To grow and expand arizona youth hockey players to the game of roller hockey.

Amateur Sports , Sports

Every day young people have to make hard choices in the face of peer pressure and the kids of yiha are making the right choices. Theyre choosing not to be couch potatoes, not to smoke, not to drink or use drugs, and not to engage in destructive behavior. They are choosing not to do these things because they are focused on playing the game that they love roller hockey. Yiha is proud to have some of the most gifted hockey players in the valley on our teams. These players train year round in preparation for the travel season, which affords them the opportunities to represent their city, state and even their county in sanctioned tournaments throughout the united states. Yiha provides the kids a safe place to improve their roller hockey skills, learn sportsmanship, and discipline and understand the value of being a part of a team. Yiha was created to encourage children of all ages, skill levels, and financial status to participate in this fun, competitive team sport. Within yiha, we have two different levels of play. We participate in a local arizona series and have a festival in phoenix, lake havasu, yuma, tucson, prescott, and then state finals is hosted in queen creek. This series runs from december through the middle of may. The second level of play starts towards the end of february, and runs through july. The second level of hockey is mainly played in california. We participate in 3 qualifiers and then west coast nationals. This series is a much higher level of play and provides the opportunity for the players to improve their game by playing different teams. Yihas local arizona teams and out of state travel teams are both respected competitors at many tournaments, bringing home many state and national honors. Our players are very excited to continue their improvement and growth during our upcoming season. Our local arizona teams currently have about 35 players between 3 different teams. In 2017, 1 of those teams won the state title and another one placed second! Our out of state travel teams currently include close to 100 players from all over the state. We have players ranging from 8 & under, all the way up to mens. In 2017, we had 3 teams win the nationals, 4 teams place 2nd, 3 teams place 3rd in the respective divisions! We had an outstanding showing! Not only is it super exciting to watch our players grow up playing the sport they love, it is a tremendous achievement when they understand the importance of giving back to the program. We currently have 4 players who still compete on our mens teams that are in assistant coaches roles. Yiha has developed a scholarship program and a portion of all fundraising will go directly to the scholarship fund to assist players in need. All donations, however large or small will assist us in continuing to promote a sport that provides much needed physical exercise and the core values of good citizenship!