What is the USA Hockey Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) concept?
A – USA Hockey has seen the numbers of quality players from the US participating at the NHL level remain stagnant for many years. As a result it instituted studies to determine why small hockey programs in areas such as Sweden and Finland are consistently able to turn out top quality hockey players in disproportionate numbers relative to the United States. These studies have resulted in a new initiative announced recently by USA Hockey designed to take the vast numbers of players and resources available in the US and provide a training program modeled after other successful programs in other countries and in other sports in order to develop the USA Hockey player pool to a much higher level. USA Hockey’s research has shown that by adhering to a set of basic principles, these goals can be met. This program is voluntary but RHI is signing on. Because of our smaller player base compared to other programs across the country, some slight variations will be necessary but the training concepts
