The State College Youth Ice Hockey Association (SCYIHA) has been operating in State College for over 20 years, and in March 2005 we held our 24th annual Invitational Ice Hockey Tournament at the Penn State Greenburg Indoor Sports Complex. SCYIHA is a youth travel ice hockey program for kids from the Central Pennsylvania Region. We field teams from the Mite (age 8 and under) through Midget levels (up through the senior year of high school). Currently our teams compete in the Pittsburgh Area Hockey League (PAHL - http://www.pahockey.com/ ), and our association is also a member of the national organization that oversees hockey in the United States known as USA Hockey ( www.usahockey.com ).

Every year SCYIHA strives to field teams at 5 different levels (Mite through Midget). The different age groups are as follows, with the cut off date for birth dates being December 31st (as an example, to qualify to play as a Mite, a child must not turn to age 9 before January 1st ):

Mites: 8 and Under

Squirts: 9-10

Peewee: 11-12

Bantam: 13-14

Midget: 15 & Up*

*Midget levels such as “16U” (15 and 16 year olds) or 17U, or all age to include all kids that have not yet graduated from high school exist.

Within the PAHL teams are also fielded at various skill levels, from “AA” (most skilled), “A Major”, “A Minor”, and “B” (least skilled). Typically SCYIHA fields only one team at each age group per year, and typically we are a mid-level skilled team comprised of a blend of kids at various individual skill levels.

Practices and home games take place at the Penn State Ice Rink, with practices starting at the beginning of September. Most teams practice twice weekly. Games are played on the weekends, and each team typically plays roughly a 20 game schedule, and also competes in at least two tournaments, including our home tournament in mid-March. Away games are played mostly in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Please feel free to E-Mail any of the board members to request more information regarding our program.