Ann Arbor Amateur Hockey Association

Paul Helber was a longtime friend, coach, referee and mentor within the Ann Arbor Hockey Association, the Ann Arbor Ice Cube and the Ann Arbor Community.

Paul's longtime support and mentorship of Coaches, Kids and Referees is unmatched and spanned a lifetime.

AAAHA is so grateful for Paul and his wonderful family.

The Paul Helber Memorial fund will help support AAAHA coaches in their quest to further their coaching membership each season by funding the USA Hockey Coaches registration fee for each Coach through the 2022-23 season.

AAAHA Coaches will be reimbursed their annual membership fee after their participation in the 2022-23 season.

AAAHA would like to thank the Helber family for this generous donation in honor of Paul.

Please read instructions below, if you have any questions, please contact Coaching Director David Ford or Executive Director Peggy Costello.

If you are interested in becoming a head coach, or are a new non-parent coach, please fill out the coaching application below. Once your application is filled out, please send to:

CoachingDirector@aaaha.org and Executive Director  peggy.costello@aaaha.org

Your coaching application will be reviewed by our coaching committee which includes our Coaching Director, President and Executive Director.

If there are more than 2 candidates for one head coach position, an interview process may take place.

Once you have filled out and sent in the application, please see the following steps for USAH listed below.

If you have questions about coaching, please reach out to the Coaching Director or the Executive Director.

Steps to Become a USA Hockey Coach

USA Hockey and the Coaching Education Program require both certification and registration to be eligible to coach. Registration is done online on a yearly basis. Certification is also required. A few basic steps requirements are as follows:

USA Hockey Requirements (Must be completed before participating in any team activities)

• Register as a member of USA Hockey. (Cost is $46 plus any affiliate fees if applicable). Click here for more information.
• Complete the background screening. Click Here
• Register as a coach on the AAAHA website.
• Complete the USA Hockey Safe Sport Training. (Required every year and cannot be added to a roster until completed). Click here for more information.
• Complete the online age-specific module(s) for the age level of play you are coaching. (Cost is $10 per module and only needs to be completed once per age level. Must be completed PRIOR to participating in any team activities and cannot be added to a roster until completed) Click here to register for the modules.

Coaching Education Program Certification Clinic Requirements (Must be completed by Dec. 31)

• Find, register and attend the required certification clinic. (Cost is $50. You can only attend one clinic per season and all coaches start at Level 1. (The coaching clinic season for Levels 1-3 officially runs from September 1 to December 31). Click here to locate a clinic.

Coaching Education Program Requirements 2022-23

(1) Required Coaching Education Program Levels for Ice Hockey

All coaches must have the required certification level by January 1 of the current season, unless earlier deadlines are established by the district and/or affiliate. 

All coaches must complete the online age-specific modules PRIOR to participating with their team. 

(a) All coaches must enter USA Hockey's Coaching Education Program at Level 1, and must continue their education with a coaching clinic each year until, at a minimum, they achieve Level 4. Coaches of only 8 and Under players should remain at Level 1 until such time as they are coaching any older age level of play. 

A coach may attend only one (1) certification clinic per year. 

Once Level 4 is achieved, coaches will need to complete 5 credit hours of continuing education within each subsequent three-year period [as outlined in Paragraph (c) below].

(b) In addition to the training in paragraph (a) above, coaches must also complete online age-specific training modules specific to the level of play they are coaching, if they have not already taken that module. This requirement applies to all coaches at all levels, 1 through 5. Coaches may complete more than one age-specific module in any given season. 

(c) Effective in the 2021-22 season, coaching certification at Levels 4 and 5 is valid for three (3) seasons, as indicated by the expiration date. Before the expiration of their level, coaches must accumulate 5 credit hours of continuing education by either taking Level 5, or by attending other USA Hockey continuing education clinics. The USA Hockey clinic listings will indicate all continuing education offerings and the credit value of each. The Coaching Education Program retains the responsibility for defining continuing education credit values, including clinic or online course work.

(d) Grandfather Clause
For those coaches who received Level 4 or Level 5 PRIOR TO January 1, 2021, only coaches of Tier I and Tier II teams are required to do continuing education as required in (c) above. 

(e) Previous/Expired Certifications
Coaches with any expired certification will retain their previous certification levels provided the certification can be verified. Coaches may re-enter the certification system at that previous level and be subject to the certification guidelines in (a) through (c) above.

Once you have completed registration with USA Hockey, please proceed to the AAAHA Coach registration. Registration is free for volunteers on the AAAHA website!

Below is the link to the 2022/2023 Coaching application. 

If you are a current AAAHA travel head coach, or are interested in becoming a travel head coach, please fill out this application and send to the Travel Director and the Executive Director by Feb 15, 2022. 

If you are interested in becoming a house head coach, please fill out the application and send to the Coaching Director and the Executive Director by August 1, 2022.

In the event that we received multiple head coach applications for the same team, the applications will be reviewed, interviews will be held and a determination will be made by the Coaching Director, Executive Director and President.

 

All Coaches MUST have completed the USA Hockey Safe Sport Training along with paperwork, registering with AAAHA and completing a MAHA background check to be placed on a roster. If you are planning to coach this coming season, get this training done before the season begins, and have the confirmation ready for the roster-ing process!  If you completed and passed the training last season, you do not have to do the training for this season. Each completion certificate is good for 2 years.

 

 

 

 

Interested in Coaching?

 

Below is the AAAHA Coaching form. IF you are a current Travel Coach, then you need to fill out the application and return it to:

 

Peggy Costello or David Ford
 

If you are interested in becoming one of our Travel or House Coaches, we encourage and welcome you to fill this application out and get it back to us. Each year, AAAHA will review all applications before the Spring season begins, ALL applications, for ALL teams will be reviewed by the Travel or House Director, Coaching Director, and Board of Directors.

 

Please contact me if you have any questions,

 

Thank you,

 

Peggy Costello

Student Coach Regulations

A player between the ages of 13 and 17 who is currently properly registered with USA Hockey may serve as a student coach under the following conditions:

• Must attend a training session conducted by the local hockey association. Student coaches are not eligible to attend a CEP certification clinic for certification. They may audit a clinic but they do not receive certification credit, nor are they required to pay for the clinic. He/she will need to contact the instructor directly as he/she will not be able to register online due to the age restriction in place.
• Does NOT need a background check or SafeSport until the age of 17- 18.
• Must always be under the supervision of a carded, screened adult coach during all practices, clinics, try-outs, and in the locker room.
• May help out at practices, clinics, try-outs only. (May not participate as a player in scrimmages or games when acting as a STUDENT COACH).
• May not act as the head coach or an assistant coach during practices or games.
• May be on the bench during games with an adult. The STUDENT COACH will count as one of the maximum of four Team Officials allowed on the bench.
• Must wear a helmet with full face shield, gloves, and skates while on the ice. Must wear helmet during games while on the bench.
• May only work with players at least one full playing age level down (e.g., a 14U age player may act as a STUDENT COACH at the 12U, 10U or 8U level).
• The organization that is using the STUDENT COACH must provide a form indicating on what team he/she is participating as a student coach, and, if applicable, what team he/she is properly registered/rostered as a player. A model form can be found by clicking on the link above This form stays with the association.
• Upon reaching the age of 18, the STUDENT COACH must comply with the USA Hockey Screening Program and meet the USA Hockey Coaching Education Program requirements which will qualify him/her to act as an assistant or head coach.

Skill stations for Mini-mites through Midgets.  Great resource for practice planning.

Click here!

The current ice contract AAAHA has does NOT allow individual Coaches/ Managers to sell/contract their ice to ANY individual outside AAAHA.

No one is allowed on AAAHA ice with your team, unless they are an AAAHA registered coach, a specialty coach, (exp Carrie Keil), or a specific skills instructor. This include coaches kids, not rostered on that team.

ALL Coaches on AAAHA ice MUST wear helmets.

No games can be played before Coaches receive the certified USA Hockey roster.

All players must be on roster to participate in a game or scrimmage.

Coaches MUST be on roster to be on a bench during a game or scrimmage. Student Coaches under the age of 18, must wear helmets on the bench during games/scrimmages.

Team Managers are not allowed on the bench during games or scrimmages.

Teams need 2 background checked and safe sport completed adults to monitor locker rooms anytime kids are present.

Please see below attached documents, and refer to the MAHA, USA Hockey and AAAHA rules.

www.Maha.org

www.USAHockey.com

This page is full of useful information for goalies and goalie coaches.  Drills, articles, videos, discussions and more.  If you are looking for ideas to help your teams goalies, start here first.

Click the image at left to go to the page.

Please email Peggy Costello for complete instructions on signing up for a web site account and gaining access to your team's pages.

peggy.costello@aaaha.org