of spreading the infection.
USA Hockey recommends:
- Providing individual water bottles for players and not sharing water bottles.
- Regularly washing hands.
- Cleaning workout gear for each practice/competition.
- Keeping gloves on during the traditional handshake with opponents.
Individuals with influenza may develop typical signs or symptoms, including: fever (102 degrees fahrenheit or greater), cough, muscle aches, runny nose, headache or sore threat, with the potential for more serious complications, including pneumonia.
This year's influenza virus strain has particularly affected children and young adults. Transmission of the influenza virus may occur from the day before the onset of symptoms and during the five-to-seven days that the symptoms are present.
Infected individuals should stay home until signs and symptoms have resolved, with no fever present for at least 24 hours. The 24-hour no-fever timeline should be achieved naturally, without the aid of fever reducing medications.
We wanted to notify players/parents to be careful with your valuables (cell phones I-Pods and Money) at ALL rinks. There have been numerous robberies at local rinks recently.
Please do not leave ANY valuables in ANY locker room, coaches please have a parent watch the locker room or collect the valuables and hold them during the games.
Thank You
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In addition a car was broken into at the Weymouth MDC parking lot Sunday night during skills - please do not leave any GPS / ipods etc in your car at the rink.
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As you all may know we recently had an incident during a game between WYH and Plymouth where a player from the Plymouth team sustained a serious cut to the neck by a skate. While this player is currently doing better, he was extremely fortunate to have had a medical professional in the stands who literally saved his life.
Last year the WYH Board of Directors mandated that all players up to the Peewee level wear neck guards. For the 2009-2010 season the Board had it on their agenda to discuss making neck guards mandatory for ALL levels, and during an emergency vote the motion was passed.
As of November 1, 2009 neck guards will be mandatory for all players in the WYH organization for both games and practices. We feel a November 1 deadline will give ample time to those who currently do not own neck guards to obtain one. It is, however, recommended that all players begin wearing neck guards immediately.
Coaches have been asked to keep any of their players, who do not have or refuse to wear a neck guard, off the ice. The dilemma that Weymouth Youth Hockey faces as an organization is that USA hockey currently does not require neck guards at the Bantam and Midget levels, and as such referrees will not enforce this rule. It will be up to our coaches, board members, players and the parents of our players to ensure neck guards are worn. As a parent if you see that your child is on the ice without a neck guard please take it upon yourself to pull your child from the ice until they put one on. We've asked our coaches to enforce this rule, but games can keep a coach quite busy and if a player removes their neck guard during the game, it may go unnoticed.
Until such time that USA hockey makes neck guards mandatory, we all need to work together to enforce this rule at the WYH level. Other towns have taken note of our action and are starting to follow suit. Neck guards may not prevent a player from being injured, but they may provide a level of protection that makes the difference between an injury and a fatality.
Thank you in advance for helping us to enforce this rule in an effort to further protect our children from accidental harm.
Weymouth Youth Hockey wants you to check out Responsible Sports!
Help Weymouth Youth Hockey earn our piece of the $50,000 to be awarded this fall from Liberty Mutual! Youth sports organizations organizations across the country are competing for one of twenty $2,500 Responsible Sports Community Grants by demonstrating their commitment to responsibility. And you can help us win!
The Responsible Sports Community Grant program is part of the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports community outreach initiative designed to help ensure that our kids experience the best that sports have to offer in environments that promote and display responsibility. By partnering with the most respected players in youth sports, Liberty Mutual helps champion and celebrate positive outcomes in sports and in life.
POWER PLAY SPORTS & APPAREL
TEAM WEAR -- EQUIPMENT -- SKATE SHARPENING -- REPAIR
Weymouth Youth Hockey: Parents, Coaches and Players,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Power Play Sports & Apparel located at 2 Garden Park in Braintree, across the street from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Power Play Sports and Apparel is pleased to provide all of the latest equipment from a variety of brands including Easton, Bauer and Warrior, as well as custom apparel, skate sharpening and repairs.
Having coached hockey myself for the last 13 years, I recognize the need for personalized attention and convenient sharpening and repairs that has been lacking in the Weymouth area.
Power Play is proud to be teaming up with The Source, a local business well known for its high profile clients, custom designing and creative marketing. Through our partnership with the Source we will be able to provide custom embroidery, screen printing and sublimation, most of which is done on site, always at unbeatable rates.
Beginning August 1st, Power Play Sports kicked off the EDGE card, a new program to provide savings to the families of WYH players while generating revenue for WYH. For a one-time fee of $95 your membership includes:
- 1 year of unlimited skate sharpening
- 10% of all non-sale items at the shop
- Multi-player family discounts
- Special pricing on custom orders and equipment packages
- $10 from every card goes directly to WYH
- 5% of all WYH apparel sales will be donated to the program
I look forward to providing you with outstanding service and great pricing while contributing to an important program with dedicated coaches, parents and players.
Tuition
• Skaters
o The 2009/2010 tuition for full season players at all levels is $900.00
• $800 tuition
• $100 fundraising fee (see Fundraising Fee section below for details)
o Short season teams (Midgets, Girls U16 and Girls U19) is $450.00.
o Instructional tuition is $500.00.
• Goalies with their own equipment
o The 2009/2010 tuition for full season goalies at all levels is $350.
• $250 tuition
• $100 fundraising fee (see Fundraising Fee section below for details)
o The tuition for goalies for short season teams will be $125.
If your child is already registered in Weymouth Youth Hockey and you forgot your password please go here and enter your email address and your password will be emailed to you. You dont have to re-enter all the information new ever year.
New this year - You can only use credit cards for online sign up - if you do not enter a credit card at the time of sign up your registration will be DELETED after about 30 minutes. If you wish to pay by check please download the registration package and bring it to the walk in session on March 2.
New this year - Online registration for USA / Mass hockey will begin May 1st, 2009 a link and instructions will be emailed out to everyone and you will have to register online with USA/MAss hockey. The cost is $35 and NOT included in your tuition.
Fundraising Fee Weymouth Youth Hockey recognizes that we are all affected by our current economic situation. In order to continue to offer a quality and affordable program, while simultaneously giving our families an opportunity to reduce their individual overhead, we are introducing a mandatory fundraising event. Each full season player is required to pre-pay $100.00 (one hundred) for this event. The player will receive $100.00 (one hundred) worth of raffle tickets which they will sell for $10.00 (ten) each as a means of “reimbursement” for the upfront fundraising fee paid at registration. Families are not restricted to the number of raffle tickets they can sell. All funds collected from the first book are retained by the player’s family, subsequent books can be purchased for $50, providing an opportunity to significantly reduce or eliminate your tuition cost for the season.
Prizes and other details are still being considered. We will post those details on the website as soon as possible.
