U9 News
Hello U9 Families!
Welcome to the Stittsville Minor Hockey Association (SMHA) U9 program for 2026/2027.
My name is Michael Jeng and my wife Sherry and I will be your U9 convenor for this season. We are seasoned hockey parents with 3 boys in hockey and this is our first time as convenors. Since this is our first as U9 convenor, we are also learning as we go, so please let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer. If we don't know, we will try our best to find out. We are committed to provide your child a fun and developmental season.
Here is what you need to know as we work towards starting our season:
The U9 program starts the season with 4 conditioning sessions, 4 sort-out sessions, and 2 team balancing session
Conditioning
Please bring full equipment and your own jerseys for the conditioning sessions. Your player has been assigned a time each day based on their last name:
Sat Sept 12 Johnny Leroux Arena
1:00 PM ( A - DICKEY )
2:00 PM ( DIRIENZO - LEGRIS )
3:00 PM ( LEITCH - RENDA )
4:00 PM ( ROBERTSON - Z )
Sun Sept 13 Johnny Leroux Arena
2:00 PM ( A - DICKEY )
3:00 PM ( ROBERTSON - Z )
4:00 PM ( LEITCH - RENDA )
5:00 PM ( DIRIENZO - LEGRIS )
Sat Sept 19 CARDELREC Rink B
7:15 AM ( DIRIENZO - LEGRIS )
8:15 AM ( LEITCH - RENDA )
9:15 AM ( ROBERTSON - Z )
10:15 AM ( A - DICKEY )
Sun Sept 20 Beckwith Arena
9:00 AM ( DIRIENZO - LEGRIS )
10:00 AM ( A - DICKEY )
11:00 AM ( ROBERTSON - Z )
12:00 PM ( LEITCH - RENDA )
Sort-Outs
Sort-outs are used to evaluate all players and place them on a team with players of similar skill. There will be 3 levels, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. In addition, there will be team balancing sessions after the sort-out sessions. The sort-out / team balance locations and times are listed below for your information. Allocation of names to times will occur after conditioning. Sort-outs are considered mandatory.
Sat Sept 26 - CardelREC-B [ 7:15 AM, 8:15 AM, 9:15 AM, 10:15 AM ]
Sun Sept 27 - Beckwith [ 8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM ]
Sat Oct 3 - CardelREC - B [ 7:15 AM , 8:15 AM, 9:15 AM , 10:15 AM ]
Sun Oct 4 - Beckwith [ 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00AM, 12:00 PM ]
Team Balancing
Sat Oct 10 - CardelREC -B [ 7:15 AM, 8:15 AM, 9:15 AM, 10:15 AM ]
Sun Oct 11 - CardelREC -A [ 9:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:00AM, 12:00PM ]
Making Teams
SMHA follows a standard process for assigning players to teams in the house league program. Following the sort-outs, head coaches will select players for their team in a draft format. This will happen as soon as possible following the completion of sort-outs.
Half-Ice & Full-Ice
SMHA follows the guidance of Hockey Canada and Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO) for our development programs. U9 games will be half ice at the first half of the season and transition to full-ice on Dec. 26, 2026. For more information, check out the Stittsville Ram website on half-ice program.
Goaltenders
At U9, there are no full-time goaltenders, and any player can try it out throughout the season. Having said that, if your player has an interest in being a goalie for the majority of the season, this will be taken into account when forming teams.
Conditioning Sessions
There will not be any dedicated goalie stations during conditioning sessions, however, if there are shooting drills, goalies will have an opportunity to play in goal after the first skate. Goalies may participate in their equipment for conditioning sessions, though players can still choose to do their first conditioning skate as a skater if they prefer.
Sort-Outs
According to Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), there is no explicit requirement that a player intending to play primarily as a goalie must first be evaluated as a skater. The second weekend of sort-outs will include goalie evaluations. Please note: If a player is evaluated and placed primarily as a goalie and decides partway through the season that they no longer want to play goal, they may not necessarily be at the appropriate level as a skater.
Next Steps
If your player intends to primarily play goalie, please email me to let me know. In your email, please indicate if they will dress as a goalie for the conditioning skates. Note that your ice time may be adjusted to evenly distribute the goalies.
Volunteering (Head Coach, Assistant, Managers, on-ice volunteers)
We are looking for volunteers to help make this season successful for our players. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign-up here.
For returning volunteers, the Vulnerable Sector Check process has changed this year, it is now being run by HEO. Please see the HEO VSC page for more information. All volunteers will require either a VSC declaration or new VSC via HEO.
Friend Requests
Friend requests must be submitted via this online form. There is no guarantee that friend requests can be honoured, they will be taken into consideration during the draft by the Head Coaches. Friend requests must be reciprocated by the other friend's family, so they must submit a friend request as well.
The Shift Forward
Hockey Canada has introduced The Shift Forward: Evolving Hockey Culture, a new national education and training program that replaces Respect in Sport for Parents. One parent / guardian per player is required to complete the training. For more information, click here
Final Note
This email is being sent to the primary email address submitted at registration for all players in the SMHA U9 program. Families that are attending Silver Seven tryouts that are not yet registered with SMHA U9 will receive an email with this information in the following days.
U9 news, including the content of this email, will be posted on the SMHA U9 News Page.
I'm looking forward to a great season together, please reach out if you have any questions.
See you all around the Barn!
Michael Jeng and Sherry Fan
U9 Convenor, 2026 - 2027
SMHA