Boys District Camp Tryout

WHAT ARE PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CAMPS?

USA Hockey Player Development Camps for 15-year-olds (15s), 16-year-olds (16s), and 17-year-olds (17s) provide the United States’ top young players with age-appropriate on- and off-ice training and coaching from elite-level instructors, as well as the opportunity to compete against their peers from throughout the country.

Since their start in 1977, USA Hockey’s Player Development Camps have served as a launching pad for many future Olympians and professional players. The USA Hockey Player Development Camps also serve as an evaluation environment for players competing to represent the U.S. at international tournaments and events.

Players earn an invitation to the USA Hockey National Camps through their performance at a series of state- and district-level tryouts held each season. The camps are designed so players return home afterward with the tools to further develop their skills for the coming season and beyond.

In Connecticut, the evaluation process begins with tryouts conducted by the CHC for Connecticut residents born in each eligible birth year. These evaluations, nicknamed Team CT tryouts, happen between November and April, based on birth year. Prior to each tryout, the registration links will be available on this page. From the state level, qualifying players will be invited to attend the New England District (NED) Camps (https://www.nedusah.org/boysdev) alongside players from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. 

For the 15s, 16s and 17s, the New England District Camp is an evaluation camp run for the express purpose of advancing qualified players to the USA Hockey National Camps. It is not an overnight camp. The 15s who do not make National Camp also have the opportunity to qualify for the Eastern Regional Development Camp, which is a pilot program designed to provide more development opportunities for players using the USA Hockey model.

Connecticut 14-year-olds who advance beyond the CHC tryouts are invited to the NED Select 14 Player Development Camp, which is typically run in late July and is a 4-day residential camp modeled after National Camps and designed to introduce players to on- and off-ice experiences that will help them improve their skills and develop as athletes. There is no USA Hockey National Camp at this age and the NED Select 14 Camp is not an evaluation camp. Players are not ranked and do not move on to another level.

For the 12 and 13 age groups, the NED Futures Development Camp is designed to be the player’s first introduction to the USA Hockey Player Development process. Players are not ranked and do not move on to another level. Futures Camps include on- and off-ice sessions, skill development, small are games and full ice games.

Will I be notified if selected to participate in the District camp?

We don't notify players if they've been selected or not. The evaluators will rank the players and District will invite players based on those rankings. Since the number of players from CT that are invited isn't a fixed number, we don't announce results.

What are the dates of the District Camps?

Dates will be posted on https://www.nedusah.org/playerdev when available.

I can only make one night of the tryouts. May I still participate?

Players who miss a day will not be penalized but they need to understand that they are sacrificing a portion of their opportunity to be seen by the evaluators and that, in their absence, other players will be getting greater exposure.