Welcome to the Kitchener Jr Ranger’s Program Information Page
About Us
Kitchener Minor Hockey Association (KMHA) is a proud and storied Hockey association. Established in 1933 and operating Hockey programs since, we have had the privilege to work, develop, and grow with thousands of high-level players and high functioning community leaders. Over the next few pages, we hope to express to you who we are and what you will get when you join KMHA and become a Junior Ranger.
Our Mission
To provide extraordinary, non-profit, and inclusive Hockey experiences.
Our Philosophy
KMHA believes that with all branches and programs of Hockey working together we can grow the leaders and athletes of tomorrow. We are proud to be one of the few if not only Hockey program that strives to provide the many types of Minor Ice Hockey under one umbrella. Our programs include; Representative Hockey with our Jr Ranger (AAA, AA/A, BB/B, and MD) and Lady Rangers (AA, A, BB, B, C) programs, Recreational Hockey with our House League (and Select) and Local League (and DS) Programming, Learn to play programs with our Ranger Rookies and Learn to Hockey Skate programs, Special Hockey (for players with social, developmental, or physical challenges that may preclude them from playing mainstream hockey) with our Ice Pirates and Sledge Hockey with our Sledge Rangers. While each of our programs offers a slight variation of our overall philosophy, we strive to use positive models of Hockey programming to help build stronger children, that grow to become leaders and highly successful people in life at whatever their goals are.
Our Jr Rangers Program Philosophy
The Jr Rangers Program believes in developing and fostering young Hockey talent by placing an emphasis on the following program elements.
- Hockey Development first – Putting the puck on a players stick as often as possible with quality instruction. To that end KMHA is increasing the amount of Ice our AAA Teams will receive. See program details below for more information.
- Athletic Development – Understanding that just knowing hockey is not enough anymore, you have to be fit, strong and fast. To assist with this, KMHA is piloting a new program with our AAA and Seeded Hockey Players to work within a complete fitness package. We are happy to introduce our new partnership with the University of Waterloo Varsity Strength and Conditioning Program. This partnership will see a formalized fitness and workout regiment be introduced for all participating athletes. Please see below for details.
- Coaching – recruit and train the best coaches to work with the players in our system. Coaches are selected on Hockey/coaching background, demonstrated ability, exemplary conduct and willingness to improve.
- Excellence – Striving to do things the right way every day and results will follow.
- Work Ethic – Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
- Hockey Leadership – KMHA employees a High Performance 2 level coach as our Development Coordinator. David Clipper has a long history teaching this game with experience coaching at the junior, and minor levels. He is a Hockey Canada Coach Mentor and HP1 Clinician.
As part of our Philosophy; we have asked all of our coaches to provide a team level philosophy so you can better understand how the bench and team dynamics will be handled at each team to help you make an educated decision to choose Kitchener. You can find their philosophy in their coach bios.
KMHA’s Core Values
- Unsurpassed Player Experience
- Exceptional Leadership
- Excellence
- Inclusive
Tryouts
Tryouts are open to anyone wishing to play in a Kitchener Jersey.
Body Checking Hockey – A player wishing to tryout at any level with Body Checking is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to have completed a Hockey Canada approved Body Checking Clinic.
Tryout Registration will be available in Spordle starting April 2nd.
Goalie Instruction and Partnership
KMHA identifies that goaltending is a key element of any program's success, so on top of any team level goalie instruction KMHA provides our goalies with 9 additional goalie training sessions with the professional goalie coaches from Rick Heinz Goalie Schools. A link to this partner's website can be found HERE. And a link to testimonials HERE.
Teams at a rep level will still provide goalie instruction at practice. Each team sources regular goalie instruction that fits with their team and level.
Local Academy Programs
KMHA has players involved in both local Hockey Academies TPH Academy Waterloo Region and Victus Academy. We are working forward to formalize a more detailed partnership with TPH and will announce details once that is complete in the coming months.
University of Waterloo Varsity Strength and Conditioning Partnership
KMHA is pleased to announce our new partnership with the University of Waterloo Varsity Strength and Conditioning Program. This partnership will see a formalized fitness and workout regiment be introduced for all participating athletes.
The Warriors High-Performance Unit is a team of strength and conditioning practitioners who work within the University of Waterloo Department of Athletics and Recreation to deliver the highest quality coaching and programming services to our varsity athletes and community partners. The High-Performance Unit is comprised of 3 Full time strength and conditioning coaches, 4 graduate assistant strength coaches and 35 undergraduate student strength and conditioning coaches. With their staff having extensive experience with hockey players (and all other varsity athletes) of all ages and performance levels, you can have confidence that the content and directives provided will be appropriate both in terms of short-term experience and long-term athlete development.
Specific Qualifications of Leadership, Head Coaching and Student Staff
Andrew Hopf M.Sc. CSCS (Head Strength and Conditioning Coach)
• Director of S&C operations for UW Varsity Athletes since 2016
• Acting Development Strength and Conditioning Coach for the St. Louis Blues (NHL) since 2018
• Sessional instructor in the Faculty of Health
• Former Strength Coach of the Owen Sound Attack (OHL) 2009-2017
• Owner of Next Level Performance Training (Kitchener/Cambridge) from 2007-2022
Andrew Graham B.Sc. CSCS (Associate Head Strength and Conditioning Coach)
• Head Strength and Conditioning Coach (UW Football, Basketball and Rugby) 2020-Present
• Guelph Gryphon Football Camp Coordinator (organizing Youth day camps and Elite HS tackle football camps) 2015-2016
• Guelph Gryphons Performance Academy Football Coordinator 2016-2018 (training HS Football players from Guelph community)
• Guelph Gryphons Varsity Football Strength & Conditioning Coach 2017-2018
• The Athletes Garage Founder and Head Coach 2015-present (training youth, HS, University and Professional Athletes from all sports)
Brandon Hewitson MKin,CSCS (Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach)
• Canada Basketball Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
• University of Waterloo Graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
• Athlete Institute (Orangeville Prep): Lead Trainer and Athletic Therapy Support
• Depth Training (Lead Athlete Strength Coach)
• Kitchener Impact Academy (Head Basketball Coach)
Graduate and Student Strength and Conditioning Staff
• All completed internal competency and practice training/evaluations
• Actively working with other varsity teams/athletes here on campus
• All first aid certified (Standard First Aid/CPR and AED) and have had VSC checks completed
All have completed mandatory internal trainings to work within the Department of Athletics and Recreation including:
Safe Sport Training
Sexual Violence Awareness
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Training
Safety Office Training
Location: University of Waterloo
Workouts will consist of a mix of in gym and at home activities phased through the year to provide growth and support at the correct time. Players will be provided with an app they will use to follow and track their workouts and results, and provide them with feed back.
All players will participate in 3 annual testing combines and the results will be supported the University of Waterloo Analytics department.
All participants in the pilot will receive an electronic report card they can take with them to establish baselines into the next season regardless of the team they are participating on. Parents and coaches will have access to results for their athletes.
A more detailed page regarding this partnership will be posted to the KMHA website shortly.
Mental Health and Wellness Partners
KMHA is partnered with Heroic Minds a mental wellness platform designed to help with your athletes well-being and performance.
| Ben Fanelli How Ben Fanelli's Career Almost Ended Before It Had Even Started
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| Heroic Minds - Two Options in Life
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Ben Fanelli, founder and brainiac behind Heroic Minds, is KMHA’s Mental health and performance partner. Individual team sessions can be booked through the Heroic Minds platform to improve team performance. Meanwhile, individual sessions can be booked to support players in crisis as needed. KMHA believes that a well-rounded and supported player makes for a better person and athlete upon graduation from our programs.
Jr Ranger Program Details
As a Jr Ranger you can expect to get the following:
Jr Ranger REP Coaches can be found Here.
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Practice Ice Time
Between 3 and 4.5 hours weekly. Fluctuations will vary based upon number of games in a week and the needs of the team. 2 practices a week totaling 3 hours will be scheduled as consistently as possible. The remaining practice will be scheduled across ice that is available. This will be included in fees at an average of 4 hours/week during regular season. Post regular season practices are included in fees based upon averages.
Games
KMHA plays within the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario and will play a game schedule as determined by the league in the coming months.
Ratios
There are no Player Ratios at AAA, KMHA is seeking to select the best team of players to compete regardless of residency.
Strength, Conditioning, Speed and Agility
KMHA is pleased to announce our new partnership with the University of Waterloo Varsity Strength and Conditioning Program. This partnership will see a formalized fitness and workout regiment as part of the Jr Ranger Program (for AAA and AA/A players)
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| AA/A (Seeded Hockey) |
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Practice Ice Time
Between 1.5 and 2.5 hours Weekly. Fluctuations will vary based upon number of games in a week and the needs of the team. 1 practice a week totaling 1.5 hours will be scheduled as consistently as possible while balancing with other KMHA programs. The remaining practice will be scheduled as needed across ice that is available. This additional practice may be full ice or shared ice. Ice time will be included in fees at an average of 2 hours/week during regular season. Post regular season practices are included in fees based on average.
Ratios (Percentage of Spaces reserved for Kitchener residential Players)
At Seeded AA/A Hockey at least 60% of the team will be required to be residential to Kitchener.
Strength, Conditioning, Speed and Agility
KMHA is pleased to announce our new partnership with the University of Waterloo Varsity Strength and Conditioning Program. This partnership will see a formalized fitness and workout regiment as part of the Jr Ranger Program (for AAA and AA/A players)
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| BB/B |
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Practice Ice Time
Between 1 and 2 hours Weekly. Fluctuations will vary based upon number of games in a week and the needs of the team. Every 3 Weeks, teams will receive 2 Full ice practices and 2 Shared Ice Skills Practices. (except at U15 where a similar rotation is being determined between 3 expected teams) Ice time will be included in fees at an average of 1.5 hours/week during regular season. Post regular season practices are included in fees based upon averages. .
Ratios (Percentage of Spaces reserved for Kitchener residential Players)
At BB/B Hockey at least 80% of the team will be required to be residential to Kitchener.
Strength, Conditioning, Speed and Agility
Teams at BB/B will be able to book their own Strength & Conditioning (S&C) program through local suppliers. It is KMHA’s hope to include the BB/B level in the bidder S&C plan once the pilot project completes.
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