The “Ice Puppys” Program is Meadowvale’s
“Initiation to Hockey Program”. We’ve been at it for quite a
number of years now and continually modify the program to suit our
needs and the needs of the developing hockey players within our
community.
Generally speaking, our program consists of 12 teams of 16 boys
and girls made up of 4, 5 and 6 year olds. We would ask that your
4-year old have some background in skating (ie: having been on the
ice in some form - either at various public skates, or at a
Parent/Tot session with the City.
The Ice Puppy Program runs from mid-September through to the end
of March. In September
we will have 2 evaluation sessions in order to “start” your child
at the appropriate skill level. Basically, each of our 12 teams
consists of 3 lines - a Red line, a White line, and a Blue line.
The Red line are the more skilled players, through to White and
then Blue. Every effort is made to ensure that each child plays
with and against players of his or her own skill level. Children
can move up or down between colours as the year progresses,
depending on his or her own development.
The whole
ice puppy program is all about fun and learning, and the coaches
all work to ensure this is the main goal at all times!
The season
begins in the last week of September where each team practices
early Saturday morning and mid day Sunday. For the first 6 weeks
or so, we run instruction only on both Saturday and Sunday in a
solidly laid out practice format. After 6 weeks, we start our
game schedule on Sundays. From this point on, Saturdays will be
for practice, and Sunday will be for games. Games are running
time with buzzers every 3 minutes. This ensures that the same
colour lines play against each other. (ie: Blue will play blue
until the buzzer and so on.) We do not keep score as this is all
for simple enjoyment.
Optionally, there is a Monday Power Skating session that is
available for the players to help improve on their skating skills.
We also
have one more sheet of ice that is rotated between teams
throughout the year for additional instruction.
Additionally, Meadowvale runs a program for the top 6 year olds
called Select 6. The Select 6 coaches will choose 15 players and
a goalie to compete against other organizations and enter a few
tournaments throughout the year.
The main
purpose of the Select 6 program is to prepare the players for the
Minor Novice Gold division of the following year. They will be
taught the rules of hockey including: where to be during a face
off, icing, offside, penalties and playing in a position. All
games played with Select 6 are refereed with certified referees.
The Select
6 team will be allocated an additional sheet of ice each week to
learn the game of hockey and all its rules.
At the end
of our season (around the end of March) we hold our “ALL STARS
WEEKEND”. It is “all stars” because, in our program, ALL the kids
are stars.
On this last Sunday of the season, we have a big day of fun, games
and music, ending in our season ending banquet. We have and need
many sponsors for this day and it is made possible by the many
volunteers.
Our program is only as good as the volunteers that help, and we
need to hear from anyone that can help, be it coaching, helping on
the ice, or administratively.
Every year we have a parent’s meeting before the season starts
(after our evaluation days), to introduce the coaches, talk about
the program and answer any other questions.
To sign-up, please visit the “Registration”
section of our website.
If you have any further questions please
contact:
Ice Puppy Director – Sean Gregory
sgregory@abetlaminati.com
Ice Puppy Asst. Director – Jay Ramrekersingh
MMHA President – Jim Barbour
416-575-0490
president@meadowvalehockey.com
Registrar
- Jeff Leavens
V-P of
Operations – Jeff Leavens
headcoach@meadowvalehockey.com
