**The first ice time will be held at Total Ice starting the beginning of October and you will receive an email 2 weeks before, with your player's practice ice time.
Division Director:
U7 Coordinator: Kayla Lucas ~ wlinitiationhockey@gmail.com
About the U7 Program
The U7 Program Delivery is BC Hockey's exclusive program for young players learning to play hockey. It is the proven foundation of early skills development AND love of the game for every BC and Yukon Minor Hockey Association (MHA). Remember, the overall goal of the U7 Program Delivery is to teach the foundational skills of hockey while having fun so players can enjoy the game. Full-ice hockey has children chasing the puck much more than touching it. By moving to cross/half-ice hockey, research shows that direction changes, puck touches, pass attempts and puck battles are doubled and shots per player are six (6) times higher for each player.
Hockey Canada believes that hockey should be, first and foremost, fun for all participants. A big part of delivering on that is ensuring the programming is age-appropriate.
Cross-ice/half-ice hockey has always been part of the Initiation Program, but has not been implemented in the same way in every community – beginning this fall (2017-18 season), cross-ice/half-ice is mandatory at the Initiation level.
Cross-ice/half-ice hockey at the Initiation age effectively right-sizes the playing surface for young players:
- You don't put five- and six-year-olds on a full-size soccer pitch, or expect them to play basketball on a full-sized court with no height adjustments – hockey is no different.
- Cross-ice/half-ice hockey allows young players the opportunity for more puck-touches which promotes greater opportunity for skill development (puck-handling, shooting, skating, coordination) and decision-making.
- Players on cross-ice/half-ice have been shown to receive five times more passes and take six times more shots than when they are on a full-sized rink.
- Small-area games are used at all levels of the game – including senior national teams and the NHL.
The benefits of cross-ice/half-ice hockey go beyond player development; the special boards and bumpers allow minor hockey associations to alleviate pressure around scheduling and ice-time availability by safely allowing multiple practices and games to take place on one rink at the same time.
Below are 3 videos presented by Corey McNabb from Hockey Canada at the 2017 BC Hockey AGM. The videos explain the reasoning behind cross ice, the importance of small area games at all levels, and a great video from US Tennis about their kids program. Sports at every level tailor the size of the playing area to the size of the participant. Hockey should be no different.