WYHA will place its Mite AAA1, Mite AAA2 and Mike A teams in the Valley League (VHL) for the 2019-2020 season. The structure of this program meets the new requirements set by USA Hockey and provides players an opportunity to learn the game and develop skills. The format of the program will be as follows:
The VHL Mite division will offer a combination of half-ice and full-ice games per the USA Hockey amendment that was ratified at the 2013 Winter Meeting.
• VHL teams will be divided into three or four geographic regions to minimize travel and
will also be divided into multiple tiers within each region to maximize parity.
• Teams will play a 25 game regular season schedule that will consist of 15 half-ice games (September-December) and 10 full-ice games (January-March).
• During the first 15 weeks of the season, teams will play half-ice games with 1 on-ice official. The on-ice official will keep score of each game with game results, schedules and standings maintained on the VHL website. The Mite division will advance to full-ice games after January 1 and will play 10 full-ice games.
• All teams will qualify for playoffs, which will be held in mid-March and include games
against the other geographic regions within the same respective tier.
The WYHA Mite teams will average two practices a week and be offered skills at regular intervals throughout the fall.
Rookie Mites will continue with the same format as experienced last season, playing in the Town Line League. Games are played every Sunday morning at the Bajko rink in Hyde Park. The Mite program and Town Line League adhere to USA Hockey's American Development Model (ADM) and play cross-ice games. As part of the Mite program, each player receives a team jersey and socks.
If you have any questions regarding the 2019-2020 WYHA Mite Program format, please feel free to contact Jared Parker at parkerjw07@gmail.com.