The Mite Learn to Play Hockey program is the first step on what can be a long and rewarding, but sometimes confusing hockey journey in Toronto.  That journey can take different paths forward depending on the level of interest or talent your son/daughter has or develops over the course of the next few years.  This memo will help you understand the various hockey options your child will have and the factors that may affect the choices you make regarding which of the several hockey paths available to him or her.  This information will also assist you in deciding whether you may want to take on a coaching role as you move forward with your child. Please note that this memo is geared toward “boys” hockey although many young girls choose to play house league and rep hockey with the boys leagues before moving on to a “girls only” hockey association usually by the age of 8.   

ORGANIZATIONAL AND GOVERNING STRUCTURE

West Mall is one of close to 60 associations offering various levels of minor hockey to more than 50,000 current players in the broader Toronto area.  The local governing body of all minor hockey in the greater Toronto area (including Mississauga, Vaughan and Scarborough) - and the only one recognized by Hockey Canada (the highest hockey governing body in Canada)- is the GREATER TORONTO HOCKEY LEAGUE (“GTHL”) www.GTHLcanada.com. The GTHL is responsible for the registration, insurance, administration, policy and rule oversight of all minor hockey in the GTA from 3 years old to 21 years old.  It is currently the largest youth ice hockey organization in the world in terms of members.  Each association, like ours, reports and pays fees to the GTHL for the right to offer programs and receive insurance for all our players and coaches. 

THE GTHL’s predecessor organization (the Toronto Hockey League -THL and subsequently Metro Toronto Hockey League - MTHL) was formed in 1911.  Through the years, the GTHL has grown rapidly and the League has produced many of the games most recognized NHL players. Recent graduates include current NHL players like Mike Cammalleri, Brad Boyes, Matt Stajan, Jason Spezza, Rick Nash, Connor McDavid, PK Subban and many more.  In fact, on average, there are approximately 60 NHL players who were graduates of the GTHL system.

In turn, the GTHL’s governing body is the ONTARIO HOCKEY FEDERATION or OHF for short. The Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) is the governing body of most of the sanctioned ice hockey in the province of Ontario in Canada. There are 5 regional minor hockey leagues governed by the OHF.  They are the GTHL, the ONTARIO MINOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION (OMHA), THE NORTHERN ONTARIO HOCKEY ASSOCIATION (NOHA), and the ALLIANCE.  THE OMHA runs minor hockey programs in all the major suburban and rural areas outside of the greater Toronto Area.  Cities like Oakville, Brampton, Burlington, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, etc belong to the OMHA.  Further to the south is the Alliance which runs minor hockey for the rest of Southern Ontario.  In the North, the NOHA runs the majority of the minor hockey programs. 

THE OHF is one of Hockey Canada's thirteen regional branches. HOCKEY CANADA is the governing body for all regulated hockey in Canada and controls the insurance purse strings – so to speak – to in effect, have a monopoly on most hockey programs in Canada. 

WEST MALL MINOR HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

West Mall Minor Hockey Association www.westmalllightning.com was formed back in the late 60s It is currently one of close to 30 clubs that run House League recreational hockey programs in the GTHL and one of close to 50 hockey clubs offering Rep hockey programs as well.   It is one of the few associations that offer both House League and Rep hockey programs. We have about 800 registered players, 500 of which play in our recreational House League program and 300 playing at rep level.

RECREATIONAL HOUSE LEAGUE HOCKEY

Hockey players are always divided and play in their respective age groups.  Here are the age divisions for this current season (2016-17) which ends in April 2017.
 

Tyke	Born in 2009 or 2010*
Minor Novice	Born in 2008
Major Novice	Born in 2007
Minor Atom	Born in 2006
Major Atom	Born in 2005
Minor Peewee	Born in 2004
Major Peewee	Born in 2003
Minor Bantam	Born in 2002
Major Bantam	Born in 2001
Minor Midget	Born in 2000
Major Midget	Born in 1998 and 1999
Juvenile	Born in 1995, 1996 and 1997

 
* Since this is the beginning point for many minor hockey players there is great flexibility around whether a player of 3, 4, 5 or 6 year old plays at the Mite or Tyke level for house league hockey.   3 year and 4 year olds generally play in the Mite division which is the entry level Learn to Play Hockey division.  West Mall encourages players who have at least 1 year of prior Mite experience and who are 5 or 6 years old to play in the TYKE division where there are organized games.

 For recreational House League players, each association has some flexibility around allowing players to play in a division that doesn’t necessarily match their age.  For example, West Mall tries to take a player’s ability into consideration when assigning that player to a division – particularly if they are just starting out. However, we have a practice of trying to never place a player more than 1 age category up or down from their actual age.  The majority of our house league players play in their designated age-appropriate division.  Additionally, with the decline in enrolment over the years, most associations in the GTHL do not have sufficient players in their House League programs to be able of offer both Minor and Major programs at each age group.   West Mall often combines both Minor and Major age groups into its Atom, Peewee, Bantam and Midget programs.   For the past 10-15 years very few associations have offered programs at every age group.  Only high-growth or highly-concentrated demographic areas such as Mississauga, Vaughan, North Toronto and North York still seem to be able to offer both Minor and Major programs at almost every age group.  Several smaller associations even combine Major and Minor players from two age groups into one playing division (ie: Atom and Peewee play together).  House League players usually play one game a week.  West Mall House League games are all played at Centennial Arena on the weekend.  Other clubs may have weekday House League games.  In addition, up until Bantam age, House League players usually have one practice a week rotating between indoor and outdoor ice (when available).  The average cost for House League registration each year is around $500 a year which provides for a jersey, socks, games, officials, banquets, trophies, insurance, etc. 

COMPETITIVE OR REP HOCKEY

In the GTHL, Rep (aka competitive) minor hockey is divided into 3 levels “A”, “AA” and “AAA”.  Rep hockey is sometimes also referred to as “Elite” hockey.  For purposes of this memo I will reference this category by its generic term – Rep Hockey. AAA represents the higher caliber of Rep hockey available throughout Canada.  AA is the second highest caliber of play and A is the lowest.   Outside of Toronto in the OMHA, Alliance and NOHA there are additional levels of Rep hockey (AE, BB, B, etc).  These other designations usually apply to very small or rural centres that often don’t have enough players to form House League divisions so players form travelling or semi-rep teams as an alternative. 

Rep hockey doesn’t officially begin until the Minor Atom age group or when a player turns 9 years old although there are some players who are 8 and are good enough to play up an age group in Rep hockey.  There are limits imposed by the GTHL as to how many of these “under-age” players may play on a Rep team.  As a result, in the GTHL every player under the age of 8/9 begins their minor hockey with a House League organization where they play for several years before deciding whether to step into the Rep world of minor hockey.   Most players start off playing either Mites or Tykes and then progress onto Minor Novice, Novice and then in their Atom year decide whether to stay and continue on with recreational house league or to move into the Rep hockey stream.  Under Hockey Canada Rules, A PLAYER IS ONLY ALLOWED TO REGISTER AND PLAY WITH ONE ORGANIZATION IN ANY YEAR so a player must chose to play either House League or Rep, but not both.  Middle or High School hockey is not considered GTHL minor hockey and therefore can be played in addition to either House League or Rep.

Rep Hockey is a much more expensive alternative to House League hockey.  As the name Rep or Competitive suggests, it is a much higher caliber of hockey and geared to those who want to play at a higher more intense level.  Players in A, AA or AAA often have 2-4 practices  as well as one home and one away game each week.  In total, they can be on the ice (not including any school hockey) 5-6 times a week.  Hence, the cost of playing Rep hockey far exceeds that of playing House League.   The average cost to A or AA Rep player each season ranges from $3000 to $5000 per year depending on how many weekly practices and tournaments they schedule, the amount of uniforms, apparel and equipment needed to be purchased and how much coaches or special hockey instructors are paid to develop the team.   AAA teams can cost a player upwards of $10,000 annually each year.  In all cases, these costs can be reduced through fundraising and or sponsorships.  Often at the AAA level, corporate sponsorships are used to significantly reduce the cost per player.  A, AA and AAA teams compete for City, Provincial and in some cases, National Championships.  There are recognized websites that track and rank the top Rep teams provincially and nationally throughout the season.

Unlike House League where there is flexibility to play in an age group different than a player’s age, the rules to play Rep are very restrictive.  Players can play up an age level but cannot play down an age group. The majority of players play in their respective age groups.  In addition, there are no geographical limits when a player plays House League.  For example, West Mall House League has players from Brampton, Oakville, Georgetown, Caledon, Vaughan etc.   GTHL Rep hockey, however, follows very strict geographical policies. Each team is allowed 3 import players from places like Oakville, Brampton, and Richmond Hill.

Players compete for and are chosen for the Rep teams based on try-outs held in the spring at the end of the current season.   Depending on how they or the team performs they may be invited back to play for that team again the next year or they may have to try-out for another team.  Obviously, if a child has a reputation as a very good player, he may be approached by several Rep coaches even before try-outs to see if that player is interested in playing for that coach’s team the next season. 

West Mall is a House League, Select (see below) A and AA association.  GTHL rules restrict an association from having both a AAA and an A or AA license.  Again, under GTHL rules, all hockey associations must be not-for-profit but they may be either privately owned or community based.  West Mall is a community based association owned by its members.  West Mall’s Board of Directors and Executives are voted to their positions by the members at the annual meeting in May of each year.  Most of the clubs that offer House League hockey are community based.  Most of the clubs that offer Rep hockey with no House League hockey program are privately owned.

There are 12 AAA associations in the GTHL each offering AAA teams at every age group between Minor Atom and Midget.   All AAA clubs are privately owned.  There have been 12 AAA clubs in the GTHL for many, many years.  At the AA level, the geography covered by GTHL Rep Hockey includes Mississauga-based teams as well, so there are two divisions – West and East.  Each age category will have anywhere from 12 to 18 teams in each of the two divisions.  This means that including both East and West there could be as many as 36 or more teams at the AA level for each age group.
Interestingly though, Mississauga considers A hockey to be an extension of its House League operations.  As a result, in the GTA there are three A divisions – Mississauga A, West A and East A.  So in as a result, in the GTHL A, there are often fewer teams in the West division than in the East division.  Only residents of the City of Mississauga are allowed to register for the Mississauga A teams. Mississauga City residents, however, can and often do, register for GTHL A teams such as the West Mall Lightning.  

GTHL A hockey as recently become a non-body checking category. By 2018 all A age groups in the GTHL including Mississauga will be required to offer only non-body checking hockey.  Those looking for full contact hockey will need to play either AA or AAA.  House League programs in Canada do not allow body-checking at all.

SELECT/ALL STAR

House League players in the GTHL have the option to join/form one or more Select Teams at each age group in their association.  Select is considered one step above House League.  The Select Hockey program is administered by the North York Hockey League (NYHL).  It is a travelling program where a Select team from one association travels to play a Select team from another association.  NYHL maintains ice contracts at a number of rinks in the city and teams are not categorized into an East and West division, but rather into Tiers based on the teams deemed strength and ability after a short evaluation period of exhibition and early season games.  There can be as many as 5 Tiers in an age group.  Visit the games centre tab at www.nyhl.on.ca  for a list of all the current teams and their respective Tiers at each age group for the current season.  Once again, like GTHL Rep hockey, players may play up an age category but not down. Many clubs have more than 1 Select team at any given age group – especially in the Tyke, Minor Novice and Novice age groups since those players have not moved into Rep hockey at that point. 

West Mall has 13 Select teams this year including 2 Minor Novice teams.   The cost to play Select hockey is over and above the fees paid to play House League.  Select players are required to participate fully in their House League program in order to play on the Select team.  Attendance at House League games is therefore mandatory to be eligible to play Select games.  Select teams play one game a week in addition to their House League game and also have one or two more practices each week.  The average cost of a Select program for the season (not including House League fees) is approximately $1,000 per player. This costs covers Select jerseys, socks, one practice a week, etc. Although teams are formed by try-outs or invitation only, because more than one team can be formed at every age group there is often opportunity for weaker players looking to develop their game and play more hockey to join a Select team from the association.  Coaches are all volunteer at West Mall so we can only offer a Select team alternative if a coach is willing to step up and run the team.  Select teams can begin try outs in the spring after the AAA, AA and A try-outs are over.   Currently, the NYHL restricts try-outs to players that have already registered for the next season’s House League program so trying out for another association can be difficult.  This is not the case for Rep hockey where anyone can try-out for another organization during the try-out period. 

THE MISSISSAUGA HOCKEY LEAGUE

Many West Mall players live and commute from Mississauga because of our close proximity. Even though the Mississauga Hockey League is governed by the GTHL, it has a different House League structure than the Toronto city associations.  All House League teams are considered travelling teams in Mississauga.  Each player at the beginning of the season is slotted into either a Gold, Red, Blue, Green or White team for that age group in the association with which they register.   That team then travels to other Mississauga associations to play their corresponding coloured team.  As a result, the Mississauga Hockey League does not have a Select program – rather, their whole House League program is similar in structure to the NYHL Select program.

SUMMARY

So as you can see, understanding the lay-out of minor hockey for boys in the GTA can be a little confusing.  Hopefully, this memo will shed some light on the choices and alternatives available to your son or daughter as they grow, age or skill develop over time.  Understandably, living in Toronto (considered to be the Hockey Hot Bed of Canada) affords a player with various choices not always available outside of Toronto or even elsewhere in Canada or the US.  Whatever your level of passion, ability, age or size – there will always be a program suited to your needs.  At West Mall we take great pride in being to offer every option available. 

So whether you choose to play recreational house league or add the Select program option or step up the GTHL rep hockey channel, West Mall offers almost every level of hockey your child may wish to pursue except AAA.    Check out our website for contact info at the coaching or executive level if you have any additional questions regarding each of these alternatives. 

Rich Ternieden
President
West Mall Minor Hockey Association
(416) 219-4301
Chairman@westmalllighting.com