The Atlantic Youth Hockey League (AYHL) is the premier Tier I AAA travel league on the East Coast. It is comprised of over 125 teams from the Atlantic, New England, New York and Southeast Districts.
It is the AYHL’s mission to train and develop young athletes preparing them for the highest levels of the game, including Junior Hockey, NCAA Division I Hockey and Professional.
The League’s levels play begin at the 10U level and advance to the highly competitive and scouted 16 and 18U levels. The 10U thru 14U levels are generally birth year specific and all have a minor and major age-level component. The Major teams are Typically the older birth year team, comprised mostly of players playing in their second year at the level. 13-Pure and 15-Pure (or often referred to as “only”) consist of a pure, single birth year group of teams with no underage players.
At 16U and 18U we offer two levels of competition with Elite and Premier levels.
Tier I youth teams have a have heavy workload when it comes to their playing commitment. There are more practices, training, games and tournaments with generally more travelling than those associations playing at the Tier II or Recreational levels.
At the end of the regular season, all eligible teams will compete for the AYHL Playoffs where Champions are crowned at their respective level. Where applicable, as part of their AYHL regular season schedule, teams 12U Major thru 18U Elite and Pure levels, compete in the Atlantic District. The District Standings include games played against the other teams in the Atlantic District and at the end of the season, the top teams compete for the AAHA District Championship. The District Champion of each competing level 13 Pure, 14U, 15 Pure, 16U and 18U will move on to represent the Atlantic District at the USA Hockey National Championship Tournament. Each year, the USA Hockey National Tournament change’s locations throughout the United States and have been held from coast to coast.
The AYHL has an impressive and ever-growing list of Alums that currently play at higher levels including the ACHA College hockey, NCAA, ECHL, American Hockey League and the NHL. Check out our AYHL alum here.