by posted 01/26/2012
 
Hard to believe, but registration and tryouts for the 2012/13 season is fast approaching.  We hope all our players are having a great season – having fun and developing their hockey skills.  In my time at the rink and on the ice, I see great energy and excitement from all involved with Needham Hockey from the coaches, skills instructors, parents, and most importantly the players.  The players can’t wait to get on the ice, and you have to drag them off at the end of the hour.
 
In 2011/12, NYH brought a new and enhanced experience to our families.  We increased our communications, provided more support for our coaches, adopted the ADM principles and adjusted our mite travel program, enhanced our player and goalie skills, introduced a girls program at the u10 level, and refreshed our look with new uniforms, a new logo, and coaches practice jackets.  The good work continues as our tournament committee is hard at work on enhancing our february and march tournament experience.
 
NYH  board plans to continue to enhance our programs so that players/families in Needham/Dover have the opportunity to play and enjoy the great game of hockey from in-house beginner thru midget.  We have been listening to feedback from families and coaches throughout the year and held an open meeting on 11/28 to hear your ideas and share some of the challenges we will face for 2012/13.
 
The NYH board is currently in the planning stages for the 2012/13 season.  To help families understand our plans and learn what options will be available to them next season, we will conduct a series of parent information sessions in mid-February, prior to opening registration for travel teams in early March.
 
The meetings will be geared toward parents of specific age players, to address questions about the 2012/13 program and help you make informed decisions about your plans for next year.  Separate meetings will be held for parents of current in-house players considering travel, current Mite and Squirt age families, and families interested in the girls program.
 
Current Pee Wee, Bantam, and Midget families, who by this point in your NYH career are familiar with travel hockey programs, will receive information via email about plans for 2012/13 including registration and tryout dates in the next several weeks.  NYH will gladly answer any questions you may have.
 
Please keep an eye out for scheduling updates regarding these meetings, start of registration, and travel team tryouts. 
 
As always, please feel free to contact me by replying to this announcement with your thoughts.
 
Regards,
 
Mike Canavan
NYH President

by posted 01/18/2012
 
Hi in-house families,

On Saturday, January 28th, Eastern Exposures will be doing invidual and team pictures for all the in-house levels.  Pictures will be taken during the regular practice hour, beginning about 5 minutes before the scheduled practice.

Please plan to show up an be ready 5 minutes early for practice.

New this year, you can order pictures in advance, online, and pictures will be delivered to your homes, ellimintating the middle-man (of coach-delivered pictures).  

Link to on-line registration: https://prepay.groupphotographers.com/prepay?WO=871039

--Esther

by posted 01/08/2012
 

Deep Freeze and Goblet Tournament Champs

Needham Squirt A team continued their impressive play.  After rolling through the first half of the GBL season undefeated and dominating the Foxboro Sport Center's Thanksgiving Goblet tournament, the Squirt A's travelled north to battle it out in the Waterville Valley Deep Freeze Tournament.

Needham Squirt A team battled it's way through the qualifying round by defeating South Shore 4 to 2 and Providence 2 to 1 and losing a close game to Newburyport 5 to 4.  Based on their strong and consitent play in the preliminary round, the Squirt A's earned enough points to reach the championship game against Greenwich, CT. 

The team demonstrated it's championship form and took home the title with a hard fought 3 to 2 victory.  Using an attacking style combined with strong defense and goaltending allowed them to win this hard fought game.

Congrats to players and coaches.

Coaches:  Peter Nawrocki, Billy Rooney, Brad Sprogis and Chris Karavolas

Needham Squirt A Team:  Patrick Baker, Kurt Brinkhaus, Standish Carothers, Andrew Fitzgerald, Matthew Gallant, Sam Ginsberg, Harry Karavolas, Cole Nawrocki, Anthony Pelgro, Calvin Place, Billy Rooney, Thjis Seppenwolde, Brad Sprogis, Cole Stedman, Roman Tacelli, Danny Satterthwaite

by posted 10/26/2011
 
Winter Midget Registration is now open

We have 12 players signed up and looking for 8 to 12 more 

This program is targeted for 9th to 12th graders born between 1993 and 1997.  It is intented for players who are not regularly playing high school Varsity Hockey or JV.  The format will be weekly pick-up games on sunday mornings at 11am at Fessenden rink, no checking.  Session will start on 12/4 and run until 3/11/2012.  No games over holidays.  You must provide your player's usa hockey registration number to complete registration.  We will need a minimum of 20 players to hold this program and will start a waitlist after 24 players. 

Cost: $200 for the season (goalies are free), plus each player must be registered with USA Hockey.  Shirts: Players bring a white & colored shirt - no formal uniforms

Coaching and Refs: We will need a patched “coach” each week on the ice as the referee

Games: To keep it fun, there will be no checking

by posted 10/24/2011
 
NYH would like to proudly announce that recently retired NYH President Jeanette Duvall will be inducted into the Mass Hockey Hall of Fame in November.  Jeanette has dedicated over 30 years of service to Needham Youth Hockey.  Her love for kids and the game combined with her tireless efforts to improve Needham Youth Hockey has made us one of the strongest and highest quality program in Massachusetts.  Literally thousands of young players have benefited from Jeanette's efforts.  For more information about the event, please click on the link below.



http://www.mahockey.org/mass_news.htm

by posted 10/22/2011
 
Dear Needham Youth Hockey Family,
 
With the launch of our in-house season on Saturday, I want to officially welcome everyone to the 2011-12 hockey season.  NYH appreciates your participation and looks forward to seeing your player(s) grow and develop this year.  NYH understands that there are many options available for young hockey players in Massachusetts. We are working hard to continuously improve our program with a focus on making it fun, developmentally strong and convenient for our players and their families.  As an organization, our goal is to give everyone the opportunity to play hockey, enjoy the experience, develop into a better player, find it affordable and learn the values of physical fitness, teamwork, effort, and commitment.
 
Hopefully, many of you have experienced some of the positive changes, we are making in the program including:

• Formal mission statement and goals
• New program colors and logo
• New game jersey(s)
• Age level coordinators and a player/coach development director on NYH Board
• Improved skills program and goalie clinics
• Supplemental skills offering for in-house players
• Launch of a girls program with our u10 team
• Most importantly a renewed focus on player and coach development

USA Hockey announced the American Development Model (ADM) in 2010.  Many of the tenets of ADM are consistent with Needham Youth Hockey’s mission statement and goals related to player development and developing a life-long interest in the game of hockey.  We are committed to building an overall player development program that:

• Defines skills development from beginner to midget:
  • Utilizing USA Hockey recommendations as a guide, developing and implementing in-house and travel team programs that ensure our players are proficient at the age appropriate skills.
  • Implementing skills assessments that measure both proficiency and comparative ability of player’s skills.
  • Using the assessments to identify areas of strength and weakness to help improve a player’s skills and provide assistance to our coaches to help them teach our players.
• Adopts the ADM model for ice touches and approach to games for younger players. For example, mite travel teams will play both cross-ice and full-ice games in 2011/12.
• Provides more tools and help to our coaches so they can develop as coaches and help our players improve.
• Offers flexibility to adapt to the different interests and ability levels of players.

As you know, we are an all volunteer organization. I have been encouraged by the willingness of people to step forward and offer to help improve the program. Currently, important volunteer positions are available within Needham Youth Hockey.  Many do not require particular skill or experience with ice hockey, and all provide an important way to help strengthen the program and improve the experience for the kids.  If you can help contribute, please contact me at .  The open positions include:

• Coordinator for Coaches Appreciation Event – Work with the NYH Board organize the year-end coaches appreciation dinner
• Equipment Manager - Help organize the distribution and collection of coaching/team equipment at the beginning and end of seasons
• District 3 Representative – attend monthly district meetings, keep board informed of district programs and activities, and help coaches with questions related to District and State Playdowns
• Registrar – Transition role from current registrar this spring and manage the creation of USA hockey rosters working with district 3 registrar and help NYH validate coaches and players are properly registered with USA Hockey. Help answer registration questions for travel and inhouse programs.
• Shirt Coordinator – Help NYH plan, order, and manage replacement shirts for players as may be needed year to year.

Upcoming Events

• In-house coaches meeting - 11/15
• Open Meeting – 11/28
• Online Store - coming soon - will allow you to buy apparel such as sweat shirts, T-shirts, hockey bags online.

 
My hope and goal is that everyone (player and parents) enjoys their experience with NYH.  Please feel free to contact me at or any member of the NYH board with your feedback or questions.
 
Regards,
 
Mike Canavan
NYH President

by posted 10/17/2011
 

Bantam A - Garden City Champs 2011

Congrats to the Bantam A and B teams for their strong showing in the Garden City Tournament.

Bantam B team after an early round loss, battled it's way to the finals and a rematch with the Waltham Bantam B's.  The teams played a fast paced game on saturday afternoon.  Needham entered the 3rd period trailing by a goal and pulled out all the stops to tie the score.  Unfortunately, Waltham weathered the storm, and was able to add two late goals for a 4 to 1 win.  Great effort by the Bantam B's to make it to the finals.

Bantam A team followed a similar path in the round-robin.  They lost 1 to 0 to Waltham A in the first game, but then came back to win three straight 1 goal games to claim the championship.  A thrilling 1 to 0 win over rival Wellesley, 5 to 4  win against host Newton, and then avenging their 1 to 0 loss to Waltham by returning the favor and winning 1 to 0 in the championship game.  A stingy defense and hard working offense were the keys for the Bantam A's.

The offensive was led by Sean Arnao's game winning goals against Wellesley and Waltham, and a hat trick by Chris Ektov against Newton.  The rest of the forwards - Ryan Christenson, Aidan Davoren, Jeremy Gross, Seth Jacobs, Jack Piersiak, Brett Rayment, and Geoffrey Skelly - played solid two way hockey contributing in both the offensive and defensive end of the ice through the tournament.

The defense led by goaltender Brett McIntrye held 3 highpowered teams to 6 goals in 4 games and posted 2 shutouts.  The defenseman - Matt Aisenberg, Chris Canavan, Daniel Caruso, Quinn Ciesielski, Alex Henry, and Callen Morris - dominated in their end of the ice winning the battles in the corner and infront of the net.

by posted 06/13/2011
 
The Officers and Directors elected at the NYH annual meeting on June 9, 2011 are:

Mike Canavan     President

Al Pace                Vice President

Paul Smith           Treasurer

Ken Horton          Secretary

Mike Turner        Director Operations

Matt Keenan        Director at Large ( Tryout Coordinator )

Jim Michals         Director at Large ( Player and Coach Development )

Esther Jesurum   Director at Large ( inhouse director )

Fred Cromp         Director at Large ( Girls Program Development )



The new board would like to extend their thanks to Mark Parrish for his 3 years of service on the NYH Board.  Mark will continue on as the NYH registrar, but has passed his board responsibilities on to a new member. 

We would also like to recongize and thank Dave Miller for his long time commitment to NYH.  Dave has been the NYH treasurer for many years and has been one of our most genorous supporters donating his time, his companies time, and being a regular financial contributor to the tournament ad book and nyh website.  Dave ensured during his tenure that NYH became and remained a strong and viable non-profit youth organization that made hockey affordable for Needham familes while being financially sound organization.  Board cannot thank him enough for all his efforts.

Finally, words cannot describe the special thanks to Jeanette Duvall.  Jeanette has been involved with Needham Hockey for over 30 years.  She has been the heart, soul, and backbone of the organization for many years.  As President, she drove us all to stay focused on the players and the love of hockey.  NYH would not exist without Jeanette's efforts. There are literally thousands of NYH alums who got the opportunity to play and learn to love the game of hockey at a young age due to all of Jeanette's efforts.  NYH wishes her the very best and please look for an announcement in the fall as we plan to recognize Jeanette for all her years of services to NYH.


Enjoy the Summer and look for more news for the NYH board over the next few months. 

by posted 12/21/2010
 
To help ensure the health and safety of young athletes, CDC developed the Heads Up: Concussion in Youth Sports initiative to offer information about concussions to coaches, parents, and athletes involved in youth sports. The Heads Up initiative provides important information on preventing, recognizing, and responding to a concussion.

Below is a link with valuable information for coaches, parents, and athletes.  NYH would encourage everyone to review the website and read the information provided by the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/youth.html

If you are having issues with the link.  Parent and Athlete information is also in the document section of the NYH website.