We have been asked if we could ice some Select Teams for next season. First we would like to give a brief description of Select Hockey and an outline of what that would mean as a commitment for families. A Select team can be put together from 2 or more LL teams in a Center. The idea would be to hold tryouts and put together a team of 15 skaters and 2 goalies, we would need these numbers as a Select team is not able to use call ups for any skaters or goalie positions so the team has to have back up built into the team numbers to make it a viable Select team. A Select team may play three exhibition games per month and attend three Tournaments in a season.
The Select Tournaments would be during the Christmas and March Break periods so that they do not interfere with League games and Tournaments the LL team is going in. Exhibition games would most likely be on weeknights. To find competitive play travel could be to Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Burlington, Oakville or Milton as the Team Manager needs to contact centers to find home and away games to schedule as there is not a League for Select Hockey. Another important note is that Select Hockey is in no way a similar option to Rep Hockey. Most bigger centers will have a Major and Minor Rep team then an MD team then they will have House League teams that they then draw from to create a Select Team so the Select are representing their 4th best players in the Center.
The first commitment for all players is to their Local League team, that means they cannot miss any games, practices or tournaments in favour of just going to the Select games. If the LL team is entering 3 Tournaments you must attend those as well as the 3 Tournaments your Select team may go in. If you have a LL game and a Select game in the same week and do not attend the LL game you will not be able to play in the Select game that week either.
An estimated cost per player for U11 and U13 Select teams would be $600 per player. This does not include a tryout fee in September or the Tournament fees. It would cover Ice cost, Referees, Time keepers, Jersey and socks. This fee is over and above your Local League Registration fee.
We have created a survey which you can access from the Home Page of our website (top left hand corner), if you could kindly answer the questions in the poll so we can determine if there is adequate interest for us to look further into the possibility of offering Select Hockey.
If you are not in favour of Select hockey we have some questions in the poll with some other options so we can gauge the interest level in all of our divisions.