WYHA Tournament Overview

1.      Signing on for established tournaments e.g. for the general info on the Mass Hockey website visit:  http://www.masshockey.com/  - lists tournaments by     month for the year.   The WYHA website lists additional resources under Hockey tab

2.      Team Initiated Tournaments e.g. A coach or player family has contacts in another area and program(s)

3.      Things to know/watch out for (level of play, travel rules, etc)

1.  Signing Up for Established Tournaments

Easiest site to identify established tournaments is Mass Hockey www.masshockey.com.  Arranged by month with contact info for organizers, team ability targeted, etc. 

Other sites – use with caution for level of play! http://www.advancedtournaments.com

See also WYHA website – Tournaments tab 

Tournament planning questions? Does the team want to:

-         Travel/sleepover or drive to a ‘local’ rink?

-         Have a holiday tournament or find a slow weekend in January/February?

-         Make sure the entire team can make it or get 10+ skaters and goalie?

-         Go cheap or go high end?

Marlboro and Foxboro have tournaments all season long – easy to get to and with interesting teams that travel to attend

            http://www.foxborosportscenter.com/tournaments.html  

            http://www.nes.com/Events.asp (Marlboro NE Sports Center)

Each of the local pro hockey teams (Lowell, Providence, Worcester, etc.) has pre game scrimmages with tickets to the game.   Usually they involve some minimum ticket purchase guarantee but they are willing to work with you.

2. Team Initiated ‘tournaments'

Does your team have a new player from a different region?  Do they have contacts with hockey programs in another town/city/state?

Work with the family to reach the league/team coordinators from the region and set up 2-3 friendly games in a new area

Example:  Nawn family came to Wellesley from Princeton, Dad was Princeton Youth hockey President, worked with WYHA manager and coaches to set up three friendly games and attendance at a Princeton hockey game

3.   Things to know/watch out for e.g. competitive level, travel rules

Competitive level – work on the tournament ideas early – or you could wind up in a tournament where the play is over the level of your kids.  Tier Classifications

TIER I: -National Bound – Sometimes called AAA or Major teams

TIER II: National Bound - Sometimes called AAA or Minor teams

TIER III: Sometimes called A teams – These are the WYHA A1 level teams

TIER IV: WYHA next level down

TIER V: WYHA next level down

Our lowest level teams might be B or C level – it’s really important to talk to the tournament organizers!

Pool or not to pool – if there is one, they will swim.  And they will be dragging by end of weekend.  For the younger teams, they’ll remember the fun more than the scores.

MUST DO – for out of state tournaments, fill out travel form from USA Hockey (found on the 'Hey Coach' tab) and send to District 3 Registrar (contact info found on USA Hockey website)  3 weeks prior to out of state travel