2009-10 INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM

The 2009-10 Instructional Program

The 2009-10 Instructional Program will begin on Saturday October 3th at 9:00AM at Lynch Arena.  The program is open for children up to 14 years of age; prior skating experience is not required.

Registration for interested participants is always open and can be done at the rink any Saturday throughout the year 1/2 hour before ice time.  The cost is $215 for both Pawtucket residents and non-residents.  There is also a 20 week club raffle ticket that is required per family for $40.

All players must pre-register with USA Hockey and bring the print out confirmation with them prior to registering with PYHA.  There is a link to USA Hockey website on our home page in the right area.  

Our Instructional program is appreciative to Tim Horton Donuts for supplying jerseys to each participant and for their support of youth hockey.
Overview of Instructional Program  Our primary goal is to assure that every child has fun skating and learning to play hockey. We will be using the USA Hockey Skill Development Program as general guideline to introduce the fundamentals of the game. Our intention is to teach fundamental skills and to use various games and activities to reinforce those skills. Undoubtedly skating is a the most fundamental aspect of playing ice hockey, and as such, requires proper instruction and time to develop proper skills. Therefore, the earlier portion of the season will focus more on developing skating skills, whereas the latter portion will be balanced between both skating and learning the fundamentals of hockey. By the latter half of this season we expect to be using small games and cross ice games - which the kids really like.
We will continually assess the size of each Instructional group, as well as the individual skill levels of each player, and make the necessary adjustments to assure, that each player is challenged and developing at their appropriate skill level.

Equipment  HECC- approved helmet and HECC-approved face shield are required. Hockey gloves, shin pads, elbow pads hockey pants (which have tail-bone padding) etc. are strongly recommended for both personal safety as well as developing a sense of - not being afraid to fall and get hurt - in beginner players.
USA Hockey does not require the use of mouth-guards for players 11 and under


Regards,

Gerry Letourneau

Instructional Division Coach

gpletourneau@aol.com