As the parent of a park and rec skater, you may be wondering if you should register your child for OYHA and what the requirements are.  Here's some helpful info to help in deciding whether to register your child and knowing if there are any special things you need to do before registering:

1) In order to automatically qualify to play squirts or 10U without petitioning the OYHA board, a child must be 9 years old by July 1st, 2014.  For kids that are 9 years old by July 1st, OYHA recommends that those skaters complete level 2 before registering for OYHA.  This ensures that the kids have the skills needed to not be overwhelmed in team practices.

2) Kids that are 8 years old as of July 1st AND have PASSED level 3 are typically recommended for squirts or 10U.  OYHA will contact those parents to let them know what they need to do if they wish to petition to have their child register and play. 

3) For kids that don't meet either of the above criteria, OYHA typically recommends that they continue to stay in park and rec until they meet one or both of the two items above.  This would be for kids that haven't passed level 3, are 8 and younger, etc.  You can still petition to have your child moved up even if they don't meet the above criteria but those petitiions are typically only occasionally approved.

To start the petition process for a park and rec skater, send an email to parkandrec@owatonnahockey.com and make sure to include your child's name, age as of July 1st, 2014, and reason(s) you feel your child should be considered to move up from park and rec to Squirts or 10U.