GIRLS NEW ENGLAND FESTIVAL

WHAT IS THE FESTIVAL

To be able to truly understand Festivals, you need some background information. The objective of USA Hockeys Player Development Program is to select and train the most competitive mens and womens ice hockey teams to represent the United States at the Olympic, National, National Junior and Select levels of international competition.

The attainment of that goal begins each summer as USA Hockey hosts a series of Select Festivals and Player Development Camps exclusively for girls ages 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Nearly 700 athletes representing each of USA Hockeys 11 Districts participate in the week-long Festivals and camps. These events attract scouts and evaluators from every level of hockey. Festival participants receive on-ice and off-ice training under the direction of leading USA Hockey coaches, along with current and former Womens National Team players. Participants are chosen through an evaluation process conducted at the local and District levels.

LOCAL AND DISTRICT EVALUATION PROCESS

Tryouts for New England District girls ages 14, 15, 16, and 17 are held in Connecticut at the beginning of November each year. The players chosen from these tryouts form four teams to play in the Festival against each other. Tryouts for New England District girls ages 12 and 13 are held in each of the players home states. The players chosen from each state tryout are combined to create four teams to play in the Festival against each other. Each Festival team is made up of a combination of girls from all the states

During the New England Festivals, the players are there to showcase their talents. They are not there to win a tournament, and there is NO championship game. Every team plays 4 games so the players can demonstrate their talents. During the Festival weekend the host state is responsible for coordinating and executing the event. One of the more critical parts of this weekend is the coordination of the festival evaluators at each level.

New England additionally provides a festival opportunity to our 12 and 13 year old girls. Although they do not move on to the National Festivals, these young skaters can experience the festivities. This helps take some of the novelty out of the experience, making it easier in the latter years to focus on the task at hand, showing off their skills and playing hockey.

NEW ENGLANDS WORK IS NOT DONE

New England provides further player evaluation and development after the National Festival selection process is complete. New England offers a 4-6 day camp for the 13-17 year olds. This presents a setting where athletes can compete at their highest level. It is not a tournament, but a grueling camp of training and competition. The top priority is for players to experience a camp of development and outstanding competition. All players in this age group who attend the New England festival are eligible to attend the development camps. The camps are filled to capacity each year via a first come, first served registration process.