NEWTON MIDDLE SCHOOL HOCKEY PROGRAM OVERVIEW
 

The intent of the Middle School Teams is to give all of our Newton youth hockey players an opportunity to play together as a team. NYH endorses and welcomes the opportunity to bring the community together in the spirt of this program.

Newton residents enrolled in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades and who would like to join the Middle School teams are welcome to join and tryout for a roster spot.

NYH will identify the number of Middle School teams participating for the upcoming winter session and register the teams with the Valley League Middle School Program.

Coaches will be identified as soon as possible to allow for proper registration.

The middle school teams are independent of the travel teams and governed under the Newton Youth Hockey policy and procedures. The Middle School Program is not governed under USA and Mass Hockey rules and Guidelines. Therefore, all parents and players must conform to the NYH rules and regulations.

Registration: 

Registration will be announced to Members and be setup on the website.

Every player must have a current year USA hockey registration number. If your son or daughter does not have a current year number, you will need to register them with USA hockey, via the USA Hockey website, www.usahockey.com and provide your player registration number as part of the registration process.

All coaches must have a current year USA hockey number. If the coach does not have a current year number, they will also need to register with USA hockey. Additionally, the coaches must be registered with NYH as a coach – instructions for registration can be found on the “Register On-Line” link at http://www.newtonyouthhockey.com .

Each player must register on-line through the NYH Web site www.newtonyouthhockey.com

Roster/Tryout

The Vice President of Travel will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Middle School Hockey NYH program this will include team registration, Member registration, coaches and tryout process.

There will be two tryout sessions. There is no tryout fee. Tryouts times will be posted on the NYH Website and will be held no earlier than mid-October and before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Each team will accommodate up to twenty players if necessary. They will consist of 18 skaters and 2 goalies.  In the event more than 20 players register for any one team, a tryout will be conducted. The tryout will consist of six to seven drills which will include skating, stickhandling, passing, puck control, shooting and team scrimmage consisting of three on three or full sheet five on five. Coaches for each Middle School team will conduct the tryout process for their group and design the specific drills to meet the tryout requirements. The Vice President of Travel will provide a tryout score sheet evaluation form. NYH will conduct the scoring process using two evaluators if possible. The Evaluator should consist of having an unbiased and or a predetermined idea about the players trying out. The Vice President of Travel if meeting the above criteria should act as one of the independent evaluators.

Each team roster will have a minimum of 15 players on the roster in order to move forward and participate in the Valley Hockey League program.

Due to the maximum roster size of 20, there is a possibility that not all players who tryout will be selected, and cuts may be necessary. Selections will be determined by the tryout score evaluation. Players will rank one to twenty based on their overall score after tryouts. All scores and selections must be confidential. The Vice President of Travel will tally, review and approve the twenty selected players based on their tryout evaluation score. The Vice President of Travel will submit the final team rosters to the proper coach for each team. The list will also include the players who were not selected. Roster announcements will be through the NYH Website and will be announced and/or posted within 7 days of the last tryout. Players will also be notified by letter of their selection/non selection for their designated tryout team by the head coach of each team.

A waiting/call up list of alternates can be maintained for each team if it is deemed necessary.

Games Only:

While it is hoped that all players will develop, this is not the same as a traditional town team. Depending on many factors, including practice participation, effort, and ability, the ice time may not be balanced among all the players. Ice time is at the coaches’ discretion.

Tuition: 

NYH does NOT subsidize the middle school program. The coaches and coordinators are responsible to ensure the financial ledger is balanced. The tuition for full time and alternates is determined based on the number of sheets of ice required for games and practices, officials including time keepers, and uniforms. The Valley League fee will be included in the tuition fee. There will be an additional $50 fee for any player who does not participate in NYH, although the Middle School programs are self-funded, NYH is responsible for administrative fees and miscellaneous expenses associated with running the program. The Middle School tuition must be paid in full prior to the first game and will be announced within the 7 days of the tryouts.

Anyone found not to be compliant with the rules and regulations will be removed from the program and will NOT be refunded.