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Statewide Youth Hockey Organizations Join To Form Youth Hockey Board

By admin, 05/08/20, 12:45PM EDT

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Statewide Youth Hockey Organizations Join to Form Indiana Youth Hockey Board

FOR RELEASE May 7, 2020

In March 2020, representatives from youth hockey organizations across the State of Indiana began to meet by phone to discuss the opportunity to collaborate in an effort to attract and retain more hockey players in the State. Now, with representatives from across the State, the group’s members are pleased to announce they have organized to form the Indiana Youth Hockey Board.

Organizations involved include:
● Bloomington Blades Youth Hockey Association
● Columbus Youth Hockey
● Evansville Youth Hockey
● Fort Wayne Amateur Hockey Association
● Indianapolis Youth Hockey Association (Jr. Fuel)
● Irish Youth Hockey League (South Bend)
● Midwest Youth Hockey Association (Dyer)
● Mid-American District Hockey (MidAm),
an affiliate of USA Hockey

The group’s aim is to work on collaborative opportunities to grow the game of hockey across the State of Indiana. The representatives and committed organizations, including MidAm, are all excited about the opportunities that will be created by working together.

“As the MidAm VP for Indiana, I’m pleased to see Indiana take this step toward continuing the momentum we see with individual organizations around the State. Together, there are tremendous opportunities that will grow hockey beyond each individual organization. That growth, will in turn, benefit each organization directly as more players become interested in the great sport of hockey,” said Roy Davis.

The first initiatives the new organization will tackle are State Championships for all age groups beginning with 8U. Decades ago, Indiana hosted State Championships at multiple age groups but the events had stopped. With the success of existing State Championships at 14U, 16U and 18U, the group believes these could start as early as the 2020-2021 season for the other age groups.

Additionally, the group will be supporting the creation of a new program, Indiana Elite, which will offer high-level AAA hockey development and competition for the best players from around the State to supplement their local hockey experience. The goal is to provide the top players in the state an opportunity to play with and compete against the best players in their age group while also supporting and strengthening our local teams. In order to qualify for the Indiana Elite team, players must be rostered to an Indiana youth hockey team. Beginning with the 2020-2021 season, the first Indiana Elite team will be a 2010 birth year team. After the inaugural season, the IYHB hopes to expand Indiana Elite into more birth years. More details on the Indiana Elite 2010 team will be released this Spring.