CCYHA is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing boys and girls throughout Connecticut with the opportunity to learn and play the game of hockey
Each year, our entire travel program (Mite through Bantam) attends the Jingle Bell Tournament in Marlborough MA over New Year's. Our hotel is the Embassy Suites located a couple of miles from the New England Sports Center. The hotel is newly renovated and provides a full cooked to order breakfast each morning. I have set up our room blocks for this year and the blocks are done by age division. I know it is early to start thinking about a tournament in late December but the hotel will fill up.
SIGN UP NOW for our second annual golf classic. A pay by check has just been added as a payment option. We have some great raffle prizes already including; Suite to Hartford Wolfpack game, Islanders vs Rangers preseason game tix, UCONN Hockey tix, Ping Putter, NY Rangers tix. Follow the link below to register as a sponsor or as a golfer/foursome:
Benefitting our hardship fund and keeping tuition low
DATE: MONDAY, JULY 15, 2019
Time: 9:30am Registration opens
11:00am Shotgun start
Scramble Format
Timberlin Golf Club
330 Southington Rd. Berlin, CT
Lunch and Dinner included!!!
Welcome gift, contests on all Par 3's, long drive (men & women), great raffle prizes, top 3 team prizes, 50/50 raffle, silent auction, golf contests and more...
SPECIAL RAFFLE - HALF OFF TUITION NEXT SEASON
Registration and payment due by July 8, 2019
$125 per golfer
Don't want to golf but want to enjoy the fun, $75 for lunch/dinner and raffle tickets
Can't make it that day but want a chance to win the Half Off Tuition raffle, $25 for raffle ticket, reach out to Rich Faber
Sponsorships available:
Title sponsor - banner with logo displayed at golf course and additional signage, Includes four golfers, lunch and dinner - $1,000
Eagle sponsor - sponsors dinner, cards will be displayed at each table and additional signage. Includes two golfers, lunch and dinner - $600
Birdie sponsor - table display cards at registration and dinner tables - $250
Tee Box sponsor - business or personal sign on tee box - $100
All registration payments and sponsorships to be done online. Please visit www.centralcthockey.org and online forms under the Golf Tournament tab or visit our registration system.
Volunteers needed! Please contact Christina Williams at
or Rich Faber at rich.faber@disney.com
CCYHA Summer 3v3 Drop In Ice Sessions - Mites-Bantams
CCYHA Members:
We have once again secured ice throughout the summer for anyone who would like to stay on the ice. The sessions are completely optional and will be 3v3 or 4v4 depending on the number of players attending. Sessions are set up with Mite/Squirt and PeeWee/Bantam skating together and players will be split up based on age and skill. The schedule could be found on the CCYHA Master Schedule or by going to CCYHA website, then select Team from top menu, Season 2019-2020, Travel, THEN SELECT THE AGE GROUP (Mite, Squirt, PeeWee, Bantam)...DO NOT SELECT THE INDIVIDUAL TEAM AS THE SCHEDULE IS SET UP FOR AGE GROUPS AND NOT TEAMS.
CCYHA Summer 3v3 Drop In Ice Sessions - U16 & U18 Tier 2 Midgets
CCYHA Members:
We have once again secured ice throughout the summer for anyone who would like to stay on the ice. The sessions are completely optional and will be 3v3 or 4v4 depending on the number of players attending. Sessions are set up with Tier 2 U16 & U18 skating together. The schedule could be found on the CCYHA Master Schedule or by going to CCYHA website, then select Team from top menu, Season 2019-2020, Travel, then select team.
Schedule is also listed below:
U16 & U18 TIER 2
Thu, Jun 6 07:50 PM - 08:50 PM Newington Blue
Thu, Jun 20 06:40 PM - 07:40 PM Newington Blue
Mon, Jul 1 08:25 PM - 09:25 PM Newington Red
Tue, Jul 16 07:40 PM - 08:40 PM Newington Red U16 ONLY - Possible Nutmeg State Games Practice
Tue, Jul 16 08:50 PM – 09:50 PM Newington Red U18 ONLY - Possible Nutmeg State Games Practice
Thu, Jul 18 07:40 PM - 08:40 PM Newington Red U16 ONLY - Possible Nutmeg State Games Practice
Thu, Jul 18 08:50 PM – 09:50 PM Newington Red U18 ONLY - Possible Nutmeg State Games Practice
As summer is rapidly approaching and if you are looking for some activities for your kids, below are a list of options at Newington Arena for kids to work on their skills during the off season:
June 3 - August 15 - CCYHA will be providing ice for players for drop-in 3v3 each week. Mites/Squirts and PeeWees/Bantams will each have one hour per week. The master CCYHA schedule will be loaded with this ice.
Daily Hockey Skills Sessions. Check the schedule at www.newingtonarena.com for exact times. Work in a small area on your skills with or without a coach. No age limitations. 15.00 per session.
There are several coaches who provide lessons during these sessions. They are:
Bryan Healy -
Don Davidson -
Mike Kingston -
Mark Anair -
IPH Hockey does daily lessons and have ice booked. Contact them directly for lessons: http://www.iphhockey.com/
Any player that was part of Central CT Youth Hockey in 2018-2019 and will NOT be playing for CCYHA in 2019-2020, you must obtain a USA Hockey release. You must follow the below link and submit a release request. Our registrar, Aaron Odell, will process these in a timely manner. Per USA Hockey rules, releases are not valid if they are sent directy to parents, they must be sent to CHC. Parents will not get a copy of the release but they can check the release status on the CHC site (www.chchockey.org), although they dont update the list very often.
The CCYHA U18 Tier 1 Midgets completed their quest for a BACK TO BACK National Championship by defeating the North Jersey Avalanche 3-2 in overtime. The CCYHA Selects started the national tournament with convincing wins over the Belle Tire 9-1 and Washington Little Caps 5-2. Game 3 brought a loss for CCYHA at the hands of the Boston Jr. Eagles by a score of 4-1. By going 2-1 in the opening round, the team earned the top seed coming out of their bracket. The opponent in the quarterinals would be #1 nationally ranked Shattuck St. Mary's. CCYHA was up to the test as they advanced to semifinals by defeating Shattuck 8-6. In-state rival Yale Jr. Bulldogs was the opponent in the semifinal round. CCYHA earned a berth in the national championship game by defeating Yale 6-2.
The final game was a matchup against #5 nationally ranked North Jersey Avalanche. After CCYHA took a 2-0 lead late in the third period, the Av's tied it up with 2 goals in a 14 second span in the final minute of play to force overtime. The game ended early in the first sudden overtime period as Killian Rowlee secured the second of the back to back National Championships for CCYHA.
Former CCYHA player, Brennan Horn, selected to USA National Camp
Congratulations to former CCYHA player, Brennan Horn, on being selected to the USA Hockey U17 National Camp. Nintey of the best players from New England recently competed at the New England Regional Camp. From there, Brennan was one of only 10 players selected to attend the USA U17 National Camp. Brennan will compete with the best players from all over the United States June 25th to July 1st in Amherst, NY as part of the National Development Program.
Brennan played at CCYHA from Learn To Play through Bantams. He then went on to play two years at Northwest Catholic High School and has recently commited to play Prep School hockey at Westminster for the upcoming school year.
With players jumping from program to program these days to play for "AAA" or "Tier 1" teams, this is a great example of how you can develop at any level.
Congratulations and Best of Luck to Brennan !!!!!!
As we are entering the spring and summer months, I wanted to share a great article about specializing in one sport:
Study Finds Just 12 Percent of NHL and NCAA Hockey Players Specialized Before Age 12
Early sport specialization does not guarantee future stardom.
If anything, it may make eventually reaching an elite level in said sport more difficult.
A new study from the Penn State College of Medicine polled 91 professional, NCAA Division I and NCA Division III hockey players about their sports history. From ScienceDaily:
"After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the mean age of beginning any sport was 4.5 years, and the mean age of specializing in ice hockey was 14.3 years. Only 12 percent of the athletes specialized in their sport before 12 years of age. Most of the athletes played two to four sports as children, with soccer and baseball being the most popular in addition to hockey. The mean age of specializing in ice hockey—around 14—was consistent across professional, NCAA Division I and NCAA Division III players."
"If you only play one sport, you (do) miss out on sports diversification, which is the idea that being a really good soccer or tennis player may help you be a really good ice hockey player," Matthew Silvis, a researcher on the study and the team physician for the Hershey Bears minor league hockey team, told ScienceDaily. "We've seen a lot of professional athletes coming out in support of this, saying that by playing a lot of sports you'll learn many skills and work different muscle groups that will help you if you specialize in one sport later on."
This was a rather small sample size, but bigger studies have found similar results. For example, a 2017 study from the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital analyzed 3,090 athletes (503 high school, 856 collegiate and 1,731 professional) and found that the average high school athlete began specializing in their sport at 12.7 years old while the average collegiate athlete specialized at 14.8 years old and the average pro athlete specialized at 14.1 years old. One of the most telling findings in the study was that only 22.3% of professional athletes said they "would want their own child to specialize to play a single sport during childhood/adolescence."
A 2017 study from the University of Wisconsin found that high school athletes with a "high specialization classification" had an 85-percent higher incidence of lower extremity injuries than high school athletes with a "low specialization classification." Essentially, athletes who specialized were found to be at a much higher risk of lower extremity injury than athletes who play and train in multiple sports.
Six-time NHL All-Star John Tavares is a great example of how multi-sport youth athletes can ultimately blossom into superior hockey players. Growing up in Ontario, Tavares traded in his skates for a pair of cleats and a lacrosse stick every summer. He only began specializing at age 16, and he believes his background in lacrosse gives him a definitive edge on the ice.
"My mom never really believed in the summer hockey, all year-round. I needed a break and I always looked forwarded to the lacrosse season. And when hockey season came around I was really looking forward to that. It was good both ways to help myself in both sports," Tavares told NHL.com in 2009. "The biggest is moving in traffic, shooting in traffic, making plays while guys are on you...When you're able to do that, you're able to draw guys toward you, make those plays in traffic, I think it creates a lot of chances offensively. Also rolling off checks -- when you roll off checks or lean into guys, use your body to create room, you do a lot more of that in lacrosse because it's such a possession game. You learn to make room for yourself, like in hockey...(It) definitely translates a lot."
USA Hockey's American Development Model, an initiative designed to help more American kids "play, love and excel in hockey", strongly encourages kids to play multiple sports during their childhood and pre-teen years. "I like the fact that kids are encouraged to play other sports. Hockey is a great sport, but playing other sports definitely helps you become a better hockey player," NHL all-star and 2014 U.S. Olympic captain Zach Parise said of the ADM.
CCYHA launches U16 & U18 Tier 2 National Bound Teams
CCYHA launches U16 & U18 Tier 2 National Bound Teams
Central CT Youth Hockey (CCYHA) will be forming split season teams at the U16 and U18 Tier 2 levels for the 2019-2020 season. Building off the success of our youth teams, we are forming these teams to fill a void in our area at the Tier 2 level. Teams will be competing in CHC Tier 2 with the winners of the CT State Tournament advancing to the USA Hockey Tier 2 National Championships. Teams will practice and play at Newington Arena and Wesleyan University.
Coaches:
U16 - Anthony Giusto
U18 - Bryan Healy
Tryout Schedule:
Wed April 17: U16 Tier 2 - 7:40PM-8:40PM
Wed April 17: U18 Tier 2 - 8:50PM-9:50PM
Thu April 18: U16 Tier 2 - 6:40PM-7:40PM
Thu April 18: U18 Tier 2 - 7:50PM-8:50PM
50.00 Tryout Fee
Please follow the link below to register for tryouts:
You could also access the tryout registration by selecting Register Online from the left hand column menu on the main page of the Central website ( www.centralcthockey.org ) then selecting CCYHA 2019-2020 TRYOUT REGISTRATION MIDGET TIER 2
Cost: 1500.00 - includes 2 practices per week, 2 games per week, Future Fitness off-ice workout once per week, 2 tournaments (including state tournament)
Pittsburgh Penguins Skating & Skills Camp at Newington Arena
This summer Pittsburgh Penguins Skating and Skills Coach, Ty Hennes, is coming to Newington Arena. His Pro Skills program is designed to help you be a better player on both sides of the puck! In the morning he will help you with your offensive skating and skills. In the afternoon focus shifts to the skating and skills needed on the defensive side of the puck. Both sessions are appropriate for forwards and defensemen. So your choice - pick morning, afternoon or both. If you attend both, a significant discount is provided! For more information and to register please go to:Pittsburgh Penguins Skating and SKills
CCYHA SHA U18 Tier 1 Midgets win NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Central CT Youth Hockey Selects Academy u18 Tier 1 team wins the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP by defeating the Cape Cod Whalers 5-2. Congratulation to the midgets on winning a national championship for CCYHA.
Former CCYHA player, David Hallasey plays with Hartford Wolfpack
Fresh off an NCAA tournament birth with his Princeton University team, former CCYHA player David Hallasey, has signed with the AHL Hartford Wolfpack and played in his first game on April 6th. Congratulations and best of luck to David.
An App specifically designed for Hockey Parents! Rink Rater is essentially the Yelp for Hockey Rinks! With users leaving reviews on hockey-specific categories, you can tell if a Rink has Skate Sharpening (& do they know what they're doing?), a Pro Shop, Concessions, Wi-Fi, What's Nearby, and a bunch more! There is even a spot for Ref's to let each other know where their Locker Rooms are and if there are hot showers!
Rink Rater