RAHA 2021- 2022 SQUIRT TEAM ROSTERS   

Dear Squirt families,

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 / 2022 RAHA team tryouts. 

Through this most trying year, RAHA is grateful to all of our members as we struggled to get a semblance of a hockey season while navigating all of the mines put in our path !!  

Below are the team placements for the upcoming Squirt 21-22 season.

Squirt AA         19, 31, 26, 8, 37, 34, 9, 1, 38, 11, 57, 6

Squirt A            33, 5, 40, 15, 7, 12, 22, 21, 4, 2, 0, 30, 16, 10, 81     

Squirt  A-1        25, 17, 76, 23, 10, 35, 24, 27, 18, 14, 32, 3, 7

If you decline your team assignment you must notify one of the ALD’s listed below within 24 hours or RAHA will acknowledge your acceptance and cash your nonrefundable deposit check. 

If you have any additional questions please contact the Squirt tryout ALD’s, Patrick Walsh   and/or Danielle Scesa               

Have a wonderful summer. 

Stay well and Go Lions !

Bantam AA

Players: 2, 4, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 48, 55, 73, 74, 75, 87, 90

Goalies: 73, 86

Bantam A

Players: 12, 17, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32, 56, 62, 65, 70, 76, 77, 79, 91, 99

Goalie: 83

Bantam A1

Players: 1, 10, 11, 15, 22, 30, 35, 36, 49, 58, 60, 61, 64, 80, 93, 96

Goalies: 8, 59

If you have any questions, please contact Danielle Scesa

 or Kim Hulber 

Congratulations to all 2021-2022 RAHA Bantams

Go Lions!

2021-2022 RAHA Peewee Rosters

Peewee AA

Pinnie #’s:  4, 7, 16, 26, 42, 55, 59, 68, 74, 89, 90

Peewee A

Pinnie #’s: 24, 25, 28, 41, 45, 47, 63, 71, 81, 84, 85, 86, 91

Peewee A1

Pinnie #’s: 11, 14, 21, 40, 50, 51, 54, 69, 72, 76, 83

Peewee B 

Pinnie #’s: 17, 20, 23, 32, 39, 44, 46, 48, 49, 62, 78, 79, 82, 88

Please contact Eric Presbrey (epresbrey@ridgefieldhockey.org) or Devon Myers (dmyers@ridgefieldhockey.org) with any questions.

Congratulations to all 2021-2022 RAHA Peewees.

Have a great "offseason" and...

Go Lions!

RAHA Mite Rosters for the 2021-2022 Season

BLACK – 28, 39, 43, 57, 61, 63, 64, 67, 81, 89

Black Team Coach – Shayne Bingham

YELLOW – 4, 13, 44, 45, 54, 59, 66, 68, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75

Yellow Team Coach – Billy Casolo

WHITE – 6, 41, 42, 46, 48, 58, 60, 62, 65, 70

White Team Coach – Sean Sullivan

Please contact Eric Presbrey at epresbrey@ridgefieldhockey.org with any questions.

Congratulations Mites and enjoy the "off-season".

Go Lions!

Danbury Arena launching Hat Tricks Youth Hockey Program

Hello RAHA Players, Families and Friends,

Based on the extended season schedule, we had planned to conduct tryouts in early April for Mites – PWs and early May for Bantams and Midgets to comply with USA Hockey rules for the allowable time frames to conduct tryouts. But 2020-2021 continues to throw us curveballs as we just received notice from the CHC/USA Hockey which will impact our tryouts schedule:

• On March 1st, the CHC notified all CHC teams and affiliates of the dates try-outs for the 2021-22 season can begin. No CHC team or affiliate can begin try-outs prior to March 13, 2021

• No CHC team or affiliate can sign players or name teams for the 2021-22 season until April 4, 2021

• In addition, they clarified that any violations to these rules, including any attempts to commit players prior to April 4th, will be subject to “swift and severe repercussions”

We know try-out season can be a very confusing and stressful time for many families, and we want to ensure our families understand the rules we and other organizations/players are subject to. As a result of the above changes, we are adjusting our tryout schedule and will kick off RAHA tryouts the week of March 15th. We will conduct these sessions over two weeks for every age group including  goalie only sessions and a checking clinic for rising Bantams.

Below is the revised schedule for all age levels:  (All tryout sessions will be at Winter Garden.)

MITES (U8) – Birth years 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

1. Tuesday, March 23rd 

   1. 5:10 – 6:10PM

2. Thursday, March 25th

   1. 5:10 - 6:10PM

Age Level Directors – Eric Presbrey, Vera Hertwig

SQUIRTS (U10) – Birth years 2011, 2012

1. Tuesday, March 16th 

   1. 5:10-6:10PM (Group 1 – Last names A-M) 

   2. 6:20-7:20PM (Group 2 – Last names N-Z)

2. Thursday, March 18th – Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.

   1. 5:10-6:10PM Group 1 

   2. 6:20-7:20PM Group 2

3. Wednesday, March 24th – Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.

   1. 5:10-6:10PM Group 1 

   2. 6:20-7:20PM Group 2

Age Level Directors – Patrick Walsh, Danielle Scesa

PEEWEES (U12) – Birth years 2009, 2010

1. Wednesday, March 17th

   1. 6:20-7:20PM (Group 1 – Last names A-M) 

   2. 7:30-8:30PM (Group 2 – Last names N-Z)

2. Tuesday, March 23rd – Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.

   1. 6:20-7:20PM Group 1 

   2. 7:30-8:30PM Group 2

3. Thursday, March 25th - Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.

   1. 6:20-7:20PM (Group 1) 

   2. 7:30-8:30PM (Group 2)

Age Level Directors – Eric Presbrey, Devon Myers

BANTAMS (U14) – Birth years 2007, 2008

1. Tuesday, March 16th 

   1. 7:30-8:30PM (Group 1 – Last names A-M) 

   2. 8:40-9:40PM (Group 2 – Last names N-Z)

2. Monday, March 22nd - Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.

   1. 6:20-7:20PM (Group 1) 

   2. 7:30-8:30PM (Group 2)

3. Wednesday, March 24th - Group assignments will be announced prior to the sessions.
   1. 7:30-8:30PM (Group 1) 
   2. 8:40-9:40PM (Group 2)

Age Level Directors – Kim Hulber, Danielle Scesa

GOALIES ONLY Sessions 

1. Monday, March 15th - 6:20-7:20PM – All goalies birth years 2007-2015 registered for RAHA tryouts

Goalies should plan to attend both the goalie only session for their birth year and their scheduled tryout sessions listed above based on age level.  Goalies will be independently assessed  during the goalie-specific tryouts and additionally reviewed by team coaches during their age level tryouts. Goalies MUST attend both tryout formats.

Checking Clinic for Rising Bantams

1. Monday, March 15th - 7:30-8:30PM - All 2008 players registered for RAHA tryouts

MIDGETS (U15, U16, U18) – Birth years 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006

The Midget tryout schedule is TBD and specific details will be communicated separately.  

Age Level Directors – Devon Myers, Vera Hertwig, Kim Hulber

Additional Important Tryout Information – 

All players will be assigned pinnie numbers the first day of tryouts and will have the same numbers throughout the tryout sessions. By the morning of the second day of tryouts, the players will be reassigned to earlier or later sessions according to pinnie number and color, and those reassignments will be posted on RAHA’s home page, prior to the next day’s tryout time.

Requirements for Tryouts

1. Register online at the RAHA website www.ridgefieldhockey.org

2. Prepayment of the tryout fee - $150 for all players at all age groups other than Mites. See below:

• $100 for Mites

• $150 for all other age levels

3. A deposit check for the 2021-2022 season tuition

• Mites - $1,500 (Tuition is waived for 2015 and 2016 Mites)

• Squirts, PW and Bantams - $2,500

• Split Season Midgets – Full tuition 

4.  Balance of tuition due September 1, 2021

Tuition for the 2020-2021 Season*

• Mites - $3,000 ($50 discount if paid by check)

• Squirts, Peewees, Bantams - $4,750 ($50 discount if paid by check)

• Squirt AA, Peewee AA and Bantam AA Teams - $5,070 ($70 discount if paid by check)

• Midgets - $2,550 ($50 discount if paid by check) 

*Increases in tuition fees are due to increased coaching and ice costs for the 2021-2022 season

Tryout Process

Prior to EVERY session of tryouts, the head coaches will talk to the players and lay out how the session process will go, the skills they are looking for, and how each session will proceed. We ask that all players be dressed and ready to listen 10 minutes prior to scheduled ice times.

The coaches of each age group will determine what each session of tryouts entails. Age level coaches are not on the ice during tryouts, but observing and making assessments from behind the glass and in the stands. There will be on-ice coaches to direct the players through drills, small games, and scrimmages.

For the Midget, Bantam and Peewee level players, there will be some portion of tryouts during which players will be divided to assess offense/defense-specific skill-sets.

Lastly, there will be an independent evaluator at every session, who will evaluate all players and provide unbiased feedback regarding player performance and score for each session. Please do not approach the independent evaluator to discuss any aspect of the process while we are in tryouts.

Following each tryout session, coaches and the independent evaluator will review every player’s performance score and reassign players by pinnie number for the following day’s tryouts.

Goalies will be independently assessed  during the goalie-specific tryouts and additionally reviewed by team coaches during their age level tryouts. Goalies MUST attend both tryout formats.

All players will be assessed based on standard hockey skills—skating, stick-handling, passing, shooting, competitiveness, etc. and by the less tangible standards of hockey sense, coachability and character.

This past season’s coaches may potentially be asked for feedback and rankings on players from the 2020-2021 season where additional evaluation and team selection criteria is needed.

Every year members of the board are assigned as Age Level Directors (ALDs) and to ensure fairness they are assigned to an age level that the ALD DOES NOT have a child/player trying out at that age level. This year’s ALD assignments are:

• Midgets — Devon Myers, Vera Hertwig, Kim Hulber 

• Bantams — Kim Hulber and Danielle Scesa

• Peewees — Eric Presbrey and Devon Myers

• Squirts —Danielle Scesa and Patrick Walsh

• Mites —Eric Presbrey and Vera Hertwig

Age Level Directors check–in players, collect deposit checks, facilitate evaluations, gather and process data specific to player placement, and present the teams once chosen by the Coaches based on their tryout observations and the independent evaluator input. The ALDs do not choose players for team placement; however, they do ensure a fair process for EVERY player, confirm, approve and communicate the final rosters out to RAHA families and players.

RAHA will make best efforts to stay within the USA Hockey recommendations for bench depth,

• Mites (U8) - 8-10 skaters

• Squirts (U10) - 11-12 skaters, 1-2 goalies

• Peewees (U12) - 11-14 skaters, 1-2 goalies

• Bantam (U14) - 12-15 skaters, 1-2 goalies

• Midgets (U16, U18) - 14-18 skaters, 1-2 goalies

Please note, final numbers or teams and team sizes are ultimately left to the ALD’s and head coach’s discretion.

Notification and Acceptance

For the Squirt, Peewee and Bantam levels, the AA teams will be chosen and notified by phone on April 4th due to the new guidance from CHC.  Players will have 24 hours in which to accept or decline their positions.

The A, A1 and B team assignments will be assigned and posted 48 hours after April 4th.  Team assignments, by pinnie number, will be posted on the RAHA home page. These players will also have 24 hours in which to decline their team placement. Players wishing to decline will need to notify their specific ALD in writing by email, and their deposit checks will be destroyed or returned. For those accepting a team position, there is no need to contact RAHA, and their deposit checks will be deposited after the 24hour period has expired.

Important dates for the 2021-2022 season

• The season kicks off AUGUST 16, 2021 with a week of "skills boot camp" led by Sully’s Hockey Academy. The kids will be participating in on-ice, off-ice and video “chalk-talk” sessions.

• On-ice team practices commence the week of August 23rd.

• For the first six weeks of the season, there will be one night dedicated to Sully’s skills sessions in addition to regularly scheduled practices.

• The regular season practices will conclude the week of March 7th.

• We will again be taking off the period between Dec 24th and Jan 3rd.

• Stay tuned for Gear Day dates that will be scheduled close to the completion of tryouts.

We hope that this information has been helpful, and please reach out with any questions or comments.

And of course…Go Lions!