Gloucester Rangers Minor Hockey Association oversees the competitive AA/A  and U9 Tier 1 hockey programs within the Gloucester Hockey Association, which makes up District 9 of Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO). The Rangers are a well-established, experienced and respected organization within HEO).

The Rangers field teams from U9 Tier 1 (7-8 year olds) to U18 AA (16-17 year olds). Our teams play in the HEO Minor AA/A Hockey League during the season but also travel to other cities, provinces and the United States for tournaments.

As the premier competitive minor hockey development program within HEO, our Development First Philosophy has really paid dividends season after season. We are the only competitive program within HEO that has a true Development First Philosophy for both our player and our coaches. Our goal is to develop player that will love and respect the Game, respect their coaches and who respect thier opponents. This focus on development has translated to success both on and off the ice for all our teams.

The Rangers serve as the feeder program to the Ottawa Jr. 67’s AAA, Eastern Ontario Wild AAA and the Upper Ottawa Valley Cyclones AAA  hockey programs. The Rangers program draws from the Rep B teams such as the Blues, Leitrum Hawks and Metcalfe Jets.

The pie chart shows how the Ranger Fees are spent.
As you can see the ICE COSTS make up 70% of the cost of the program

U9:   $1,500 - U9 Tier 1
A Teams: $1,800 - U10 - U12 A
AA Teams:    $1,900 -  U11 - U18 AA

This includes what you would have already paid to your home association. For example, if you paid $600 registration to your home association (i.e. Leitrim, Orleans, Metcalfe, Russell, Gloucester Centre or Blackburn) then the balance due to the Rangers when a player is placed on a team would be $900/$1,200/$1,300 depending on the level being played.

In addition to registration fees there are team fees. The average team fees are $1,000 per player - this is just an average, the fees could be higher or lower depending on what the parents approve as the team budget.

Here is an example cost breakdown for a player based upon the three fee categories:

Average team fees - excludes travel for out of town tournaments (hotel, gas, food)

Other expenses include travel, meals and other personal expense for a maximum of 3 out of town tournaments.

While the Rangers are not able to offer financial assistance, we can assist families in accessing funding programs across Ottawa and the country. For more information please contact the Rangers President or the Treasurer.

On average, players can expect to have between 3 and 5 hockey related activities per week. This ranges from games, practices, dry land training, tournaments or other team events. This is just an average and varies from team to team.

In addition to league play, Ranger teams are permitted to attend up to 5 tournaments with a maximum of 3 being out of town.

The Rangers hold an annual tryout process that traditionally takes place in late August and continues through the September Labour Day weekend (dates vary from year to year). Teams start fresh each season – meaning no players are guaranteed roster spots – all players must come to tryouts and compete for a spot on our teams.

During tryouts, each coach will have independent evaluators as well as standard evaluation criteria that they must use to assist them in selecting players for their team. Coaches and evaluators assess things such as skating ability, puck handling, game sense and other intangibles which may include things such as adaptability and attitude (among others).

We strongly recommend during tryouts that players focus on the things they normally do well - play to your strengths. For example, if a players strength is being a stay at home defenseman, they should play that way and not get caught up trying to show they can be a rushing offensive defenseman if that isn’t the type of player they are.

The Rangers program puts the emphasis on development rather than just winning. The coaches in our program know that we are looking for consistency from year to year in what our players are learning so that they continue to develop. To ensure that this happens we have spent several years building our coaching competency base with the help of our partners at Endeavour Sports Group and Goaler U.