About HYHA
History
Founded in 1963, during a long run of dominance by Hamden High Hockey, the Hamden Youth Hockey Association (HYHA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to offering developmental and competitive hockey for youths in Hamden and the surrounding area. As one of the longest running & most successful youth hockey programs in the state of CT we are committed to furthering hockey for the entire state.
In the early history of our program HYHA developed & grew many players that would go on to play for Hamden High. HYHA was a major contributor to the continued success of that program. As the years have gone on and the scope of the program has widened, HYHA has grown to include players for all over CT and our players go on to play for teams all over the US.
HYHA's Philosophy
At HYHA our focus is on player development through teaching our players to be responsible and accountable for their attitude and effort. Our goal is to build in our players the kind of character, including a competitive attitude, that will help them both love the game of hockey & grow to become successful adults.
A major goal at HYHA is to have players learn the importance of the small day to day or game to game things they do to impact their progress, while also recognizing that at HYHA they are part of something bigger than any individual or team.
With a long history of successful teams, we value competition and winning at HYHA. We also realize that developing hockey players is ultimately about more just hockey. We want to help develop players that will be successful in all areas of life.
Development
At HYHA our focus is on player development & setting goals to help players achieve that development. Our development & goals model is purposely set up to create hockey habits in our players. These habits will help players not just in a single year but in their overall hockey development as they progress to higher levels. Goals such as the 3 Foot Rule teach players a fundamental that future coaches & teams will be looking for at the next stages of a hockey career - does the player, especially a forward, know how to prevent transition attacks.
As players master their goals & develop these hockey fundamentals it allows them to make judgment calls during a game easier. Players who have developed good hockey habits already know what to do in a situation and that knowledge helps players get the confidence to innovate and become real hockey players.
