About the WHA

Who We Are

The Wilmette Hockey Association is a non-profit, volunteer organization financed by participants' fees, generous donations of sponsors, and fund-raising activities. All WHA on-ice activities are sanctioned by USA Hockey and the Amateur Hockey Association of Illinois. The WHA is not affiliated with the Wilmette Park District.

Our Goals

• To provide a healthy and safe environment to learn hockey, while having fun and meeting new friends.
• To develop skills including stickhandling, passing, and shooting, while skating with power and balance.
• To provide players with the opportunity to compete at the highest levels available.
• To foster good sportsmanship and competition while building confidence, enthusiasm and teamwork.

Player Divisions and Leagues

The Wilmette Hockey Association (WHA) has programs for players at all levels, ranging from those who have never played hockey before to those who have played for years. If you or your child have played hockey before, you are probably familiar with organized hockey in Illinois, but if you are not, this brief primer will bring you up to speed on the essentials.

Hockey is divided into divisions based on birth year. For the season beginning in the fall of 2010, the WHA divisions are as follows:

Birth year	Youth Division	Girls Division
2002 or later	Mite	-
00 or 01	Squirt	U10
98 or 99	PeeWee	U12
96 or 97	Bantam	U14
94 or 95		U16

Boys and girls who are new to hockey usually play first in a co-ed (youth) house league, in which evenly balanced teams from within the organization play against each other. The youngest players (4-5 years old with no more than an introductory skating class) play in the developmental house league. Older kids play in the regular house league, which includes mite, squirt, peewee, and bantam leagues. The mite house league is further subdivided into junior and senior mites. No previous experience is necessary to play in any of the house leagues. In the United States, mites and squirts (and girls) are not allowed to body check.

Players with more experience usually want to play travel hockey. These teams get more ice time and travel to other rinks to participate in appropriately balanced competition. Most of our travel teams play in the Northern Illinois Hockey League (NIHL). In each of the divisions mentioned above, NIHL offers leagues that are further subdivided to balance competition amongst teams. These divisions are called elite, gold, silver, and bronze. The WHA usually enters teams at each (or several) of these age divisions from mite to bantam. All of these teams are open to boys and girls and hence we refer to this as the "youth travel" program. Just as in the house league, body checking begins at the peewee level, so all peewees are required to participate in a checking clinic.

The WHA also operates a girls-only travel hockey program. These teams play in the NIHL Girls Gold league. The major difference between youth and girls travel hockey (besides the obvious) is that there is no body checking in girls hockey. Most girls play one year in the house league before making the transition to girls travel hockey, but players aged nine and older can in some cases jump straight into the U10 travel program. With the extra ice time, these players usually catch up quickly and become strong contributors by the end of the season. Girls hockey is a growing sport, so we encourage participation by as many girls as possible. Girls who do not make a travel team are encouraged to play in our house league and work towards a future in travel hockey.

Hockey is a physical sport, but fighting is not allowed in the house league or NIHL. We encourage skaters to play hard and aggressive, but clean hockey. Our main objective is for our kids to learn and play in a fun, healthy, safe environment.

If you would like more information about the WHA, please contact Bob Kuker @ rkuker@gmail.com