2023-2024 KVHA Recreational|House Teams
| AGE | TEAM | HEAD COACH | COACH PHONE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squirt 10u | Brigade | Joe Dzikowicz | JTDZIKOWICZ@GMAIL.COM | (248) 497-9517 |
| Squirt 10u | Admirals | Dennis Whitbeck | Whitbeck.dennis@gmail.com | (248) 798-6438 |
| Squirt 10u | Generals | Kyle Mattingly | KYLE.MATTINGLY@GMAIL.COM | (248) 866-8092 |
| Squirt 10u | Eagles | Eric Rybarczyk | rybarczyk.ev@gmail.com | 810-278-4105 |
| Peewee 12u | Generals | Casey McCreedy | dadmc83@gmail.com | (734) 564-5754 |
| Peewee 12u | Destroyers | John Vella | john@thevellalawfirm.com | (734) 478-6104 |
| Bantam 14u | Admirals | BOB Rechul | rechulbob@gmail.com | (734) 502-3302 |
The KVHA Tier 3 program is our recreational hockey program for the youth in Brighton, South Lyon, Milford, Hartland, Howell and surrounding communities. We have a great program for most ages at KV and hope that you consider joining our hockey family.
Learn to Play - age 4-12
6U - age 5 & 6
8U- age 7 & 8
10U- age 9 & 10
12U- age 11 & 12
14U- ages 13 & 14
Full hockey equipment, including mouth and neck guard are required to participate. No guaranteed placement for Out of District Players.
Our 8U teams play 1/2 ice in the Biggby Coffee House League with no travel. These divisions receive 2 hours of ice per week plus two in-house jamborees.
Our 10U and older teams participate in the Little Caesar's Amateur Hockey League (LCAHL), which requires some travel. 10U teams skate at least twice per week, with 5 skates over a two week period. 12U and 14U teams typically skate 2-3 times per week. Once games begin, there may be one additional days for away games.
Timing of the House Hockey Season:
- June 1st - Early registration begins
- Early to Mid August - Conditioning and Evaluation skates (see more below)
- Mid to late August - House draft team selections
- Labor Day Weekend - Teams begin practicing
- September - early October - Scrimmages
- Mid October - League Games begin
- January - District Playoffs begin
- March - Championship games/State Tournaments for all Divisions
~OUT OF DISTRICT SPOTS ~
KVHA is located in MAHA's District 4. Primarily our players reside in District 4 and there are rules for Out of District Players.
Every Squirt through Bantam Team is only allowed 3 Out of District Players. There is no limit for Midget Teams.
Girls do not have district boundaries, but no more than three out of state players are allowed per team.
There are no guarantees that we can place Out of District players. If you are Out of District but your home is located closer to KVHA or HIH on google maps than your in-district rink, you may qualify for an in-district spot. Email office@kvhockey.org to learn more
KVHA PLAY UP REQUEST PROGRAM
We recognize that in rare and specific cases, it can be appropriate and beneficial to a player’s development for them to Play-Up to the next age classification. A balance needs to be struck to avoid placing the desire of a player above the legitimate opportunity for that individual to be successful in an older age classification.
While KVHA does support Play-Up Requests, KVHA will not take an opportunity away from an age appropriate player to allow a younger player to take an available slot within a division. In all cases, player priority is based on their registration date. A player playing up will not supersede any other player who registered earlier in either division.
When spots are available, the player making the request must demonstrate that their current abilities would undermine the balance of competitiveness within their current age appropriate division. Any player wishing to play up must attend at least one draft/rate skate at their current division and for the division in which they are requesting to be moved. This is the only way to determine is a Play-Up request is appropriate.
Click here to read and consider this article from USA Hockey regarding playing up
Play-Up requests must be received prior to the house evaluations skates begin so that the player's skill level can be evaluated.
NOTE: A player can never "play down" a level. For example, a ten-year old cannot play as a Mite. Additionally, a player will only be permitted to Play-Up one division.
The decision to play a child "up" should be taken seriously. Parents are strongly encouraged to have a discussion with their child's coach, as well as the KVHA Hockey Director. Coaches are expected to provide parents with honest feedback regarding a child's performance and skillset. Player confidence, safety and well being are the most important aspects overall.
Our Head Coaches cannot do this alone - Assistant Coaches are needed for all divisions!
If you are interested, check out the requirements below and submit your current USA Hockey number to be rostered to the team.
CONDITIONING & SKILLS SKATES
Our KVHA House Hockey pre-season begins with a series of Training. Conditioning, Skills Skates to prepare for the House Evaluations skates leading up to team selections (draft) mid to late August.
The conditioning skates are provided for your child’s benefit and are included in the cost of your yearly registration. These skates are a great chance for kids to shake off some rust, realize that they have outgrown equipment, or just be more comfortable going into the evaluation skates.
All players participating in conditioning skates must be registered with KVHA and USA Hockey. No unregistered players will be allowed to participate.
EVALUATION SKATES
The evaluation skates are where the association is able to rate kids to create fair and evenly skilled teams.
We utilize volunteer coaches and Board Members to conduct the evaluation skates. The evaluators will rate players based on different skills: level of skating, puck handling, game sense, their attention span and enthusiasm. The older age groups will be more technical than younger age groups -for example, in Mini Mites, backward skating is not evaluated, in Squirt, this skill will be considered in their overall rating. These ratings will be combined to arrive at an average rating to be used in the draft.
In viewing hundreds of kids during the evaluation skates, as well as being seasoned hockey professionals, the evaluators are able to pick out sandbaggers. These players will be rated based on the evaluator’s perceived player skill level. The draft provides coaches with a “window” of only three times the number of teams (6 teams = 18 player options per pick) to choose from, thus limiting the chance of sandbag or sleeper picks.
Players who miss all evaluations skates will not be included in the draft. These players will be assigned to teams after the draft based on their registration date, continuing in line with the team order used in the draft. This is done to avoid over/under evaluating these players.
**** We can always use help on the ice for our conditioning and evaluation skates. We cannot hold these skates without the help of volunteers. If you are a parent who will be bringing your child anyway and wish to help out, please bring your gear and our coaches will guide you. Please email Michelle office@kvhockey.org to volunteer an hour of your time****
HOUSE DRAFT PROCESS
The draft is likely one of the most misunderstood processes in all of youth hockey. The mystery of what happens behind closed doors, leads to numerous complaints and allegations of stacked or rigged teams. To begin, the draft rules are dictated by MAHA regulations and the draft is attended by a MAHA representative. Some of the regulations include number of 1st/2nd year players, out of district players, and goalie selections. The goal of the draft is to create even teams across each division.
How are some teams better than others? Most of this is pure luck, including which coach receives the 1st pick (reverse order in even number rounds). While the evaluations give a glimpse into each player; some kids perform better in drills than game stress situations (some opposite) and some kids improve quickly, while others take a little longer adapting to changes in the game. Since most complaints arise around the mid-point of the season, it is recommended that families work with their coaching staff to grow and strengthen as a team. We find that an early away tournament and more off-ice team activities, the better the team bonds and thus, functions as a whole.
Coaches are not provided player lists or ratings until just minutes before the draft. Certainly some coaches earn a slight advantage by knowing the kids, making their own evaluation notes, and being able to “read” the draft. Each coach comes to the draft with their own plan: some take top rated players each time, some select players/families they know. Prior to the draft, coaches are warned not to agree to any deals and to avoid additional protected player requests. They are also urged to report any pressure to comply.
In the end, the MAHA representative present at the draft, as well as the KVHA Board of Directors, have the power to invalidate the draft if there appears to be any integrity problems. This could lead to coaches having to re-draft or teams being assigned based on ratings alone. The draft results are final and we are not allowed to make any changes after.
Each year the association receives numerous request to be placed with a certain coach, avoid another coach, ride-share, best-friend, etc. Unfortunately, these request are not allowed under MAHA regulations. Each coach is only permitted one protected player (which is usually their son/daughter). Families are allowed to make requests known to various coaches, but the final decision lies with the coach and is limited to the availability of those players.
PLEASE NOTE: KVHA does not offer any promises or guarantees for players to be placed, or not placed, on any certain team. Refunds will not be considered for players who are not drafted on any specific team, with specific teammates, by any specific coach, or any other team request.