NECK LACERATION PROTECTION IS MANDATORY FOR ALL PLAYERS FOR ALL PRACTICES AND GAMES.

Teams of the Piedmont Hockey Club’s 10U, 12U, 14U and 18U Coed Youth Recreational Division age groups will continue their successful and rewarding association as participating members in the Capital Corridor Hockey League (CCHL).  Together with teams from 17 other local-area hockey clubs; our coed Rec teams will play and compete at the 10U, 12U, 14U and 18U levels in the CCHL throughout the 2024-2025 season, inclusive of the CCHL’s end-of-season Joe Loschiavo Memorial Cup tournament. 

The CCHL is a competitive league at a level consistent with house and recreational- level hockey programs.    The CCHL is sanctioned by USA Hockey; is an affiliate within the Southeastern District of USA Hockey and a member of the Potomac Valley Amateur Hockey Association (PVAHA). CCHL objectives are to provide an opportunity for young men and women to participate in an organized and competitive environment; to foster player development; and provide opportunities for personal growth and enrichment. The league currently consists of eighteen (18) clubs located throughout Washington DC, northern Virginia and Maryland.

The CCHL is a league for house/recreational level players; male players rostered on 2024-2025 Tier I or Tier II Travel Teams may not play in the CCHL. Players from Middle School and High School JV and Varsity teams may participate if they are not also playing Travel Hockey.  Female players registered on girls travel teams in the CBHL may play in the CCHL.

The Piedmont Hockey Club’s Rec Division’s 2024-2025 regular season will run from September 3, 2024 through February 17, 2025; the season-ending CCHL-wide Joe Loschiavo tournament will follow.  All players wishing to participate must be registered with USA Hockey for the 2024-2025 season prior to registering with the Piedmont Hockey Club and be in the age range specific to the 10U, 12U, 14U or 18U categories.   Note:  The 16U age group is contained within the CCHL 18U age group.  USA Hockey age groups for the 2024-2025 season are comprised of the following Birth Years:

10U (Birth Years 2014-2015)

12U (Birth Years 2012-2013)

14U (Birth Years 2010-2011)

18U (Birth Years 2006-2009)

 NOTE: All players and goalies of Birth Years 2006 and 2007 must complete USA Hockey SafeSport training prior to being rostered on a team.

A complete set of ice hockey equipment is mandatory fall all practices and games, inclusive of mouthguards. As of August 1, 2024, neck protection is required for all youth hockey players.

It is the PHC’s intent, commensurate with final registration totals, to field a minimum of two teams in each of the four CCHL age categories.  Teams will consist of a minimum of 10 skaters and a goalie to a maximum of 18 skaters and 2 goalies. 

Teams in each CCHL age category will be formed to be equivalent in skill mix; there will be no A and B level teams. Individual requests for specific team assignments to be with friends, carpools, neighbors, etc. will be considered and permitted if team equivalence can be maintained. 

Rec Division registrations for each age group are monitored daily to assure that team compositions remain within the maximum limits.  When registrations exceed those necessary to form two teams per age group, registrants will be notified that they are being considered as conditional until a sufficient number of subsequent registrations are received to constitute a third (or fourth) team in that particular group.

For team uniformity each player must have personalized home and away CCHL game jerseys and a matching set of hockey socks.  The cost of these items (approximately $145. total) is not included in the registration fee.  At registration, players/parents will be contacted and asked to select individual jersey numbers.  Players with existing select/tournament jersey numbers will retain these numbers; new players will choose numbers not currently in use.  NOTE:  PHC CCHL jerseys and number assignments are not the same as those of the PHC Travel Program.

Season Schedule:  Following a short period of PHC player assessments and team-forming, team practices, and a pre-season scrimmage or two, CCHL League play will commence on/about October 13th. There is a 6-game home and 6-game away league seasonal per-team minimum; up to two additional non-league home games may be scheduled by each PHC team.  League schedules will be developed and published in late September.

    NOTE:  The Piedmont Hockey Club will distribute CCHL league team schedules as soon as we receive them.  Some CCHL clubs do not have training ice to skate on until late in September; these clubs are the pacing function for CCHL schedule development.

Regular season CCHL games are held predominately on Sundays with occasional games on Saturdays as necessitated by ice availability.   Expect that during seasonal play one team of each PHC age group will play at home and one team will play away on any given weekend.

14U and 18U age levels will play checking hockey; 10U and 12U age levels are competitive contact only. The terms “checking hockey” and “competitive contact” are defined by and contained in USA Hockey rules. Checking instruction/clinic will be provided during practices prior to the start of league play.  On-ice game officials are members of the Southeast Hockey Officials Association and are USA Hockey affiliated and certified.

Complete information on the CCHL, including rules and bylaws, is contained on its website:   www.cchl.statmonsters.com

Goalie Training

PHC Rec Goalies who are registered prior to July 15 may attend the Travel Goalie Mini-Camps without charge.  Additionally, registered Rec goalies will each receive a $500. credit toward training with Paddledown Goaltending. and a $250 discount on registration..

10U-18U Rec/CCHL goalies will have one on-ice group practice per week during the regular season.  Day and time will be announced at play commencement.

Recreational Division  Registration Fees For the 2024-2025 season   

Prospective registrants with the Piedmont Hockey Cub are invited to compare the fees below against those of other hockey clubs in the Northern Virginia area.  In your comparison please note that Piedmont is the ONLY hockey club that provides more than two hours of practice time per week for each of its Rec/CCHL teams and the only club that does not cancel House/Rec practice times when major travel tournaments are held at their home rink.

 10U-18U  Rec/CCHL  $2,195

 A $100 early registration discount per player is available through July 1.  Credit card payments may be spread across three installments.

A $100 family discount is available for each player greater than one from the same immediate family.  This discount will be processed as a credit against the registration fee previously paid.

All fees quoted herein are inclusive of 22 weeks of practice ice (two practices per week per team), practice jerseys for all players, 12 league games, up to two scrimmage/preseason games; CCHL league fees and a per-team end-of-season tournament fee. 

Fees do not account for game jerseys and socks or for any personal costs incurred while travelling to/from CCHL hockey venues.  Overnight travel for regular season away games is not anticipated but cannot be ruled out.

 PHC Rec Practice Schedules:  PHC Rec division teams will each have two weekly practice ice slots, shared with the other team in the same age group. One slot weekly will emphasize power skating and skill development and the other slot used primarily for team-level training.

Practice days/times are planned to be as follows:

(Note:  the plan below is predicated upon having two CCHL teams at each age level.  Should any level have a team count other than two the listed plan will require adjustment)

Monday        18U Blue                           8:10-9:30pm

Tuesday:      10U Blue*, Gold*               5:10-6:20pm

                     12U Blue, Gold                  6:00-7:10pm

                     10U Silver*                        6:30-7:50pm

Wednesday: 14U Blue, Gold                  6:40-7:50pm

                     18U Blue                            8:20-9:40pm   

 Thursday:    10U Blue*, Gold*                6:00-7:10pm

                     10U Silver*                         6:00-7:20pm

Saturday:     12U Blue, Gold                   7:10-8:20am

                     14U Blue, Gold                   9:10-10:20am

NOTE:  Major Tier II coed youth hockey travel tournaments are being scheduled at the Haymarket Iceplex during four 2024-2025 holiday weekends; the tournaments will necessitate realignment - not cancellation - of Saturday practice times for these weekends. Parents/Teams will be notified of adjusted practice times at least one week prior.

All teams will have a practice session during the week prior to their Joe Loschiavo tournament participation.

Holiday No-Skate Dates

November 28 - December 1, 2024

December 23, 2024 – January 5, 2025

PHC Rec CCHL Home/Away games.

PHC regular season league games will be played against CCHL Southern Division teams.  The roster of clubs competing in the Southern Division will be determined in mid-September.   PHC Rec teams are expected to take maximum advantage of “non-league” games that may become available with CCHL Northern or Southern Division teams as well as games with non-CCHL opponents.

Formed to be a “weekend league”, CCHL league games are scheduled for play primarily on Sundays.  On occasions necessitated by ice availability at area rinks, games may be scheduled on Saturdays. No game may begin before 6:00am.  Rarely, CCHL games may be scheduled on weekday nights; weeknight games may begin not before 6:00pm and end not after 10:00pm.  Games conducted when the following day is a school day can begin no later than 7:00pm.

Home games:  PHC regularly-scheduled CCHL home ice times at the Haymarket Iceplex on Sunday can accommodate multiple game starts between 7:00am and 1:30pm. Should visiting team availability preclude use of the regularly scheduled time slots, alternate ice times may be made available.

Away games:  Away games will be scheduled at times commensurate with the availability of ice times for the home team at their individual venues.  As mentioned above, no game may begin before 6:00am.  The PHC has no control of game times at away rinks.

PHC Recreational Division Participation in Non-CCHL Tournaments

Age-group coaches who wish to develop tournament/select teams with PHC Rec players to compete in skill-level specific (A, B, C) non-CCHL activity may do so on a voluntary pay-as-you-go basis.  The PHC Rec director will assist in coordination and approval of these endeavors on an individual basis.  Non-league initiatives may not interfere with scheduled CCHL activities.

*In sanctioned tournaments where Piedmont Hockey Club teams are competing, Piedmont Hockey Club rostered players may participate only as members of a Piedmont Hockey Club-sponsored team.*

Coaches, Managers and Off-Ice Assistants

The Piedmont Hockey Club is actively seeking on-ice coaches, assistant coaches, team managers, volunteers (timekeepers, scorekeepers, penalty box and locker room monitors) for each age group in our Rec division.  Team coaches and assistants must be fully USA Hockey certified prior to being rostered as coaches.  Coaches, Team Managers, and Monitors must be USA Hockey members with a background screening every two years and must have completed USA Hockey SAFESPORT training (SAFESPORT refresher training is required every season).

You need not have played Junior AAA-level hockey to be a good hockey coach; experience in and knowledge of the sport, an ability to skate, dedication, perseverance and patience are the foundation to build on.  For information about any of the positions please contact Coach Leo Mullin, the PHC House/Rec Division Hockey Director.  His email is coachleo43@gmail.com.

      Note:  Although PHC Rec coaches receive no remuneration for their service they are provided with a set of warm up wear; also, expenses incurred for their coaching certification is reimbursable (receipts required) via credit applied against their player’s registration account.

Commitment to Play.   

Every PHC Rec/CCHL team is comprised of a set of rostered players, coaches, asst coaches and managers.  Coaches have diligently assigned players to teams that provide equal skill levels among PHC teams in the same age group.  Coaches have also committed to provide equal playing time to all players.  The expectation is that all players are physically, mentally and emotionally “all in” every practice and  game….that’s commitment.

The Piedmont Hockey Club believes that maintaining skill balances and playing time equality is best achieved when all players attend all practices and games as involved, positively contributing teammates.  The PHC expects that signing up to play on a team includes prioritizing other activities behind hockey so that absences from or late arrivals to practices and games are a rare exception.  A series of repeated absences or tardiness may lead to reduced playing time for the player involved.

Every player on every team is a valued individual and teammate who shall be treated positively by all players at all times as a member of their family.  There is no room for bullying, fighting, disrespect and/or abusive language.  When players enter the rink parking lot for practice or a game their focus changes to hockey.  Period.  What happened at school stays at school and does not get brought to the rink.                                                                                                                  

The Piedmont Hockey Club relies on the volunteer efforts of parent coaches.  Please submit the coaching application below and be a part of our team.