The AYHA is excited for your child to come play hockey as a Bobcat this season! It is the goal of the Association to offer a broad hockey experience that emphasizes team play, sportsmanship, and skill development in a fun and positive environment. Additionally, the AYHA offers through its partnership with the Buckeye Travel Hockey League competitive play with other teams with similar skills and abilities, while also providing a high ratio of practices to games to ensure youth players can focus on developing their on-ice skills. This year's season will begin in September 2024 and conclude in March 2025.
Season Planning
For 2024 / 2025, the AYHA looks forward to continuing its mission of providing a quality youth hockey experience for players in the southeast Ohio region. The Association believes that all current youth players and those interested in learning should have an opportunity to play hockey, and all of the AYHA members, coaches, and volunteers are dedicated to making that opportunity a reality.
Practice Planning
For youth players, the Association’s emphasis is on player development by maximizing the ratio of practice time to game time to ensure the focus remains on player skill development, with occasional competitive game play (please see Player Development under PARENTS). For the 2024 / 2025 season, youth players and their parents can expect the approximate number of estimated practice time at Bird Ice Arena:
| Age Division |
October |
Nov & Dec |
Jan & Feb |
Total |
| 8U |
10 |
16 |
20 |
46 hours |
| 10U |
11 |
17 |
23 |
51 hours |
| 12U |
12 |
19 |
23 |
54 hours |
| 14U |
21 |
27 |
30 |
78 hours |
| High School |
17 |
31 |
39 |
87 hours |
Game Planning
Each season, the AYHA strives to provide both travel-based hockey and zero-travel hockey options for its youth players. However, if there are insufficient players in an age division at the start of a new season to fill both zero-travel and travel-based team rosters, the zero-travel may not be an option. For the 2024 / 2025 hockey season, the Association is planning to provide the following game-play options:
Zero-Travel Hockey Games
For ages 4 through 8, the 8U team will participate in scrimmages and/or games at Bird Ice Arena. For the 2024 / 2025 season, 10 home games over 5 weekends have been allotted to 8U.
Team-Based Travel Hockey Games
10U, 12U, and 14U travel teams will participate in the Buckeye Travel Hockey League, while the High School travel team will participate in the Ohio Scholastic Hockey League. The following number of home games have been allotted to each age division:
- 12 home games over 6 weekends for 10U
- 14 home games over 7 weekends for 12U
- 16 home games on available nights throughout the season for 14U
- 20 home games on available nights throughout the season for High School
Updated 2024-05-25.