U-12 Team
2007-2008 Program
There are three ECGH programs for girls who are 12 and under as of December 31st, 2007. They are:
- Tournament Bound (A1 Level)
- Competitive Play (A2 Level)
- Learn to Play
The purpose of all three programs is to learn to play hockey, develop necessary skills including skating, shooting, passing and game strategy, and have fun in a safe and friendly environment.
Note: This age group has historically been called “PeeWees”, but is officially termed “12 and Under” by USA Hockey.
U-12 Tournament Bound (A1 Level)
The Tournament bound program is designed for girls with a number of years of competitive hockey experience, either from ECGH or in other hockey leagues and have mastered basic skating and hockey skills. They should consider this program to be their primary sport and team during the winter. The goal of the U12 A1 program is to continue developing more advanced hockey skills, while participating in the most competitive division of the Middlesex Yankee Conference Girls’ League, invitational tournaments during the Thanksgiving and other holidays to be determined, and the MYC league tournament during the second half of March.
This program formally begins in September. Tryouts are required, and only the most skilled players will be invited to join this program. It focuses on improving advanced hockey skills, including skating with power and agility, heads-up passing and shooting, positional play with a combination of drills, competitions, game simulations, and scrimmages. Instruction will be given by coaches, as well as a bi-weekly session with a skilled hockey-training group – T.E.A.M. Training.
There are normally two practice sessions per week, mostly weekday afternoons between 5 PM and 8 PM at the Fessenden rink. Depending on the game schedule, practices may also be held at the Daly rink on Saturdays, or at Nobles at 7AM on some Sundays. The 25-game MYC regular season will begin in early October, usually one game per week on Saturday or Sunday, between 7AM and 8PM. Games will take place at Fessenden as well as other rinks in the greater Boston area. More information on the league can be found at http://www.mycgl.com/. Tournaments are typically within New England, including a Thanksgiving weekend tournament on Cape Cod.
Girls in this program are expected to attend the vast majority of practice sessions, league games and tournaments. While occasional exceptions for family and school conflicts are understandable, girls who are repeatedly absent may be asked to move to the Competitive Play (A2) program. In general, girls in the Tournament program should not be playing on other hockey teams unless that team has agreed that ECGH practices and games will have priority; an exception is made for girls playing on a varsity or junior varsity middle school team.
The cost for the “U12 A1” program is $950. Families are responsible for player travel and lodging at the out of town tournaments, and for nominal per-player tournament fees.
All of our coaches are USA Hockey trained, and CORI screened. Full hockey equipment is required (including mouth-guards and face masks).
Coaches: Mark Holthouse will be the head coach for the U12 A1 team during the 2007-2008 season. Mark has coached ECGH teams for six years and played competitively in college. Andrew Gottlieb and John Robertson will also be coaching at the U12 A2 level. Andrew and John are all in their third year coaching at ECGH. John played competitively in Toronto, and is an active coach in boys hockey as well.
U-12 Competitive Play (A2 Level)
The Competitive Play program formally begins in September and is designed for girls who have had some competitive hockey experience, either with ECGH or in other hockey leagues, and who have basic skating and hockey skills. Tryouts are required to ensure that girls are placed appropriately; girls without the required experience are invited to join the Learn to Play program.
The goal of the Competitive Play program is to continue developing hockey skills. The program begins with a focus on improving skating, passing, shooting and game simulation as well as scrimmages. Instruction will be given by coaches, as well as a bi-weekly session with a skilled hockey-training group – T.E.A.M. Training.
In October, the program will shift to a combination of continued twice weekly practice sessions, and formal games within the Middlesex Yankee Conference Girls' league. There are normally two practice sessions per week, mostly weekday afternoons between 5 PM and 8 PM at the Fessenden rink. Depending on the game schedule, practices may also be held at the Daly rink on Saturdays, or at Nobles at 7AM on some Sundays. The 22-game MYC regular season will begin in early October, usually one game per week on Saturday or Sunday, between 7AM and 8PM. Games will take place at Fessenden as well as other rinks in the greater Boston area. More information on the league can be found at http://www.mycgl.com/.
The cost for the “U-12 A2” is $950.
All of our coaches are USA Hockey trained, and CORI screened. Full hockey equipment is required (including mouth-guards and face masks).
Coaches: Coaches will be determined prior to evaluations
U-12 Learn To Play
Learn to Play is designed for girls that have some skating experience, but little or no hockey experience. The goal of the program is to develop hockey skills (hockey skating, passing, shooting, and positional play) in order to advance into a Competitive Play program.
The Learn to Play program formally begins in early November. There will be optional training sessions available in September and October to help prepare players for the season. Details will be communicated in August.
For the first four weeks, practices will focus on learning and improving hockey skating, passing, and shooting. In early December, game situations and scrimmages will be incorporated. Instruction will be given by coaches, as well as a bi-weekly session with a skilled hockey-training group – T.E.A.M. Training.
In early January, the program will shift to a combination of continued practice sessions, and formal games with other girl’s teams. There will be approximately 1 game per week. These will be either formal home-and-home games, or games within an existing league. This will be decided based on the competitive ability of our Learn to Play team. The reason for beginning play in January is designed to give the players adequate time to learn hockey skills before they begin competitive play. Games will take place both at our home rinks (Daly, Fessenden, and Nobles) as well as other rinks in the greater Boston area. The majority of these rinks are 30-40 minutes from Newton.
The cost for the “U12 Learn to Play Program” is $575.
All of our coaches are USA Hockey trained, and CORI screened. Full hockey equipment is required (including mouth-guards and face masks).
Coaches: Andy Gillies will be serving and Learn to Play coordinator.
U-12 Parent Coordinator
U-12 News
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