EGMHA Hockey Development Programs
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 two different programs depending on the age of the player.
The houseleague program runs from the first Sunday in 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).
Houseleague (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 Houseleague
Local Loop (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 Gwillbury 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
Representative Hockey in EGMHA
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 of the York Simcoe Minor Hockey League. EGMHA is an 'A' hockey centre. Tryouts for the 2021-2022 season will take place in late September.
The typical Rep Team commitment is 2 games per week, 1-2 practices per week, 2-4 tournaments per season (1-2 local, 1-2 overnight). Rep hockey is a relatively expensive recreational activity, however it does offer good value. In reality the cost of Rep hockey is not significantly more than the cost of house league hockey when you look at it from a per on-ice cost. Rep hockey players pay the same EGMHA basic registration fee as house league and local league players (depending on age). 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 a year (per player) for Rep hockey in East Gwillimbury, plus equipment.
It is important when considering Rep hockey that players all develop at different times and at different rates. Growth, practice, attitude and determination are all factors into how a player develops. There are chances every year to tryout for Rep hockey. New players join Rep at every level from Novice to Midget.