LA Hockey Club / LA Selects
New Mite league gets more kids on ice
By Chris Bayee H
ow does a game of 12-on-12 hockey sound? Or, in the case of a new SCAHA-backed league for Mites, three concurrent games of 4-on-4 on the same sheet of ice?
The association, in partnership with several clubs in Southern California, including LA Hockey Club, has formed a league that mentors organizations in USA Hockey’s American Development Model.
Think of it as a rotating in-house league that not only provides more op- portunities for young players to touch the puck, but also gives clubs that might not have the numbers for their own in- house program the mechanism to offer introductory programs.
“It’s really exciting,” LA Hockey Club/LA Selects president James Gas- seau said. “Getting SCAHA’s support has been huge.”
LA Hockey has two of the six teams in a south division, and each of the five clubs takes turns hosting a weekly one- hour event. The six teams play three
cross-ice games.
“The kids love it,” Gasseau said. “If they started out in a league, they might not touch the puck much, then they could lose confidence and stop playing. In this format, everyone gets to touch the puck. When they score goals, they get so excited.”
One LA Hockey team is 8U, while the other is 6U. Players also have access to weekly skill development sessions, Gasseau said.
“To have an in-house league, you need 60 kids to do it,” Gasseau said. “With this amount of rinks involved, now you can have one team of eight or 10 kids and grow from there.” The concept also removes other hurdles for introducing hockey. “It’s a three-month season, so you can get more kids involved with a shorter season,” Gasseau said. “Kids who play another sport in the fall can play hockey in the winter. Because the season is shorter, it also costs families less.”
Follow Chris Bayee on Twitter @chrisbayee
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