You may have heard about developments that have occurred recently between Oshawa Minor (OMH) and the OCHL forming a development partnership.

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Fact:

Oshawa Minor Hockey is the "centre" for hockey in the city as per OMHA. NASC and OCHL are the affiliated house league programs. This means that anyone registered to either one of these programs are eligible and can take advantage of what Oshawa Minor has to offer and you are not required to be registered into a specific house league in which to have access to their programming.

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In fact, there is a significant number of our kids and our coaches who have progressed to participate in Representative hockey within Oshawa Minor.

 

Since the 2017/18 season all minor hockey associations have been required to implement the Hockey Canada pathways for the Under 7 (5-6), Under 9 (7-8) and Under 11 (9-10) divisions. 

The final chapter of the Hockey Canada player pathways that will be implemented entirely for next season includes the elimination of all representative or MD hockey for Under 9 year old players. What this means is that all hockey programs offered for Under 9 and younger will be registered as House league (HL) or Local League (LL). 
      
The intent behind this significant change is to ensure all players are being offered the same opportunities and to increase personal development for all kids by providing a fun filled learning environment. (which thankfully we already do and have done so for many years)

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These changes will not impact our association. NASC Hockey is not required to change anything that we do. N.A.S.C. Hockey is already a leader in Hockey Development.

 

To our testament, we have won many Readers’ Choice awards for the #1 Hockey Development program in all of Durham Region validating our commitment to kids, fun and development.

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We are already collecting ratings (and we have done so for many years) of all players through our assessment panel working with our coaches. We apply those player ratings to assist in grouping players together and ultimately achieve a balance when assembling teams once registration is completed.

So what does this mean for hockey in Oshawa and how does this impact your child?

Fact: Starting this season, Oshawa Minor Hockey will no longer be offering a U8 (7 years old) MD program as those players would not be able to continue playing MD next season. The Under 9 MD is still being offered for this final season (22/23) as those kids will move into Under 10 next year which still offers traditional representative and house league programming.

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Oshawa N.A.S.C. Hockey already provides an enhanced development program for all of our kids aged 10 years and younger.

Oshawa N.A.S.C. Hockey announced earlier in the year that we have already renewed our Development and Confidence skills program with Mary Giacalone and her renowned development staff at “Scary Skate”. 

We have offered this program for the past 15 years!

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In fact, we were the first program of its kind to introduce skills and power skating to house league kids…In addition, this program is provided always, at NO additional cost to both our Under 9 (7-and 8-year-olds) and our Under 11 (9 and 10 year olds) weekly. This means that those kids are on the ice up to three (3) hours per week.

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Additionally, our renowned “Minibits” program (3 and 4 year olds) and our Under 7 (5-6 year old) Learn-to-skate Hockey Schools are provided with fully certified and experienced instruction (on the ice once weekly) and our Under 7 (Flying fives / Super Six development) Full program, is on the ice twice weekly. Once in their Hockey Skills school and a second time with their coaching staff to continue those teachings.

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None of our development programs require any second payment or additional registration.

They are all provided within the single cost published to our website.

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It is also a prerequisite that our coaching staff be present for all sessions as the concept is to teach both the student and the teacher so that they have the tools to continue this teaching throughout the season.

This personal confidence and development is a part of our core programming.

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We firmly believe in our motto; “Making Hockey Fun – Through Teaching Confidence”

Below is the breakdown of what programming will look like over the next two (2) seasons:

2022/2023 Season:
 

1. Based on the full implementation of the Hockey Canada pathways, Oshaw Minor Hockey will not run Under 8 MD teams. You are able to register with your league of choice as all kids are able to tryout with Oshawa Minor at tryouts.
    

2. N.A.S.C. Hockey offers Under 9 programming. These teams receive three (3) hours of ice per week (1 practice, 1 game and 1 skills session with Scary Skate – these teams also play full ice come January).

2023/2024 Season and beyond:

In accordance with the Hockey Canada pathways ALL Under 9 and below players will register in order to play on HL teams

 

1. Minibits (Under 5) will receive 1 hour of ice per week

2. Under 7 (5-6) Learn-to-skate development program will receive 1 hour of ice per week

3. Under 7 (5-6) Full program will receive 1 hour of Hockey school AND 1 hour of scrimmage/practice per week

4. Under 9 (7-8) will receive 3 hours of ice per week (1 practice/1 scrimmage/game/1 Skills session)

5. Under 11 (9-10) will receive 3 hours of ice per week (1 practice/1 game/1 Skills session)

6. Under 13 and above will continue with traditional house league and representative team programming (if they choose to tryout with Oshawa Minor)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. I have already registered my 7 year old for the U8 MD program, but now have to register for house league - how do I go about doing this?

A1.  If your son/daughter has registered for Oshawa Minor before you decide, you should visit both house league associations (NASC / OCHL) and review what is being offered so that you can make an informed decision where to place your child.

Q2.  I had registered my son/daughter to play HL but am now interested in registering my child for one of the Oshawa Minor Hockey U9 MD teams - how do I do this?

A2.  If you currently live in Oshawa and want to register your child (born in 2014) for Oshawa Minor U9 MD please visit the following web page and insert the necessary information: 
https://oshawahockey.com/Forms/7278/Development_Program_Registration_-_U9/

Q3.  My child has never played hockey before, but is interested in trying it. Where/how do I register?

A3.  Depending on the age of your child, please visit our “Programs” page where you can review all of your programming options. If your child is older than 7 years, please contact us directly as we will be able to structure a program that will help your child’s development and “get them up to speed” with players of their same age. This is done as a courtesy and will be none at no additional charge.

Q4.  If all 7 year old players will be playing house league this season, how is their development being improved when some players have already been skating for years and others are just starting out/learning how to skate?

A4.  NASC Hockey recognizes that there will be a variety of skill levels among the players. This is even more present thanks to the two (2) years of COVID putting some kids behind others – it is for this reason that we have partnered with Scary Skate to help those kids with their confidence on their feet when on the ice.  We can also adopt a personal plan for your player as mentioned in Answer 3.