GTHL Announces New Minor Development Division

The Greater Toronto Hockey League will operate a new Minor Development Division beginning with the 2004/2005 hockey season. This new division will be operated as a pre-competitive level designed to provide a more challenging level of play beyond house league and select hockey, without the time commitment of the competitive A, AA and AAA GTHL leagues.

The GTHL is excited to bring this new division to our house league members as a bridge to competitive rep hockey, said Scott Oakman, Executive Director, GTHL. The MD Division was designed as a more challenging complement to existing house league programs, not as a replacement.

The operation and implementation of the MD Division will include:

Providing GTHL house league athletes with the opportunity to play one game a week at a more challenging level.

The GTHL Category Committee will accept applications from GTHL House leagues annually. Each MD Division will have 8 teams participating at each level (Tyke-Midget).

Each team will be eligible to enter only one division. Organizations can operate separate teams in different divisions, but players are only permitted to play for one team.

A balanced schedule of 21 games will be played. Each team will be required to provide 14 home ice dates.

The GTHL Board of Directors will maintain full governance responsibility and authority over the operation of the division.

The MD Division is consistent with the GTHL freedom of choice philosophy, said John Gardner, GTHL President. This new program will give players and their families another choice of the level of hockey at which they play and the time-commitment they are prepared to make.

Founded in 1911, The Greater Toronto Hockey League is the largest amateur hockey league in the world. Included under the GTHL umbrella are 50 member clubs, 35 house league organizations, 500 rep teams at the AAA, AA, and A levels and 35,000 minor hockey players. Over the past decade there have been at least 65 graduates of the GTHL system actively playing on NHL rosters.

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	Minor League Hockey
GTHL Announces New Minor Development Division