8U Wild Development

WORK HARD. HAVE FUN. BE A GOOD TEAMMATE!

The Mite 8u Wild program offers a well-rounded hockey experience, combining on-ice skill development, team practices, weekly Rec league games, and competitive travel play. By blending both Travel and House League formats, players benefit from stronger individual skill growth, a deeper understanding of team concepts, and increased confidence and leadership abilities. All of this takes place in a supportive environment designed to foster each player’s passion and love for the game.

Saturday, August 8th from 1:00-2:00pm

Sunday, August 9th from 10:50-11:50am

Participation in the Mite 8U program requires MANDATORY Rec league participation. Mite 8U Hockey program is an add-on to Rec league.

I've heard of the red, white, blue USA Hockey model at 8U, what does that mean?

That model refers to creating teams that are skill similar, red players are the most experiences, blue have the least amount of experience and the white is the middle group. We will use assessments to create multiple teams of each group of skilled players.

What if my child has is brand new to hockey?

Have no fear, our coaches have years of experience getting kids up and moving around the ice! However, we do recommend athletes participate in a Learn to Skate, our Learn to play and one - two season of the rec/house league.

How can I help?

The strength of our program is the number of volunteers we have both on and off the ice but we can always use more. Please reach out to the KAHA Hockey Director, if you are interested in helping. The more coaches we have on the ice, the better the experience will be!

My child wants to be a goalie?

That's great! At the 8U age we still emphasis developing a complete hockey player which includes the skating skills required by a goalie and want to provide goalie opportunities to every player. Each coach at 8U has a bag of goalie gear they are able to distribute through their team, giving every child who wants an opportunity the chance to play for a week. This provides a balance between giving multiple players the opportunities and promoting the skating development for future goalies.

Why does 8U play half ice / cross-ice?

The half ice / cross-ice model for youth hockey emphasizes skill development and player participation. Research has shown that players involved in smaller area games (cross-ice or half-ice games) get more puck touches, shots, passes, change of directions and puck battles. These scenarios better replicate hockey as it is played at the older age groups. Not only does it better develop players, every player is more engaged during the play on a smaller surface. More engagement during games for all skill levels leads to more fun and builds the passion for hockey!