Enjoyment and recreational benefits were chief among USA Hockey's Board of Directors' motivations for recently issuing new youth hockey guidelines. Registered teams play in the classifications of 8-and-Under (Mite), 10-and-Under (Squirt), 12-and-Under (Pee Wee), 14-and-Under (Bantam), 16-and-Under (Midget) and 18-and-Under (Midget), and USA Hockey's Youth Council wants to emphasize these benefits.

The USA Hockey-recommended guidelines for youth hockey encourage a noncompetitive environment in which children can learn the basic skills without the distractions that are often associated with an overemphasis on winning.

>>>8-AND-UNDER RECOMMENDATIONS (.pdf)
>>>10-AND-UNDER RECOMMENDATIONS (.pdf)
>>>12-AND-UNDER RECOMMENDATIONS (.pdf)
>>>14/16/18-AND-UNDER RECOMMENDATIONS (.pdf)