by AHA posted 09/01/2008 Welcome to Andover Hockey Association’s 2008-2009 season. AHA continues to be one of the largest youth hockey organizations in the state. For the 2008-2009 season, AHA is fielding 29 co-ed and girls teams between the Mite and High School age level and will again offer two Initiation programs (learn to skate and intro to hockey).
AHA strives to improve its program every year and we are excited about a couple of changes that we believe will enhance the overall experience of our AHA members. Most of the teams in AHA will be moving to an expanded Valley League schedule for 2008-2009 that will provide teams with a 45-game schedule at rinks that are typically more convenient than those that were associated with the second league in which AHA teams had participated in the past. This change will result in the elimination of game schedule conflicts that had occurred with two-league teams in past seasons, which will enable all teams to supplement the one-league schedule with a number of “independent” games (i.e., non-league games organized by the team) that can be played at the Phillips rink complex. We believe that the move to the one-league schedule will provide our members with a challenging and full, but more manageable, schedule during the long season.
AHA will again offer a Skills program for its Mite through Bantam age players and we are very excited to have contracted the skills program to Superskills in 2008. While over the past few seasons the skills program had been ably developed and overseen by AHA volunteers, we believe that having a skills program delivered by a professional organization that specializes in the development of hockey players will pay dividends in the future and is a significant benefit to our members. The program will run from September to November and is free of charge to AHA players. AHA will also continue to offer goalie skills in 2008. The goalie skills have been offered over the past couple of years to very favorable reviews. The goalie skills program runs for eight weeks and the sessions are conducted by Stop-It Goaltending, run by Brian Daccord. These skills sessions are also free of charge to the AHA membership. The Initiation Gold program enjoyed another successful campaign in 2007-2008 as evidenced by the tremendous improvement in the kids’ ability to skate and, just as importantly, the smiles on their faces. Last season, the small game concept was incorporated into the Initiation Blue program. The small game concept, which involves fewer players on a smaller ice surface (i.e., cross-ice), has been endorsed and strongly promoted by USA Hockey. Small games have been shown to enhance player development while at the same time increasing the children’s enjoyment, as players are more “involved” in the game with increased “touches” of the puck, more scoring, and improved/quicker decision-making skills. AHA’s experience with the small ice approach has confirmed the benefits of the program, so we will again be utilizing small games as part of the Initiation Blue player development strategy in 2008-2009.
AHA endeavors to maximize it players’ development in a fun environment, and balance the fostering of the competitive spirit with good sportsmanship, discipline, and fairness. We believe that our balanced philosophy has produced a recipe for success – year-after-year AHA has a very solid reputation as one of the top organizations in the Valley League and at the same time AHA has maintained solid enrollment numbers in an environment where many town programs are struggling with the continued expansion of “select” programs. With the scores of dedicated and qualified volunteers, the coaching support system in place, the quality of our practice facilities (Phillips Academy), and the player development opportunities we offer our players (i.e., skills programs), we firmly believe that AHA is one of the best town hockey programs in the state that rivals most select programs. We sincerely hope you enjoy your 2008-2009 season.
