Kiwi-Hockey youth programme

The Kiwi-Hockey programme is for players aged under 10 years old and older beginner youth players. It teaches the basics of ice hockey in a fun and non-competitive environment.

Body checking is not allowed at this grade.

Prerequisites to join the Kiwi-hockey programme

There’s no prerequisites to sign up to Kiwi-Hockey. All required gear is provided by the Dunedin Ice Hockey Association.

We do recommend players attend Kiwiskate to learn the basic skating skills if they have no prior skating experience.

Format of the Kiwi-Hockey practices

Kiwi-Hockey practices take place on Thursday afternoons, 5pm. We also run school holiday programmes.

Kiwi-Hockey is run by our professional coach with assistant coaches using the Learn to Play programme. Learn to Play is an international system of coaching children using small-group stations and small area games.

Download the Learn to Play programme (PDF)

Format of Kiwi-Hockey games

Kiwi-Hockey players will also have regular games on Saturday afternoons. These games are played half-ice. This means that the ice rink is divided in 2 parts so 2 games can be played at once.

This makes the game more interesting for Kiwi-Hockey players and allows them to close the gap between the 2 nets more quickly.

Progression to regular youth ice hockey grades

Beginner peewee and midget players are also assigned to this grade until they have mastered the basics of ice hockey. Once their skill level is deemed sufficient, they get to play with their appropriate age group.

Dunedin Ice Hockey Association