Players registered for Mites with a birthdate between 6/1/2014-5/31/2015 (or in 1st grade) will be placed in the Mite 1 division.  

Mite 1 ice times are usually 1 hour long every Saturday & Sunday at Minnehaha Academy Ice Arena or Parade Ice Garden (though occasionally at Northeast Ice Arena, Richfield Ice Arena, and other surrounding area arenas).  Pre-season clinics run from late September through October and the regular season spans from November through early March.   Including these clinics, the Mite 1 division can expect between 45-50 hours of ice.  At this time, there is no commitment for outdoor ice, but informal outdoor ice times may become available weeknights throughout the season.  

Mite 1 curriculum builds off of the Learn to Play foundation established in Mighty Mites.  Coaches continue to leverage station-based practice plans to maximize reps and decrease down time, but the instruction, drills and games will progress in difficulty and intensity as most Mite 1 players will have 1 or 2 years of organized hockey experience.  Curriculum will focus almost entirely on individual skill development, with an emphasis on skating and puck control, but introduce team awareness. Mite 1s will have roughly 1 game day for every 3-4 practices and will only play other MHA Mite 1 (and potentially Girls 8U) teams. Game days will be cross ice 3v3 or 4v4 scrimmages.

Schedules will be posted on the MHA website calendar and can be found using the tagging function at the bottom of the page to highlight your team.  Additionally, the parent(s)/guardian(s) listed on a player's registration will be invited to join the player's team page in the Sportsengine mobile App where they can access the schedule, roster and team chat functionalities. 

Teams will be formed the last week of October based on equal distribution of players and coaching resources and attempting to grouping players by school affiliation. Players may also request one friend to be paired with, if desired.     Teams generally consist of 7-10 players.  Practice and game days will include 4-6 teams on the ice at one time.  Team jerseys and hockey socks will be distributed on or before the first team practice.

Each team requires 2-3 volunteer coaches, typically parents or other relatives, that must register to coach with MHA and complete a number of certifications and trainings.  Each team also requires a team manager to organize team events such as parties, bonus/outdoor ice, etc. to help create a memorable team experience.