Finland edit
In Finland, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association roughly categorizes youth ice hockey players to under school-ages and school-ages. Players over 16 are considered juniors, although the youngest juniors are still at the school-age.[1]
Ahead of the 2020-21 season, the names of the minor and junior age groups were changed to the to represent the standards used in international competitions and other youth ice hockey leagues.[2]
There is one league level each for the U9 (previously F2) and U10 (F1) age groups, called the Leijonaliiga ('Lion League'), and one league level each for the U11 (E2) and U12 (E1) age groupsl, called sarja ('series,' useage analogous to 'league'). For all U12 and younger age groups, teams are sorted into closed groups of six to twenty teams in which teams exclusively play one another throughout the season; groups are formed from teams within a certain geographic area, in addition to other factors, thus creating the broad variability in number of teams per group.
The U13 (D2), U14 (D1), and U15 (C2) age groups use the A–AA–AAA system common to North America, in which AAA is the highest league level, followed by AA and A.
Listed below are the minor and junior leagues with the old age group designations in parentheses:
- U9 (F2): Leijonaliiga
- U10 (F1): Leijonaliiga
- U11 (E2): sarja
- U12 (E1): sarja
- U13 (D2): A – AA – AAA
- U14 (D1): A – AA – AAA
- U15 (C2): A – AA – AAA
- U16 (C1): Mestis – SM-sarja
- U17 (B2): alempi – ylempi
- U18 (B): Mestis – SM-sarja
- U19 (new age group): alempi – ylempi
- U20 (Nuorten ('Junior') or A): Mestis – SM-sarja
- U22 (new age group): alempi – ylempi
- ^ "Juniorikiekon Ideologia" (in Finnish). Finnish Ice Hockey Association.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)[dead link] - ^ Malmberg, Henna (2019-12-20). "Ikäluokkamerkinnät muuttuvat kansainvälisiksi". Finnish Ice Hockey Association (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-04-13.