Thank you for inquiring about our 2024 – 2025 U18A
season and April tryouts. My name is
Daryll Smith, and I am the head coach for the U18A Lady Rangers. This is my 24th
season with KMHA having coached on both the boys’ and girls’ sides. Since 2012,
we have been a full “non-parent” coaching staff including a full-time goalie
coach, at the U15AA, U15A and U18A levels. With several players “aging out” and
several more moving to “AA” hockey, we are looking to fill several
vacancies.
Over the course of our tryouts, you will be evaluated by as many as ten independent evaluators with no daughters playing / trying out for the team. I promise you as fair and impartial look as any you have received in past seasons tryouts. If you have not already done so and are interested in attending tryouts, the coaching staff would appreciate a short hockey bio / expression of interest emailed to [email protected].
Games – Practices – Other
Home games are tentatively on Saturday afternoons at 2:00pm (Sportsworld). Practices will be weekly, every Wednesday at 8:00pm (Sportsworld) for 1.5 hours and Fridays at 7:45pm (Activa) for 1 hour.
Budget - This season’s budget will be approximately $2700 - $3200 (including KMHA’s Rep Fee).
Tournaments - We will be playing in one tournament a month (five tournaments this season) beginning September. Our goal will be to attend Tournaments that will offer the opportunity to “showcase” our TEAM’s skill and ability while working on our monthly developmental goals and objectives.
Off Ice Training will take place at “Limitless Training” in Kitchener. Overall strength, conditioning and flexibility will help us win those on-ice battles and help reduce injuries. Fitness testing will take place post tryout, pre-season, and post-season to assess continued development.
On ice testing will be conducted post April tryout, pre-season, and prior to end of season to evaluate player (and team) speed and agility development. The ladies will be provided with a chart of their times in both speed and agility compared against the overall team average. Improvement from the beginning of season to end of season will be the goal.
Coaching Staff Expectations
To ensure there is no misunderstanding regarding the 2024 - 2025 season, the coaching staff want you to understand and be committed to the following BEFORE attending our tryouts.
1 - ALL the ladies will be offered the opportunity to grow and develop as one piece of our eighteen-piece team puzzle. Respecting how you see yourself NO ONE is the sole piece to our puzzle. Hockey remains a team sport.
2 - Our systems of play REQUIRE everyone to understand all five on ice positions and responsibilities. You will need to be versatile. Systems play results in forwards playing defense and defense playing forward during shifts / periods / games throughout the season.
3 – The coaching staff will use everyone’s skills for the balance and benefit of the team.
4 – The majority of practice drills will have game applications. These may NOT be the same type of practices you are used to. Cardio is built into the flow drills that we will be running. Practice plans will be emailed to players before practice and posted at practice to ensure ice time is utilized efficiently. In addition to weekly in season dryland, you will be provided an Off Season and In Season conditioning package to assist you at home to increase your cardio level.
5 – We are currently utilizing Pixollot and Vidswap to provide quality game video analysis that allows for both team and individual player clips, to assist in team and player development. This requires 15 to 30 minutes of weekly review by all players.
6 – We also work closely with our U18 AA team and when offered will push those players interested in playing AA to practices and games throughout the season. Our individual player goal is to move those who wish to play AA hockey next season to a AA team.
If players are not offered a position throughout tryouts, we will provide a brief tryout evaluation within 7 to 10 days of final releases, on request.
We understand that tryouts are stressful for all involved. The decision to release players is a “business” decision made by the coaching staff for “team” purposes and is not meant to be taken personally by any individual player.
Player Signings
Within twenty-four hours of an offer for a position on the 2024 – 2025 Kitchener Lady Rangers U18 “A” team, we will require a $450.00 non-refundable cash deposit to confirm your acceptance. On returning in August, this will be applied towards your first team budget payment in September 2024.