Registering your child in the East Gwillimbury Minor Hockey Association (EGMHA) for the first time ….
Welcome to the East Gwillimbury Minor Hockey Association. The EGMHA provides an opportunity for children from the ages of 4 and up in all skill levels to develop their hockey skills and more importantly, have fun doing it. This document has been created because every year we have many first time registrants into the EGMHA and there are usually a number of questions parents have. Please take a few moments to read these two pages and if you have further questions please feel free to contact our hockey office or the Executive of the division you are registering your child in. For contact information of the Executive members, please click on the About Us drop down menu and then click on Executive & Staff option which will provide you with contact information.
The Registration Process
Online registration will open in early June. You can get to the online registration form by clicking on the General Information option under the Registration menu on the EGMHA main page.
Please note that when registering for hockey for the first time at least one parent or guardian of each player registered in minor hockey in the OMHA is required to complete the Respect in Sport – Parent Program as a condition of participation. In other words, if at least one parent does not complete the course your child/children will be ineligible to play hockey until such time as the course has been successfully completed. Please see the Respect in Sport option on the website, it can be found under the Registration menu on the EGMHA main page.
Player Skill Requirements
One of the common questions asked by parents when considering registering their young children in our program concerns the skill level of their child. The EGMHA follows the Hockey Canada and Ontario Minor Hockey Association development models. All of the head coaches for our divisions are educated and certified through Hockey Canada's National Coach Certification Program. This means that they have all undergone training to help them properly instruct young players in becoming better hockey players. Obviously, skating skill dramatically improves as the age of the players increase. If you are registering your child as a new player in our U5 to U9 divisions it is not necessary that your child be an accomplished skater. However, if they are going to have a positive first time hockey experience we recommend that they be somewhat comfortable on skates and be able to navigate themselves across the ice with minimal assistance. Our experience has shown that when a first time player feels they have a chance to move with the play then they are more likely to enjoy the experience and hockey is more likely to become a continuing part of their life.
Player Equipment
We recommend that you ensure your child’s hockey equipment is properly fitted for your child by your preferred retailer. However, two pieces of equipment that are required by the OMHA are often overlooked by parents registering their children for the first time. They are the neck protector to help guard against cuts and the mouth guard to help minimize the possibility of concussions. . In addition, your child will require a hockey helmet and cage, shoulder pads, elbow pads, hockey pants, jock/jill, shin guards, skates, stick, hockey gloves and hockey bag. EGMHA provides each player with a hockey jersey and socks. To see more information on equipment requirements please click on our Equipment page.
Hockey Development in EGMHA
It is important to understand that for all house league games, the EGMHA expects all its Coaches to play their players equally, irrespective of level of skill. Fun and skill development are the primary goals of our Association. EGMHA offers several different recreations programs depending on the age and skill of the player.
The House League program runs from October until the end of March. Practices and games are Saturday and Sunday mornings (exact times are determined in late summer and will be set for the full year at that time).
House League (ages 10 and below as of Dec 31st)
- Focus is considered recreational, providing equal ice time to all players regardless of skill level.
- All Games/Practices at Sharon Arena generally in the same timeslots
- All teams are “EG Eagles”; you only play teams from East Gwillimbury
- You do not have to live in East Gwillimbury to play hockey in EGMHA House League
The Local League program runs from October until the end of March. Practices and games are will fluctuate throughout the year but (exact times are determined by mid-October and will be set for the full year at that time).
Local League (ages 11 and older)
- Focus is considered recreational, providing equal ice time to all players regardless of skill level.
- All practices at Sharon Arena are generally in the same timeslots
- Games, however, are played at Sharon and other centres participating in local league (“away” centres may include Bradford, TNT, Schomberg, Lefroy, Beeton, Richmond Hill, Innisfil and Nobleking)
- You do not have to live in East Gwillimbury to play hockey in EGMHA Local League
- Regular season runs from October to February. Playoffs determine how far you go (typically into mid-March)
- East Gwillimbury is part of the Simcoe Region Local League
- All teams are guaranteed 2 rounds of playoffs
- Costs are higher than Houseleague due to:
- Full ice practices (Houseleague shares practice ice with another team)
- Home and away Jerseys – higher quality than Houseleague
- 70 min icetime vs 60 mins (Games are typically 10-10-15)
- Peewee, Bantam and Midget are 3-man official system
Minor Development (geared for advanced players between ages 7 and 8)
EGMHA offers MD programming at the U8 and U9 age groups. Evaluations for these teams will be in late September with the season starting right away with practices and later in the Fall with games.
The typical MD Team commitment is 2 games per week, 1-2 practices per week, 2-4 tournaments per season (1-2 local, 1-2 overnight). MD hockey is a relatively more expensive than house league recreational activity, however it does offer good value. In reality the cost of MD hockey is not significantly more than the cost of house league hockey when you look at it from a per on-ice cost. MD hockey players pay the same EGMHA basic registration fee as house league. On top of that each Rep team sets an individual team budget. Budgets will vary depending on the individual coaches, ages and team input. Fundraising is allowed to offset some of these fees and depending on parent involvement, fundraising can sometimes off-set the some of the cost. In general, you can expect a typical Rep team budget to be between $1000 and $1500 (on top of registration fees) a year (per player) for MD hockey in East Gwillimbury, plus equipment.
Representative Hockey
Representative Hockey (Rep) is where players are chosen through a try-out process to play on a Team that represents the Town of East Gwillimbury and play against other towns, or hockey centres. East Gwillimbury is part taking part of a two year boundary amalgmation project with Georgina Minor Hockey. Players will be be able to be evaluated to play on AA, A or B/BB teams with Upper York Minor Hockey for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 season. Evaluations are in early May for U10 to U16 teams, and in the Fall for U18 teams. Please visit their website at: upperyorkminorhockey.com for more information.
Volunteers
The EGMHA is a volunteer organization. Here in East Gwillimbury we are already very fortunate to have a great number of dedicated volunteers. But the continued success of the EGMHA is very dependent on the strength of our volunteers and we are always looking for new people willing to contribute their time to our various programs. You do not need to be a hockey expert to help us with our programs. We are always in need of good Coaching candidates, but we also need people who have good organizational skills and above all a passion to help and work with children. If you are interested in helping us in any of the many roles we need help with, please contact one of our Executive members to discuss. For contact information of the Executives, please click on the About Us drop down menu and then click on Executive & Staff option which will provide you with contact information.