HEO U18 AAA is responsible for the delivery of AAA Hockey for all 15, 16 and 17 year old players within the HEO Catch basin.
In 2015, HEO Minor and HEO Junior A, the CCHL, entered into a 3 year pilot project to deliver U18 AAA hockey within the branch. In 2017 this pilot was extended a further 2 years and in 2019 the Pilot was ratified as a permanent program for AAA U18 hockey within the branch.
Prior to the Pilot HEO U18 AAA was delivered by the 5 AAA Associations within HEO. Each Association offered one U16 (15 year old) and one U18 (16 and 17 year old) for a total of 10 teams.
U18 AAA continues to deliver a Minor program following minor hockey rules as defined by Hockey Canada. This program utilizes the 12 HEO Junior “A” (CCHL) teams as the homes of the teams.
Under the new model HEO is an Association by definition and runs one league offering the highest quality of Minor Hockey within the branch.
The model utilizes a central point of finance, the League finance manager, who is responsible for collection of all related fees and then disburses the funds based on invoices and agreements which have been completed with the CCHL as well as vendors. This model allows the league to utilize the 12 teams as a central purchasing point allowing for the streamlining of costs for equipment, technology and other key deliverables such as baseline concussion testing, education assistance and most importantly ice.
Ice is the key cost factor in any hockey program and U18 has leveraged central game play. All teams in the league play home and away games using the two Sensplex venues. Games and practices outside of this ice are paid centrally by the League based on invoices.