Hockey Development Committee

At Middleton Youth Hockey, we want kids to love hockey and become better at it. We believe those two goals go hand in hand: players are more likely to stay engaged when they are learning, improving, challenged appropriately, and having fun.

The Hockey Development Committee (HDC) supports the coaching, practices, development opportunities, and hockey experiences that allow players to grow as athletes, as hockey players, and as people—while building a lasting connection to the game.

The HDC works across the club to continually improve the hockey experience and create better opportunities for player development.

🏒 Better Player Development: age-appropriate development that builds skills, hockey sense, skating, athleticism, confidence, and a love for the game.

🏒 Better Coaching: resources, education, practice ideas, and support that help coaches create meaningful, effective experiences for players.

🏒 Better Practices: more intentional practices and development opportunities, with a clear progression of what players should be learning as they grow.

🏒 Better Goaltending Development: a stronger pathway for developing confident, athletic goalies—and making the position an exciting part of the hockey experience.

🏒 Better Assessment & Feedback: thoughtful ways to understand player development, identify opportunities for growth, and help players continue moving forward.

🏒 A Better Hockey Experience for All: a positive, connected environment where players of different ages, abilities, and interests can develop, compete, have fun, and build a lasting connection to hockey.

We strive for continuous improvement: learning from successful hockey programs, current development principles, and our own experiences to make Middleton Youth Hockey better every year.

We believe youth hockey can help develop the whole person, not just the hockey player. Players need opportunities to build skills, hockey sense, athleticism, confidence, resilience, and relationships while having fun and developing a lasting connection to the game.

Our player development approach is grounded in USA Hockey's American Development Model (ADM) and long-term athlete development (LTAD) principles. These frameworks help us provide age-appropriate training, prioritize skill development and athleticism, and focus on the continuous growth of each player rather than short-term results.

We use them as a foundation—not a rigid formula—as we continually learn and improve how we develop players at Middleton Youth Hockey. MYH aims to provide development that is challenging but fun, competitive without losing perspective, and appropriate for where each player is in their development.

The HDC brings together MYH coaches, hockey leaders, and volunteers who care deeply about the development and experience of Middleton Youth Hockey players.

Committee members bring different perspectives and areas of experience, but share a common goal: to make Middleton Youth Hockey better for every player.

The HDC works closely with our coaches and Board to turn ideas into meaningful improvements across the club.

Our current HDC members: Jeff Bybee, Patrick Cushman, Erik Figi, Will Pangman, AJ Robitschek, Jeff Sanger, Danny Schneider (Chair), James Switzer, Aaron Volkman.

Have an idea, question, or suggestion about player development? We'd love to hear from you.