Travel Hockey, Tier 4 House Programs and Introductory/Player Development Programs.

New or Current BYHA Members!   
Your $50 Tryout Fee will be discounted from your registration fee for next season!

Join Us for Tryouts - March 15, 2020!

Tryouts Have moved from next week to this coming Sunday, March 15th at Biddeford Ice Arena. 

3/15

• 8U/Girls: 8:00AM-9:15AM
• 10U: 10:15AM-11:30AM
• 12U: 12:30PM – 1:45PM
• 14U: 2:45PM-4:00PM

Our goal is to provide quality hockey development opportunities for kids of all levels, from entry-level play to travel hockey.   

• We develop players from ages 4 to 18.
• Over 20 area businesses support our program.
• Thanks to our members, we provided need-based scholarships to over 30 families last year.
• Affordable excellence - State Championship winning programs.

Every year, we help hundreds of kids who are new to hockey and skating to get on the ice and have fun while also offering high-quality youth hockey programs for boys and girls at all levels.   We are committed to supporting our community and our arena through entry-level programs, fundraising initiatives, community outreach, and need-based scholarships.  

New for the 2020/2021 season we will be offering travel programs at each age level in the Valley League in Massachusetts in addition to all the programs we offered this past season.    

2020/2021 Offerings

• Youth Travel in Valley League in Massachusetts (NEW!) and Seacoast Hockey League n New Hampshire

  • Home Games at BIA and UNE

  • Less Travel than a typical MEAHA 10U Schedule.

  • Only 1 team at each age level.

• Youth House - MEAHA Tier 4 Travel In Maine

  • Similar to this past season.  

  • 2019 10U State Champions!

• Girls - Travel in Valley League in Massachusetts (NEW!) and MEAHA Tier 4 Travel (House) In Maine

  • The only Girls Youth Hockey Program in York County!

• 8U Co-ed Cross Ice House Program with Select Team

  • Similar to this past season with the addition of a Select Team to challenge more skilled players with additional tournaments and games.

    • Select Team:

      • Will play tournaments and more challenging cross-ice games.

      • Opportunity to play on additional games in Maine through ACH.

      • It is a supplemental program to work along the side of the existing 8U program and will be an addition to the regular BYHA Nor’easters 8U schedule.

      • The team will be made up of the top 10 skaters / 1 full-time goalie.

• Introductory Programs - the same great development programs as last season!

  • Flex Program 

  • 6U - Cross-Ice House Program

  • Learn to Play

  • Learn To Skate 

  • Try Hockey for Free! & Girls Play Hockey, Too!

I love the current program my player is in, is that offered next season?

• YES!  

  • All programs offered this season will be offered again next season. 

  • Valley LeagueTravel play is new and offered in addition to these programs.

Why play in the  Valley League?

• Competitive Play.

  • It is a parity league, so teams play against other teams of similar skill - teams are moved around throughout the season to ensure competitive games.

• Two Games, One Day Each Weekend.

  • Families will play one day each weekend - drive down, play two games and drive back.  

    • Equates to similar or less travel time than the average MEAHA schedule. 

    • Give families one free day each weekend.

  • We will also play home games at BIA and UNE.  

• Value.

  • We can offer a competitive travel hockey experience at the lowest total cost to families. 

  • Home and away games.

  • Sponsors will still help offset the costs for families.

• Makes Sense for BYHA.

  • Tier 3 play in MEAHA this year consisted of just 4 teams at 10U, for example.  

    • Valley and Seacoast Leagues will provide a greater variety of competition.

  • We will free some up ice at the Arena for our other programs. 

    • We will be able to support our growth and have the ability to provide community-oriented entry-level programs like “Try Hockey For Free” and “Girls Play Hockey, Too.” - that we have offered in the past. 

    • These programs are critical to the future of our entire hockey community and our rink.

It sounds like too much travel time to me, is that true?

• Compared to our 10U programs this past season, we project less travel time with our Valley League teams.  

  • Playing two games, only one day a week, limits weekend travel to around 3 hours round-trip.

    • Playing in Falmouth one day and Auburn the next day, is nearly 4 hours of travel time from BIA.

  • We will also schedule home games at BIA or UNE

What is the downside to Valley League?

• There are no home games in the Valley League, so we will supplement the schedule with play In the Seacoast League with home games at BIA.

• We must travel one day, each weekend.  

How do tryouts work?

• Independent coaches will evaluate players for each level of play.

• Roster decisions will be based on player skill.

• Players will be notified within 7 days of tryouts.

• Those players that do not make the travel team, will be offered spots on our competitive MEAHA Tier 4 teams. 

Who is coaching and how are coaches chosen?

• Coaches will be assigned to a team based on where their player is playing.  

• We will have no more than 3 coaches per team - 1 head coach and 2 assistant coaches. 

• The coaching director evaluates our coaches for placement based on coaching history and certification.

Will practices change?

• No. 

  • BYHA is an ADM program and will continue to utilize the American Development Model.   

  • Age groups will continue to practice together where all our players can develop, build friendships and have a sense of community. 

  • We will work hard to ensure convenient practice times. 

Does BYHA have the numbers to support these new programs?

• Yes.  The 2019/2020 season was a growth year for BYHA.  We had the highest number of youth program registrations in over a decade.  We see this strong growth continuing.

• We will NOT dilute our programs or our teams to meet goals, we will provide our families with the best hockey value we possibly can.  

• We will offer one travel team at each age group which will be supported by 1 or more teams in MEAHA Tier 4.   

• Our goal is to deliver the best player development opportunity and that requires us to ensure fun, competitive play for all our members at every level.