The mite program is for girls and boys age 8 or younger (i.e., youngsters born after 1/1/01). This is our skater development program, and one we feel very strongly about – these youngsters are the most important skaters in our program!

A group of 14 to 20 Mites will become the Jamboree Mite Team. This team will play cross-ice games against teams from other hockey programs. Some travel is involved. Generally, our Jamboree Mite team is comprised of our oldest players (those moving up to Squirts the next season), who are ready to play at the competitive level. Criteria for Jamboree team selection are best described in the MAHA handbook. Jamboree team selection will be made after the first few weeks of the season, generally in mid-November.

House Mites are all other players (other than the Jamboree Mites). House Mites will not travel but they will practice as a group and will participate in House League games (see below).

House Mites will be on the ice two to three times per week. In the past, this has included one week night and two weekend days, although we hope to mix it up a bit more this year (i.e., sometimes the Mites will practice two week nights and one weekend day). All Mites will practice together until Jamboree teams are selected in mid-November. The Jamboree Team will have two to four ice slots per week.

All Mites (i.e., House Mites AND Jamboree Mites) will be placed on a House League team of 9 to 12 players with an NHL team name. Teams will play cross-ice games against each other (played from one side of the rink to the other, rather than end to end) – these games are intended to be fun competition following the MAHA coaching philosophy. House league will occur once/week, generally on a weekend day. House League will begin in November using Mite coaches, and older players may help as the season progresses.

All Mites have practice time when the schedule says “All Mite” or “House League”. Additional Jamboree Mite practices will be labeled as “Jamboree Mites” Sometimes, the schedule may say “House Mite” – this is practice just for the House Mites.

Once you enter the rink, there will be a schedule of locker room assignments at the end of the long table (which forms a “barrier” between the concession stand and the locker rooms). Each pair of locker rooms are assigned by ice slot time.

There are a lot of groups that use the ice at the Memorial Sports Center – most importantly, it is used for the Middlebury Union High School boys and girls hockey teams. Due to High School home games, the schedule gets mixed up a bit so we can fit everyone on the ice for their allotted practice times in the week. Also, we have other holidays where the rink is closed (e.g., Thanksgiving and Christmas), so, again, the schedule gets mixed up a bit during those weeks. Finally, the rink is host to a few tournaments during the year (e.g., the Mite Jamboree in December, the Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament in January, and (sometimes) a Vermont State hockey tournament in Feb) – again, another reason for the schedule to get mixed up. 
Note: Please keep in mind that sometimes other schedules change beyond the control of MAHA, and we need to adjust accordingly! 
 

MAHA has the ice at the Memorial Sports Center starting at 7:00am on both Saturday and Sunday. While it is easy to fill the 7:00am time slots with various MAHA teams for practice, it is unrealistic to expect teams from other towns to travel to Middlebury for a game that starts at 7:00am. As a result, those teams that do not have games on the weekends (most often that is the House Mites) get assigned the early morning time slot. We are trying to work around this as best we can (we’ve included a few Friday night practices instead of the early weekend morning practice), and we are still looking for ways to improve.

Your child should be ready to skate at the start of the practice time. This means that folks should show up at the rink early enough to get equipment and skates on (generally 15-20 minutes early) and be ready to get on the ice at the start of your printed ice time. Remember, you are paying for this ice time. Be sure to get the most out of it!

The following equipment is mandatory for all players: skates, helmet with protective face guard and mouth guard, neck guards, shoulder pads, elbow pads, hockey gloves, pants, shin pads, and, for the boys, athletic supporter and cup. Note: Shoulder pads are not required for House Mites. Rental equipment is available, so please ask our equipment manager (Tony Niemo, 802-683-5835).