FAQ - Travel Teams

When Does the Hockey Season Start?

10U tryouts typically take place in mid-October with practices starting immediately following team selections. The season runs through early March. (10U tryout process in review - estimated early October release)

Squirt evaluations typically take place in mid-October. After evaluations, players will be split into different teams to be used for one month of in-house play. There will be a mix of weekend scrimmages and weekday practices during the month of November. Towards the end of November, travel team assignments will be announced at which point teams will start their own practices and travel game schedule in December. (Squirt tryout process in review - estimated early October release)

Peewee / 12U / Bantam / 15U tryouts typically take place in mid-October with practices starting immediately following team selections. The season runs through early to mid-March.

What Additional Costs Should I Expect?

For families with players on travel teams, there is additional cost beyond the registration fee. For any travel and/or away tournaments, families will be responsible for all lodging, food, and other travel related expenses.

BYHA covers the cost of the away tournament registration fees, team jerseys, and practice jerseys.

Do I have to be at every practice?

Attendance and participation are strongly encouraged at all sessions, however, it’s also important to prioritize academics and other family obligations. Playing time may be impacted if attendance is not excused.

When Are Practices?

Travel teams typically have 3 on-ice practices per week (weekdays); with games taking place on the weekends (Friday through Sunday). Occasionally there will be weeknight games. Teams may have dryland (stick handling and shooting) sessions once per week, which can vary.

Do I need to arrive to practice early?

We recommend players arriving 30 minutes before their practice begins. This gives them enough time to get dressed in the locker rooms and ready 5-10 minutes before practice starts to allow coaches time to review practice plans with the team. Ice time is very expensive, so we want players to be ready to start on time.

How many games will be played during the season?

Squirt / 10U teams will play approximately 30 games in the regular season, which typically starts in November/December, plus district playoffs in early March. All players will receive equal playing time over the course of the season. There is typically one away tournament and one home tournament, depending on level.

Peewee / 12U / Bantam / 15U teams will play approximately 40 games in the regular season, which typically starts in late October, plus district playoffs in mid to late February. Playing time will be at the coach’s discretion. There are typically two away tournaments and one home tournament, depending on level.

Are there end of season tournaments/playoffs?

Within Minnesota Hockey, the youth hockey teams are categorized into one of four regions geographically, (North, South, East, West) and then further into 16 total districts.

Bemidji is in Minnesota Hockey District 16.which falls into the North region.

For certain age levels, teams may have a district tournament between mid-February and early-March. Following the district tournament (or in lieu of for teams that do not have a full district to play a tournament in), top teams may advance to the regions tournament in early March, before qualifying for a state tournament in mid-March.

Parent/Family Responsibilities for Home Games

For all non-tournament home games, it is the team’s responsibility to have one person run the clock and one person do the scorebook, GameSheet, which is the scorebook software required for all district games in Minnesota. If you are new to GameSheet, please reference the training documents and videos on the BYHA website or reach out to your team manager to set up an individual training session. These tasks must be covered for each home game and are not eligible for DIBS.