The North Hills Amateur Hockey Association (Pittsburgh Vipers) has two developmental programs to fill the needs of two diverse groups of new players.

Both of these programs are held at the Valley Sports Complex and usually run for 16 weeks starting the first Saturday morning in October.
Specific times will be determined shortly before the beginning of the season. There are a few weekends during the season in which there are tournaments held at the rink and there is no ice time for the developmental programs. These dates will be determined before the beginning of the program.

Initiation Program (IP):

This program is designed for new young players up to age 8. It follows the USA Hockey guidelines in presenting and practicing hockey skills.
Participants need to have basic skating as this is not a skating program, but a hockey program. However, if a player has basic skating skills, practicing hockey skills will improve the skating skills.

The Initiation Program focuses on the fundamentals of hockey trying to develop player’s skills and confidence in a positive atmosphere. Usually at the end of the season there is an end of the year tournament in which the participants in the IP program play each other in games for the first time.

At the end of the program participants may tryout for a place on a travel team for the next year or elect to participate in the In-house program. Occasionally, a young player may wish to repeat the IP program.

In-House Program:

The In-house program is designed for players 6 – 14 who already know how to skate somewhat better than the beginning IP Players and who are more
familiar with the game. It provides basic hockey instruction by having players do hockey drills (the same as players on a travel team). However,
in this program we also try to develop team play, positioning, and on-ice awareness. Depending upon the number and age of the participants, they are
usually divided into teams which play each other. There is no checking in the In-house program regardless of the age of the participants.

During the second half of the season a few games may be scheduled with other associations’ teams. This depends upon the number of participants, the
desire of the families, and the developmental programs of nearby associations. This could result in the need to drive perhaps as far as an hour to a rink in Mt. Lebanon. We also try to play local teams such as Delmont, Fox Chapel, or Plum. Teams will also come to VSC for games. This cannot be determined before the season begins as it is dependent upon the
desires of our families and the existence of other associations’ programs.

At the end of the program participants may sign up for a second year of In-house, but it is hoped that they will want to tryout for one of our travel teams. These “travel” teams basically practice during the week at VSC and play games as far away as Youngstown, Wheeling, Erie, and State College. They also play teams as close as Harmarville and Delmont. Each team has an equal number of home and away games.

We are now taking applications for both our
Initiation and In-house developmental programs
which begin October 10, 2009.

The Initiation Program will cost $175 and the
In-house program will cost $295. For more specific
information please call:

Stephanie at 412-798-3391 or email at shields101@comcast.net .

- To download an application please click here -