Print this pageHouse League
The SMHA House League Program offers kids ages 5 to 21 an opportunity to play house hockey in a safe, fun organized fashion.
There are 5 age groups of house league hockey in our association:
House LeagueAtom Ages 9-10
PeeWee Ages 11-12
Bantam Ages 13-14
Midget Ages 15-17
Juvenile Ages 18-21
Bench Staff
Each age group has a convenor who sits on the SMHA Management Council. Each team is assigned a bench staff that is made up of a Head Coach, typically one or two assistant coaches, a trainer and a manager. All bench staff are volunteers and all are required to take a Speak Out Course, a half-day course intended to inform and prevent harassment and abuse. A parent’s guide is also available for download here. All bench staff are also subject to a mandatory background police check.
Coaches in Stittsville are required to be certified – Initiation coaches must obtain a minimum of the IP coaching course and coaches from Novice to Juvenile must have as a minimum the Coach Stream level with these courses paid for by the SMHA. Trainers must also be certified to at least Level 1 and their training is also paid for. Coaches are selected by the Hockey Program Directors.
Who do they play?
Teams in each age group play each other and sometimes other teams from the Lanark Carleton Minor hockey League (LCMHL). The LCMHL is the league recognized by District 4 of the Ottawa District Minor Hockey Association for house league players within the District 4 boundaries.
Teams play approx 24 one hour league games each season and typically practice once every week or 10 days. Midget (checking) & Juvenile games are 1.5 hours in length. Ice times are scheduled according to age levels – for example younger ages play earlier than older ages. Most teams have between 14 and 17 players per team.
Player Placement on teams
Starting at Novice, teams in Stittsville are tiered – which means that kids of like ability are grouped together and play against teams from of similar abilities. Stronger players are placed on A teams, followed by B level teams, and at some levels C teams. Whether there are teams at all levels depends on a number of things including overall skill level of the players and a team placement formula established by the Lanark Carleton Minor Hockey League which is mostly based on the numbers of kids playing in each age group with all LCMHL associations participating in determining the levels of play within the guidelines.
Prior to the start of the player placement process the SMHA runs conditioning camps at all levels (Novice to Midget) as well as goalie clinics. Player Placement onto teams takes place in the fall at the beginning of each hockey season.
Checking/Non-checking
Hockey Canada rules state that checking hockey can’t be offered at House League until Peewee age. Juvenile is also body contact (non-checking) hockey. From PeeWee to Midget, either checking or non-checking can be made available. In the SMHA, the decision on which types of hockey to offer is made based on member desire and on the availability of a sufficient number of teams to play against.
For Hockey Canada definitions of body checking and body contact (non-checking), see below:
Body Checking:
Body Checking is defined as an individual defensive tactic designed to legally separate the puck carrier from the puck. This tactic is the result of a defensive player applying physical extension of the body toward the puck carrier moving in an opposite or parallel direction. The action of the defensive player is deliberate and forceful in an opposite direction to which the offensive player is moving and is not solely determined by the movement of the puck carrier.
Body Contact/Non-Checking:
Body Contact is defined as an individual defensive tactic designed to legally block or impede the progress of an offensive puck carrier. This tactic is a result of movement of the defensive player to restrict movement of the puck carrier anywhere on the ice through skating, angling and positioning. The defensive player may not hit the offensive player by going in opposite direction to that player or by extending toward the offensive player in an effort to initiate contact. There must be no action where the puck carrier is pushed, hit or shoved into the boards.