Below is our 2023-24 Fall Focus Conditioning Camp schedule along with our tryout and placement schedules.  Our pre-season camps are a great way for your player to get back on the ice so that he/she is ready for the upcoming Fall Season.  St. Jude's hockey staff has created an up-tempo and rigorous instruction plan to advance the skills for each of our Knights players.

As a reminder, all players will need new USA Hockey Insurance for the 2023-24 season before they are able to register for any of our St. Jude programs this season.  The new insurance is valid now (from date of purchase) through August 31, 2024.  When registering for your USA Hockey Insurance,  please be sure to list your players FULL name.  Thank you!

To help evaluate players abilities at this age level, the Junior Knights will participate in a comprehensive assessment of their skills and current abilities at a pre-season “All Mites Focus Camp” that will span six sessions throughout August. The assessment camp will be offered by the St. Jude Knights Hockey Club, and all participants must have USA Hockey membership and insurance in order to participate in the camp.

Directors and coaches will use the first session to place players into initial assessment groups and may redistribute players throughout the duration of the camp to ensure that players are appropriately challenged and playing with and against players of similar skill and experience levels. The coaches will assess each player’s core hockey skills such as skating, stops, turns, crossovers, and stickhandling throughout the camp. At the conclusion of the camp, players will be recommended for either our Travel level program assessment on Sept. 2nd or House level program placement on Sept. 9th based upon performance during the 'All Mites Focus Camp."  

The "All Mites Focus and Assessment Camp" is offered by the St. Jude Knights Hockey Club and can be purchased through its website. The cost of the camp is $275 which includes six sessions and either Travel tryouts or House placements fee included. Players who register before August 1, 2023, will receive an early-bird discount and will be charged only $250.  In addition, St. Jude will waive the tryout fee ($100) for all mite focus camp participants.

For those players wishing to only attend tryouts/placements a fee of $100 will be assessed during registration. 

Please note that all participants in the Mite Focus & Assessment Camp MUST have USA Hockey Insurance.

Players who anticipate trying out for travel-level teams that will compete in the Northern Illinois Hockey League or Central States Development Hockey League at the Squirt through Midget levels are encouraged to register for the Travel Focus Camp.  

In addition, St. Jude will waive the travel tryout fee for all travel focus camp participants. If a player is not selected for any travel level team, the player may also participate in the NWHL placement sessions at no additional charge. 

Players who register before August 1, 2023, will receive an early-bird discount. 

All players must be registered prior to the session date to be allowed entrance on the ice. No walk-ins will be accepted.

Skater Fees

• Focus Camp w/ Tryout - $480 (early bird discount 5%)
• Tryout Only Fee - $275
• Midget Tryout Only Fee - $75

Goalie Fees 

• Focus Camp w/ Tryout - $240
• Tryout Only Fee - $140
• Midget Tryout Only Fee - $35

Players who anticipate playing on a house-level team that will compete in the Northwest Hockey League (NWHL) are encouraged to register for the House Focus Camp.  In addition, St. Jude will waive the House placement fee for all House Focus Camp participants.

Players who register before August 1, 2023, will receive an early-bird discount. 

All players MUST be registered prior to the session date to be allowed entrance on the ice.  NO walk-ins will be accepted.

Skater Fees

• Focus Camp w/ Placements - $480 (early bird discount 5%)
• Placement Only Fee - $175

Goalie Fees 

• Focus Camp w/ Placements  - $240
• Placement Only Fee - $90

Girl players who anticipate trying out for the 12U girls team are encouraged to register for the six 12U Girls Focus Camp sessions. In addition, St. Jude will waive the travel tryout fee for all travel focus camp participants. If a player is not selected for an all-girls team, the player may also participate in all co-ed NIHL or NWHL placement sessions at no additional charge. 

Players who register before August 1, 2023, will receive an early-bird discount. 

All players must be registered prior to the session date to be allowed entrance on the ice. No walk-ins will be accepted.

Skater Fees

• Focus Camp w/ Tryout - $480 (early bird discount 5%)
• Tryout Only Fee - $275

Goalie Fees 

• Focus Camp w/ Tryout - $240
• Tryout Only Fee - $140

Full checking is allowed at the Bantam level (Birth Years 2009 & 2010) for teams competing in both the NWHL and NIHL.  Be advised, if a player is playing on a co-ed Bantam team in NIHL, they are required to show proof of participation in checking clinics prior to the start of the season.

It is mandatory that players at this level participate in at least two hours of checking clinic (2 of our 4 on ice sessions).  This will ensure that players are prepared to both receive and deliver a check on the ice.

Players who have previously taken a checking clinic at St. Jude may take this clinic again should they choose.  All checking clinic dates will cost $25 per session selection.  Any player who registers for the clinic (whether a first-time participant or repeat participant) may attend only the sessions selected during registration.  It is required for all new bantam players to participate in a minimum of 2 hours of checking clinic prior to participation in game play.

The checking clinic is open to all Bantam (14U) and PeeWee (12U) players.

All players MUST register prior to the session date to be allowed on the ice.  NO walk-ins will be accepted.

St. Jude will be offering a pre-season summer conditioning camp for our National Bound 14U and 19U Girls teams. These camps will focus on endurance training while working on the core skills of edge work, stride and stick handling. 

Camp Fees

• Skater - $205
• Goalies - $100

Each team has been pre-registered for their team tournaments for the 2023-2024 season. These pre-selected tournaments are set and no changes will be made for these teams. All teams are eligible to register and participate for additional tournament given they are under their age groups game limits as determined by AHAI and the team agrees to participate and provide the fees for the event selected. 

Girls Team Tournaments (2 tournaments included in player fees)

12U Girls NIHL

1. CCM Girls World Invite - Nov. 10-12
2. Michigan Girls Showdown - Nov. 17-19

14U Girls NIHL

1. CCM Girls World Invite - Nov. 10-12
2. Michigan Girls Showdown - Nov. 17-19

19U Girls NIHL

1. CCM Girls World Invite - Nov. 10-12
2. Michigan Girls Showdown - Nov. 17-19

Travel Teams Tournaments (2 tournaments included in player fees)

8U D1 CUHL

1. UHT Monster Mash Wisconsin - Oct. 27-29
2. Windy City Classic - Jan. 12-14

8U D2 CUHL

1. UHT Monster Mash Wisconsin - Oct. 27-29
2. Windy City Classic - Jan. 12-14

10U AA CSDHL (2013 birth year)

1. CCM Michigan Classic - Sept. 8-10
2. CCM Nations Cup - Nov. 24-26

10U A NIHL

1. UHT Monster Mash Wisconsin - Oct. 27-29
2. Windy City Classic - Jan. 12-14

12U AA NIHL (2011 birth year)

1. CCM Michigan Classic - Sept. 8-10
2. CCM Nations Cup - Nov. 24-26

12U A NIHL

1. Mad City Veterans Cup - Nov. 3-5
2. Windy City Classic - Jan. 12-14

14U A NIHL

1. Mad City Veterans Cup - Nov. 3-5
2. Windy City Classic - Jan. 12-14

House Teams Tournaments (1 tournament included in player fees)

8U CUHL

1. UHT Monster Mash Wisconsin - Oct. 27-29

10U B NWHL

1. Mad City Veterans Cup - Nov. 3-5

12U B NWHL

1. Mad City Veterans Cup - Nov. 3-5

14U B NWHL

1. Mad City Veterans Cup - Nov. 3-5

All players must be registered on-line at www.stjudehockey.org. If you have any questions about how to register, please contact Shannon Brown - sbrown.stjudehockey@gmail.com.

REGISTRATION PROCESS

Step 1: All players must have USA Hockey Insurance for the 2023-2024 season to play hockey at St. Jude. No player will be allowed to play or tryout without proof of this insurance. To register for this insurance, visit www.usahockeyregistration.com 

USA Hockey Membership/Insurance Directions:

Once at the USA Hockey Registration website, click on the “Register Now” Button. Choose Ice Player/Coach and follow the directions on the screen to complete the registration process

Step 2: On the St. Jude website, log in using your username and password. If you have not registered for a St. Jude program in the past, you will need to complete the steps for setting up a St. Jude account. If you do not remember your password, you can click the ‘forgot password’ link and enter your email address.

Step 3: Click on the registration link for the 2023-2024 Fall Focus Camp.  

Please note that prices above do not include the Fall Focus Camp, tryouts/placements, raffle tickets,  and outfitting needs are separate from player fees.

Player fees include weekly practice & power skate ice, weekly travel goalie instruction, league and referee fees, preseason/regular season game ice, tournament fees (2 per team travel/ 1 per team house), coaching staff salaries, state tournament entry fee for eligible teams, a Chicago Blackhawks game ticket per player and pre-season kick off event on August 19th. 

Please be advised any player with outstanding fees from any prior season will not be allowed to participate in the Fall Focus Camps and Tryouts until the balance is settled. In addition, the outstanding debt will be forwarded to AHAI, jeopardizing that player’s eligibility with any hockey club in Illinois.

The 2023-24 season player fees must be paid in full prior to the playoffs. Any player not in good standing will be ineligible for playoffs.  Families who have not paid the full balance of their ice bill will be forwarded to AHAI.  Please know that we do our best to keep prices as low as possible.  Fees not paid places an added burden on the club and St. Jude families in the future.  

All payment arrangements for 2023-24 season fees will be completed before your child participates in his/her first practice. Families will receive an email after tryouts/placements offering a spot on a team. Families will complete the online registration process and submit the first monthly payment prior to participating in the first team practice. 

Payment options include:

• A paid in full by check or cash at rostering day to be eligible for a 5% discount
• Pay in full by credit/debit card, 3% discount
• Payment plan of five monthly payments

**credit card processing fees apply

All players must be registered in the system prior to participating in team activities. If paying in full, please contact Shannon Brown (sbrown.stjudehockey@gmail.com) for registration code.

Goalie Fees: All goalies will receive a 50% reduction in fees. Due to this automatic reduction in goalie fees, all other discounts mentioned above are not applicable. 

Non-sufficient Funds Fee: If one of your checks is returned from the bank for non-sufficient funds, an additional fee of $50 per incident will be charged.

Declined Credit/Debit Card Fee: If your credit/debit card is declined for any reason including expiration, you will receive an email notification and have the opportunity to update the data on the website. Failure to do so may result in the subsequent need for collections activity by St. Jude (including but not limited to phone calls, emails, certified letters, etc.) Late payments, denied credit/debit card charges, or unpaid balances during the season that are not addressed in a timely manner could result in the player being suspended from the ice.  

St. Jude is always looking for innovative solutions to help people make hockey more affordable. Here are a few ways to reduce your ice bill.

MULTIPLE PLAYER / FAMILY DISCOUNT

The multi-family discount is applied to all lesser ice bills where the highest ice bill is paid in full. This discount is 10%. 

Please Note: Players in Little Knights / Learn-To-Skate Programs are also eligible for this discount.

PAY-IN-FULL DISCOUNT

Those who pay their bill in full via cash/check will receive a 5% discount on their ice bill. 

Those who pay their bill in full via credit card  will receive a 3% discount on their ice bill.

This does not include goalies, Little Knights/ADM or Learn to Skate programs.

50% of all website ads and newsletter ads sold will be deducted from your ice bill. The final deadline for submitting ads is January 1, 2024. Ad credits will be applied after your final payment. Please give all completed program/ad contracts and checks made payable to “St. Jude Knights Hockey Club” to your team manager or mail them to Southwest Ice Arena, Attn: St. Jude Hockey Organization. Should you have any questions please contact Shannon Brown at sbrown.stjudehockey@gmail.com for more information pertaining to the website and newsletter.

ST. JUDE RAFFLE CREDITS

St. Jude members participate in a raffle fundraiser which will be explained in more detail later. Each family is required to purchase/sell $100 worth of raffle tickets at the day of rostering. 50% of all additional raffle tickets purchased will be applied after your final payment. Many families have saved hundreds of dollars off of their ice bill by purchasing additional raffle tickets. For more information regarding the raffle, please contact Meaghan Hansen at m.hansen0308@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER SERVICE CREDITS

At the discretion of the Board of Directors, St. Jude may award volunteer service credits to members who provide outstanding service to the club.