Development Stream Program (DS)

Development Stream Program (DS)

What is the Development Stream (DS) Program?

DS is a subset of the house league program, offering an opportunity for house league players who:

• Are looking for a development bridge to competitive hockey; or
• Do not wish to make the commitment, in time or cost, to competitive hockey but are seeking more competition and skill development than is afforded by house league alone

The DS program supplements the house league program and is designed to further develop house league players.  Because the program's intent is to supplement house league, this may result in players having two games/practices on the same day.  Once with their house league team and the once with their DS team. 

IMPORTANT:  All players MUST prioritize their regular house league team ahead of their DS team at all times.

The season runs from the beginning of November to the end of March.  

KGHA has obtained DS specific team jerseys.  This will allow the players to feel like a separate team and celebrate their accomplishments with their own set of jerseys!

Who can play & how to register?

All players registered in the KGHA house league program are eligible to register for the DS team tryouts of their respective age groups. The program is not intended for beginners (players just starting hockey this season).

Registration for DS will be available in the fall, following the completion of competitive tryouts and house league sort-outs.  

Registration can be done through the RAMP registration portal.  Under the registration tab of the KGHA home page, navigate to "register to play" and register as you did for the season by selecting U11DS, U13DS or 15DS based on your child's year of birth. 

How will teams be formed? 

Each team will be created by means of player selection following a tryout format.  Teams will be created with the goal of providing the best possible development opportunity for all involved. 

Each team will consist of 12 or more skaters and at least 1 goalie. The goal remains to provide the best possible development opportunity for players & goalies. In some cases, sort-outs may be used by coaches to determine the suitability of each applicant. A team can have up to 25 players/goalies on a team; however, only 17 can participate in a game.  

DS teams will have a core roster and an affiliate roster.    

 What is the additional commitment?

The DS program currently consists of up to eight exhibition games and up to three tournaments.  KGHA has set aside ~15 ice slots for each DS team for practices and home games.  Teams can purchase additional ice for practices and games, at their discretion. Games against other associations can occur any day of the week, including weekends. Between games and practices, the DS teams will be on the ice an average of once per week minimum.  This ice is in addition to the house league team commitments. There may be days when DS players have a house league game or practice on the same day as a DS game/practice.  As mentioned, all players MUST prioritize their regular house league team ahead of their DS team at all times.

What tournaments will DS teams participate in?

Most tournaments available are scheduled over the Christmas break, Family Day weekend, March Break, or Easter weekend. It is likely that each team will participate in a tournament on one or more of these weekends, though the decision is at the discretion of each head coach. In the event that a team roster exceeds the maximum of 15 skaters and 2 goaltenders, coaches may need to select which players are eligible to participate in each tournament.  Generally, players who form the core roster will attend games and tournaments.  Should they be unable to attend, affiliate roster players will be approached to participate. This means that as a player on a DS team, you are not guaranteed to participate in all team tournaments/games.  

How much will it cost? 

For any hockey team, the largest expenditure is the cost of ice. In addition to ice costs, there are other expenses such as tournament entry fees, referees, off- or on-ice development, etc. Each coach will prepare a team budget that will be determined based on team costs and size. As a rough estimate, the cost per player of the core roster is expected to be between $400-$500 plus travel costs to any out-of-town tournaments, as chosen by the head coach at each level.  Note that the cost is likely to be higher for the players on the core roster as opposed to those on the affiliate roster and will be dependent on the coach's plan for the upcoming season.

Click here to view the OWHA’s Development Stream program policy.  

Questions? Email vphouse@kgha.ca

(updated June 2024)