What is the Mini-Tykes & Tykes Division?
RMMBHA was the first minor ball hockey association in BC to offer children (from 3 to 6 year olds) the chance to experience ball hockey in a fun learning atmosphere. The association encourages children to get involved at an early age to get the basics of stickhandling and shooting down before advancing to higher divisions and/or ice hockey. RMMBHA invites parents to get involved too, either by helping out as a coach or to just keep kids in line and active.

MINI-TYKES DIVISION (born 2004 & 2005)
Mini-tykes is aimed at teaching basic stick handling, passing, shooting and most of all movement! The players are split into groups for 5-6 stations (depending on attendance) and goes through different aspects of ball hockey.

Types of stations are: stickhandling with the ball around cones, coaches passing to players and shooting, target shots, running drills, and half floor mini-games. The program consists of 8 one hour sessions held on Saturday mornings (depending on floor rental-could be 8am starts). The players will receive an association tshirt jersey for them to keep, team and individual picture, as well as a trophy in a ceremony at the end of the season (usually after last session). All players must wear the mandatory equipment (listed below). This is an intro program for youths and is recommended before going into Tykes Division.

TYKES DIVISION (born 2002 & 2003)
Tykes Division was introduced in 2007. RMMBHA found that the original three year Peanut Division was too much for first time ball hockey players (usually the youngest of the three yeasr). So RMMBHA made Peanut a two year Division and added the Tykes Division as a foundation and introduction into game playing.

The Tykes Division is scheduled for Saturday mornings only with an 8 game season. Each one hour slot consists of practice, teaching & drills for the first half hour and then the players get to play a half floor 4on4 game. There are no goalies at this age group but shooter tutors are used on the nets. RMMBHA tries to keep the teams to 12 players, so with the 4on4 game there are only three lines/more floor time! It is a great introduction to hockey without having to learn how to skate first. The players will receive an association tshirt jersey for them to keep, team and individual picture, as well as a trophy in a ceremony at the end of the season (usually after last session). All players must wear the mandatory equipment (listed below). This is an intro program for youths and is recommended before going into Peanut Division.
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To all parents regarding the RMMBHA player draft and player placement
Over the last couple of seasons, we have had a few comments about "unfair drafts" and "stacked teams", many have asked about "balancing games". Minor Ball Hockey is a short season that has 14 games packed into a 10 week season, with no time to balance and move players. This past season we added a new Directors position with an Evaluation Director being added to balance out player ratings and to come up with any alterations to the draft system if needed. After meeting with many coaches and receiving ideas from parents and coaches, the Directors have thoroughly gone through the draft proceedures in the winter. If you have any constructive ideas after reading our draft policy, feel free to contact the Evaluation Director listed on the contact page and the Association Director's will discuss for future drafts. As we try and make it enjoyable for all players, once players are drafted to a team by the coaches on designated draft dates the teams are final and no trades will be offered. If a child and/or family decides to resign for any circumstances after the draft and/or contact by the Head Coach, please refer to the Return Policy listed below and the return policy information on the registration forms.
FOR THE ENTIRE GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE DRAFT GO TO THE BOTTOM OF THE 'COACHES CORNER' PAGE
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RMMBHA registration fees return policy
Because of the amount of work that is involved pre-season and the evaluation and draft done for players in March, RMMBHA return policy for players wishing to resign their registration spot for the season that they registered for are as follows:
Full Registration Refund up to and including March 1st of each season registered
75% Refund up to and including the player draft day (2008 season March 15th)
50% Refund up to and including the first day of the regular season games April 1st, 2008
No Refunds including and after April 14th, 2008
(unless due to injury, with a written letter to the Association and a valid doctors letter - refund then would be 50%)
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RMMBHA player equipment
At the minor level, mandatory ball hockey equipment has been kept to a minimum for many reasons. One, to keep costs down for families of ball hockey players, and two, to keep the physical contact level of the game to a minimum. Through the insurance coverage, under the CBHA guidelines, mandatory equipment must be worn at all times on a practice or game floor. Players are not to take off mandatory equipment unless off the playing surface and advised by the coaching staff. Mandatory equipment stated in our insurance policy is a CSA helmet and face cage, protective hockey gloves, a hockey stick (wood, composite, graphite) and shin pads (soccer style or D-Gel CBHA approved). RMMBHA believes in the safety of all our players and to avoid injury, RMMBHA highly recommends soft knee pads, soft elbow pads and a jock (boys) or a jill (girls). All equipment highly recommended is to be worn under garments (except soft knee pads & shin guards). Please check our website each season for any changes or updates to our equipment list. RMMBHA takes pride in the jerseys we supply and the way our players look on the floor. We recommend all players to wear black shorts and black soccer style sox as part of their uniform. Check out the bottomof our merchandise page for protective gear available for purchasing.
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Parent conduct through the RMMBHA season
This area our Association thinks is very straight forward. This is a game about youths having the opportunity to play in an organized game of ball hockey at a recreational level. As in the majority of sports offered to youths, it can have a competitive side to it, but all parents, please remember this is for the kids, let them enjoy it, let our coaches teach them the game and have respect for this Association. We as executives are all volunteers and many of us parents of players, and our number one goal is for all the kids to have fun and to grow through the years with this sport. Remember, all coaches depending on their background have different approaches and styles to the way they coach and teach your children, view their styles for a while, if you have a concern and it can't be resolved with the coach or coaching staff, then please bring it to the attention of the executive. Enjoy the season, have fun as a spectator and support your children. Please respect the referees, even though it is a paid position many are young and just starting out. If it gets to the point of harrassing a referee, the referee is entitled to have the person and/or persons causing the problems to leave the facility and will either postpone the game or cancel it if the person and/or persons causing the problems do not leave when asked.
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RMMBHA referees

A key part of our association is our referees. Many referees range from the age of 14 years old to adults. Because of the nature of these positions it is important that we give as much training and guidance to our refs to accurately call the games. In early March the West Coast Minor Ball Hockey Association holds a referee clinic. WCMBHA brings in a certified Canadian Ball Hockey referee to instruct this clinic. This clinic is two full day sessions that go through basic referee instructions, a rating system of referees attending and a written referee test. All of our RMMBHA referees attend this clinic. In addition to this clinic, RMMBHA, puts on their own. It is very important that no matter how much training these referees have had, parents must remember that majority of them are youths calling the games. We ask all parents to treat our referees with respect and to hold back on confrontations with referees. RMMBHA has a Referee-In-Chief and a Referee Scheduler that are part of our executive committee that are in charge of these referees. If at anytime you have comments or questions about our referees, please direct them to either one of these executives (see website for contact information). When you are attending away games in other associations the same conduct applies. You must go through RMMBHA with any problems you or your team may have had with referees from other associations, and then RMMBHA executives will deal with that association.
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RMMBHA coaching staff

Many of our head coaches and assistant coaches have been with RMMBHA for all three years. From backgrounds of coaching ice hockey, coaching and/or playing men’s ball hockey, or coaching minor baseball or soccer, our coaching staff has the experience to help your children develop their ball hockey skills. Every head coach at one point or another has been interviewed by a panel of RMMBHA executives, once accepted by the executives every head coach and assistant coaches must submit a criminal check form to the RCMP, who in return, sends all background checks to the league President. All coaches then go through a series of meetings and clinics. We start with a pre-season coaches meeting, and round out with a coaches Clinic (hosted by RMMBHA). Level 1 & 2 Coaching Clinics are offered through West Coast Minor Ball Hockey Association with certified instructors before the season starts as well. RMMBHA encourages our coaching staff to take these clinics to give them more tools to better coach our players. All head coaches must sign a “contract agreement” with RMMBHA which outlines the responsibilities and guidelines between the coach and RMMBHA. Up to three coaches per team is insured through RMMBHA to be on the arena floor and players benches. The final step before the season begins is the player draft. All players wether new or returning go through evaluations. Returning players are evaluated by the previous year coach and given a rating. New players go through a one day evaluation and are rated. On draft day all coaches from each division are given a list of the players with their rating. The draft is set up so that in the end each team should be within the same range of total rating points. We try to keep the teams balanced as much as possible through this draft procedure, so all players are treated equal on the floor. If you have any concerns regarding coaches and coaching staff, feel free to bring it to the Executive Head Coach in a written format. Please remember, all head and assistant coaches positions are on a volunteer basis, and are there to give your child the opportunity to better their ball hockey skills, guide them through games and make it enjoyable for your child to play our sport.
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RMMBHA games & practices

With the amount of teams representing RMMBHA we are looking at minimum of 480 scheduled games that Ridge Meadows children will play in a year. Along with the games, since our first season, the association has always agreed to offer floor time for practices. Due to the expanding numbers and the shortage of arena floor time, each team will have a 1/2 rink with a minimum of 1 hour practices per week through the season when floor time is available. We feel through practices, players can work on the development of their ball hockey skills with coaches, team work, cardio workout and developing new friendships. Majority of our home games (scheduled either Saturdays or Sundays) will be either at red rink in Ridge Meadows Arena (Pitt Meadows), Cam Neely rink in Planet Ice (Maple Ridge), Renegades Arena in the Golden Ears Winter Club at Albion Fairgrounds or Mission Arena’s with the odd home game out of the Tri-Cities area. Away games could also be at these arenas (when playing another RMMBHA team) but others may be in Langley, Surrey, North Delta, Burnaby and Vancouver. With the number of teams registered within our association, we are hoping to keep the travelling to a minimum.