Mite and U8 players are required to wear the following equipment:

• Certified Helmet and facemask
• Mouth guard (trim with scissors and mold to teeth to make it comfortable)
• Shoulder pads
• Elbow pads (make sure they don't slip up or down)
• Cup/pelvic protector
• Knee/Shin pads
• Hockey socks and garter (some cups include a pair of shorts with velcro to hold socks up, so no garter in this case)
• Breezers (pants)
• Skates (hockey skate boot. Stiff ankle support when laced tight).
• Gloves (hockey gloves. need the hard thumb protection offered by a hockey glove, in particular)
• Stick
  • if buying for first time and your child does not appear to hold a stick naturally one way or the other, try the dominant hand (hand kid throws with) at top of stick.
  • if throws right, buy left-handed stick.
  • if throws left, buy right-handed stick.
    • Otherwise you can try a straight stick, but the above rule-of-thumb for curved sticks usually works for kids who have not developed a preference either way, and a curved stick will help your kid hold onto the puck.
  • Cut the stick at the nose when child is wearing tennis shoes.
    • hold the stick against the front of the body with the bottom tip of the blade on the floor when standing straight. Mark the shaft of the stick where it touches the nose.
    • Cut the stick there.
    • DO NOT put a knob on the stick!
      • file or sand the cut edge.
      • put a layer or two of tape at the end to prevent glove wear and to provide a little friction for gripping with the top hand.
      • Your child should grip the stick such that the end of the stick rests against the base of the palm of the top hand, with the thumb and forefinger forming a 'V' on the shaft as the child looks down at the hand (much like a golf grip) A large knob prevents this, and motivates holding the stick like a baseball bat, which is NOT correct.
        • Imagine batting with the knob of the bat in your palm. This is how we want to hold the hockey stick with the top hand. A knob makes this difficult, so we don't want a baseball bat-like knob on our hockey sticks.
  • Stick Purchase recommendations: $25 neighborhood
    • Look for pattern names in the list below on any number of wooden Youth sticks. We do NOT recommend the Junior sticks (smallest shaft). Junior sticks tend to roll in the hand and thus do not promote good grip development.
      • The patterns describe the curve of the stick and the "lie" of the blade against the ice. A good lie is most important, as it prevents the puck from slipping under the stick. To keep it simple, even for the less expensive wooden sticks, look for the pattern names on the "$50 and up" list. These patterns work well in the hands of small kids.
        • For example, Montreal makes some $25 youth sticks with "European" patterns that are ideal for Mites.
  • Stick purchase recommendations: best-in-class sticks ($50 and up).
    • Most Mite 1's, Mite 2's, and many Mite 3's will not benefit much from these sticks, as power shooting is not possible until good balance is acheived, but here is information if you want to buy the best possible stick technology for your child.
    • Hockey stick technology has advanced greatly over the past decade, so much so that it has changed the way we coach passing and shooting. We follow the advice or our resident shooting and puck-work expert, Scott Bjugstad in recommending the following sticks. Some of these sticks (one-piece or shaft-and-blade combinations) will appear expensive, relative to a wood stick nearby on the rack. However, these composite sticks will last years at the mite level, and can be extended with a long wooden plug as your child grows.
      • Mite stick recomendations are all junior 50 flex or 52 flex depending on the company. These flex and pattern recommendations work well for our small stature mites...
        • Bauer vapor xx or xxx Lindro's pattern.
        • Easton Synergy SL (Red Bottom grip) Iginla Pattern.
        • Warrior Dolimite Draper Pattern.
        • Bauer Vapor XV shaft, Montreal M55 European Pattern (Wood Blade)
  • Older mites, we do focus on developing stick skills (puck handling, passing, shooting). We are pleased to have Scott Bjugstad active in our mite program to advise us. However, we spend most of our time on skating skills, so focussed one-on-one shooting and puck-work instruction is not a consistent focus for the Mite program. In fact, it is difficult for us to accomplish because one-on-one time is nearly impossible with so many kids on the ice.
    • If you are interested in focussed, expert, one-on-one stick work and shooting training, consider Scott's program at www.scottbjugstad.com. Scott runs his program as a private business, and it is not affiliated with Stillwater Area Hockey. However, he runs a local, high-quality program that we recommend to anyone interested in this sort of training. Good balance is a prerequisite for learning the finer points of shooting and stick work, so this training is most valuable to older mites and up. If you are interested, ask Scott what programs are appropriate for your child.