Des Moines Youth Hockey Association
09-10 Peewee travel format
07/09/09
By DMYHA
At the DMYHA June board meeting, the board approved changing the way travel teams are assigned at the Peewee level for the 2009-2010 season.
Traditionally DMYHA has classified their travel teams as AA, A, B. As the game of hockey has evolved and more participants have started to play, USA hockey has begun to move towards grouping players together with the same birth year, instead of using two birth years. The new classifications are now called; Major and Minor. For instance, a Peewee Minor team would be made up of players born in 1998 and a Peewee Major team would be made up of players born in 1997. Here are the key points as to why the DMYHA board decided to make this change for the 2009-2010 season:
· As stated above USA hockey is moving towards this model
· Players will be able to compete against players who are the same age, not 1 to 1 ½ years older
· There will be increased opportunity for teams to play together in the summer
· The number of 97s & 98s that have traditionally played travel hockey are very similar, therefore the number of players trying out for each team should be very similar
· It will allow teams to play elite competition if they desire
Players with 97 birth years will be eligible to try out for the Peewee Major team and players with 98 birth years will be eligible to try out for the Peewee Minor team. Normal travel tryout procedures will apply to kids wishing to try-out for an older age group.
If this is a success at the Peewee level, DMYHA will consider transitioning other age groups to this format in future years
Tag(s): Association News
