DYHA Travel Hockey

Since 1973, Darien Youth Hockey has produced competitive travel teams from Mites to Midgets to girls-only teams. 

For the 2025-2026 season, our CoEd DYHA Travel Program will be adopting the Major/Minor model for the Squirt through Bantam Levels, offering AA Major birth year, AA Minor birth year, and A & A1 mixed birth year teams. At the Mite level, DYHA will offer three full season travel teams (AA, A, & A1) as well as two B supplemental teams. Supplemental Mite teams participate in both Travel and DYHA House. We also offer a split season for Midget Minor (U16) & Major (U18) players. One of the full season Mite travel teams will be primarily Minor birth year players, giving them a better opportunity for more competitive Travel Hockey.

CoEd Travel Squirt-Bantam Major & Minor teams will play in the Atlantic Hockey Federation (AHF) in addition to the Connecticut Hockey Conference (CHC) during the 2025-2026 season. The Bantam Major team is Tier 2 National Bound, most recently representing Connecticut at Nationals during the 2022-2023 season. Major & Minor teams will also compete in independent AAA tournaments. Our mixed A & A1 Squirt-Bantam teams will play in the CHC as well as 2-3 competitive out of state tournaments.

Only 2024-2025 Returning Players, ALL Goalies and ALL Midgets are eligible to register for tryouts directly. Returning Players are those players currently rostered on DYHA House, Travel and CT Ice Cat teams. Skaters new to DYHA must join the waitlist to be eligible to receive a tryout invitation.

NOTE: Given the growth of our program, we will not be contacting players who do not re-register by 2/14/25. We have an extensive waitlist at all ages/levels. If you do not re-register by February 14th, you are at risk of losing your position in DYHA. Returning players registering after the February 14th deadline will be placed on the waitlist.

Players who are interested in joining DYHA for the 2025-2026 season should register on the WAITLIST which opens January 1st every year.

The DYHA programs are open to players in all towns once or if they clear the wait list. DYHA is a closed program and is generally at or near full capacity with our returning players at most levels each year. Accordingly, the Association strongly encourages players to understand that if one transfers to another program, they will have to clear the wait list before potential readmission. If there are open roster spots (based on our returning player numbers and available roster spots), players are invited off the wait list to try out based on a criteria that prioritizes players from, or that will be moving into, Darien, New Canaan or Norwalk; siblings of current members; and date of wait list registration. Board discretion can also be used to move players off the waitlist. 

Waitlist applicants are not authorized to proceed with the DYHA registration process until contacted by a DYHA representative indicating that your child has cleared the waitlist. If a waitlist applicant proceeds with DYHA’s online registration process, any DYHA registration fee that has been paid will be refunded less all DYHA credit card and bank processing fees. Once the returning player registration process is completed, waitlist applicants will be contacted by a DYHA representative. If your child clears the waitlist, you can proceed to registration using the link provided from the DYHA Registrar.    

PeeWee, Squirt and Mite Tryouts will take place in March, Midget, Bantam in April. Exact dates will be posted on the home page as soon as the try-outs times are scheduled. 

• Consists of 2-3 sessions
• Conducted by certified DYHA coaches 
• Player selections are based on the appraisal of potential team coaches over the course of the tryout sessions
• Written player evaluations completed by a travel player’s prior season coach are factored 
• Coaches and evaluators will consider fundamental hockey skills, effort, teamwork, commitment and coachability exhibited in the tryouts and the previous season

Hockey players from outside the DYHA can request an invitation from our Registrar to tryout as an "Impact Player”. An Impact Player must demonstrate abilities that rank among the top three (3) forwards or top two (2) defensemen during travel tryouts in their respective age group. Impact Players must attend at least two days of tryouts in their respective groupings. Impact Players will be identified by the tryout evaluation panel and require majority approval from the evaluators of that age group as well as DYHA Travel Directors. Selected Impact Players will be notified immediately following the completion of the final tryout session. All selected Impact Players will have 24 Hours from offer to accept the roster spot.

The DYHA board may authorize the rostering of up to five (5) Impact Players per season at the Pee Wee and Bantam levels. The Bantam and PeeWee “AA Major” teams will have the option to roster up to three Impact Players. The “AA Minor” team at each level may elect to roster two minor birth year Impact Players.

The DYHA board may authorize the rostering of up to three (3) Impact Players per season at the Squirt Level. The Squirt “AA Major” team will have the option to roster up to two Impact Players. The “AA Minor” team may elect to roster one minor birth year player. Goalies are not subject to the impact policy but limited to 1 outside program goalie at each the “AA Major” and “AA Minor” Level.

DYHA also reserves the right to not roster any Impact Players for any given team for whatever reason regardless of whether skill comparison during tryouts warrants such action, or not. This decision will be at the sole discretion of the DYHA coaching staff, the DYHA Travel Directors and the DYHA Board of Directors.

Mites-Bantams

• Generally runs from the beginning of September through the middle of March
• Coaching staff includes local high school coaches as well as other established travel hockey coaches
• Practice and play out of Stamford Twin Rinks
• Usually includes 40-60 games per season. Most teams will not play during Christmas break, but may require players to participate in practices/games during the February break.
• Two weeknight practices and two weekend games
• Scheduled skills sessions throughout the season
• Dedicated Goalie Clinics and Goaltending Program
• Three tournaments over the course of the season
• DYHA does not allow double rostering with other teams (high school excluded)

Midgets

• Midgets split season runs Late August through Mid-November
• Coaching staff includes local high school coaches as well as other established travel hockey coaches
• Practice and play out of Stamford Twin Rinks
• Usually includes 15-25 games per season
• Roughly 1-2 weeknight practices and two weekend games per week
• Dedicated Goalie Clinics
• Midget Minor Blue has the potential to qualify for end of season CHC tournaments

Q: Why can't my friend sign up to play for DYHA?

A: Unlike some youth hockey programs, DYHA operates as a "closed" member program. This means that once a player participates in the Mini or Mighty Mite program, they are a DYHA member and gain priority registration status for our Mite and higher House programs, which are regularly sold out, and are guaranteed a tryout spot for our travel teams in the coming year. It also means that if you don't get in as a Mighty Mite or leave after that time period you must register on the waitlist and will only be invited to play for DYHA the following year if room exists in our program after all of our existing members have had a chance to sign up. Accordingly, DYHA strongly encourages players to understand that if one transfers to another program, they will have to clear the wait list before potential readmission. If there are open slots, players are accepted off the wait list based on a criterion that prioritizes players from, or that will be moving into, Darien, New Canaan or Norwalk; siblings of current members; and date of waitlist registration. Board discretion can also be used to move players off the waitlist.  

Q: The program is called the DARIEN Youth Hockey Association. Do I have to live in Darien to play and why does DYHA accept players from other towns?

 A: No! DYHA has member players from all towns! Both of our local rinks are privately owned as opposed to municipal owned rinks such as Stamford - Terry Connors which have residency requirements. DYHA is a local youth hockey program that gives priority to existing members and players from its “charter towns” of Darien, New Canaan, and Norwalk. Beyond our charter towns and to the extent that there are players needed to fill out the teams, families from other towns are accepted off of the waitlist and once they are they are treated like all other members.  

Q: Why have tryouts for most teams been moved from the Fall to the Spring? And why does the season start so early in the Fall?

A: It is very difficult to schedule tryouts during a period that is best for everyone and conflict-free. DYHA is a firm believer in giving our players the ability to develop over the 6 month period from finish of one season to start of the next season. Unfortunately, our ability to continue with this timetable has been restricted due to the following: 

1. Competitor programs have now scheduled almost all tryouts in the Spring and continue to market their programs to DYHA players such that they can promise our players certainty about team placement earlier than we could. 
2. Parents are increasingly trying to schedule their kids' activities multiple months in advance of the season beginning and not only want to know the team their player will be on but also what the schedule will look like. 
3. Creating the team in the Spring allows the team to know its members and perhaps start practicing, on an ad hoc basis, or attend summer camps together that will help create better team chemistry and bonding. 
4. It is still DYHA's belief that all players, regardless of the team they are on, should continue to pursue skill development over the course of the off season, in addition to their other activities. 

Q: Why is the travel season so long?

A: As long as DYHA agrees to play in the CT Hockey Conference, we are subject to the demands of their related schedule. The official CHC season (in terms of games that qualify as official CHC games that determine state tournament qualifications and standings) begins October 1 and runs through early February. Teams are generally required to play each team in its division twice. That requirement combined with parents' and players’ desire to participate in a couple of away tournaments and avoid games during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks (unlike many of our neighboring Tier II and Tier III programs), dictates a game schedule that runs for at least 5 months. The scheduling of state tournaments is spread out and generally results in teams playing state tournament games throughout February and into late March.

Q: Why don’t travel teams have some bye weekends? 

A: We have explored the possibility of scheduling bye weekends. Because of the demanding CHC schedule that requires reciprocation for ice with other programs, and our commitment to avoid games during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, it is difficult to block out entire weekends for a team. Having said that, this year we were able to schedule bye weekends for 3 or 4 travel teams. As mentioned earlier, all travel teams did not schedule required games or practices during Thanksgiving break and the 10-12 days of Christmas break.

Q: What really goes into the travel tryout evaluations?

A: Tryouts are structured to evaluate the skill level of each player to ensure proper team placement which is a prerequisite for future player development. Evaluators are comprised of the coaching staff of the respective age group and the AA coaches from other age groups. The goal of our tryout evaluation process is to provide a fair and balanced assessment of each player’s skating, shooting, passing, and teamwork abilities as well as overall hockey IQ. In addition to the on-ice assessment, evaluators will have access to player evaluations from the prior season and may seek additional input from prior season coaches to assess hockey acumen, teamwork, commitment, drive, behavior, and knowledge of the game. A DYHA Board Coordinator is assigned to each age group to monitor the team selection process. The Board Coordinator does not participate in player evaluation but is there to ensure the integrity of the process.