The U9 Development League (U9-DL) is a partnership between Hockey Calgary and its community member associations in which they operate the Novice age category as a skills based age category.  The U9-DL focuses on skill development and the fundamentals of hockey for kids aged 7 and 8.  The purpose of this league is to address the need for more skill development in the novice age category.  Our goal is to provide a positive environment for learning the fundamentals of hockey and to stimulate interest and desire to continue playing the game of hockey.

The U9-DL is a league in which the associations promote coach, parent, official and player education during the season.  Each player will be evaluated fairly within each association and placed on a team where they are best suited.  Teams are limited to when and how many games they can play.  As a result, players will practice more and play fewer games to increase their skills before playing full ice games compared to that of other age categories.