Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in North America with regard to several organizations competing in various sports. They generally have lesser fan bases, much smaller revenues and salaries, and are used to develop players for bigger leagues.
The American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) is a college ice hockey association. The ACHA's purpose is to be an organization of collegiate affiliated programs, which provides structure, regulates operations, and promotes quality in collegiate ice hockey. The ACHA currently has three men's and two women's divisions and includes approximately 450 teams from across the United States and Canada. Most ACHA teams offer few athletic scholarships and typically receive far less university funding. The ACHA offers an opportunity for college hockey programs that struggle with large budgets and Title IX issues, as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) financial structure.
Junior ice hockey is amateur-level ice hockey for 15- to 20-year-old players. National Junior teams compete annually for the IIHF World Junior Championship. The United States men's national junior ice hockey team are the defending champions from the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.
The Central Ontario Junior C Hockey League was a junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association. The "Central" played inter-league games with the Empire Junior "C" League. The champion of the Central competed for the All-Ontario Championship and the Clarence Schmalz Cup. The league is now a division in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.
The Streetsville Derbys are a Junior "C" ice hockey team from Streetsville, Ontario, Canada. They are a part of the Provincial Junior Hockey League assigned to the South Conference and in the Bloomfield Division. The Derbys joined the PJHL as an expansion franchise for the 2024-25 season. The Streetsville Derbys were a Junior "A" ice hockey team and part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2011 until they merged into the Cobourg Cougars.
The Clarence Schmalz Cup is the Ontario Hockey Association's Junior "C" ice hockey championship and championship trophy. The champions of the Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) are awarded the Cup. The PJHL was formed in 2016 from the former 8 provincial leagues that previously competed in a tournament, commonly called the All-Ontario Championships, to determine the winner of the Cup.
College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America.
Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States—in Pennsylvania and Michigan—and in Canada around 1900. Professional ice hockey expanded across Canada and the United States and eventually to many other countries. There are major leagues around the world, including the National Hockey League in North America, the Kontinental Hockey League in Europe and Asia, and the Swedish Hockey League in Europe, as well as minor leagues such as the American Hockey League and ECHL in North America, and the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey in Canada. High-level professional hockey is also present in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland and Switzerland; professional hockey is also played in many other countries, as diverse as Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Australia and Japan. The major professional women's league is the Professional Women's Hockey League, which began play in 2024.
The Dundas Blues are a junior ice hockey team based in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Bloomfield Division of the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association.
Kira Hurley is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Hurley was born in Toronto, Ontario. She is credited with being the first female goalie ever to register a point in a men's professional game.
The United States ice hockey structure includes elements from traditional American scholastic high school and college athletics, affiliated and independent minor leagues, the unique "major junior" leagues, as well as other various amateur junior and youth hockey leagues. The hierarchy of the ice hockey league system forms a pyramid with many regional minor and development leagues making up the base of the pyramid and a linear progression through the professional minor leagues leading to the National Hockey League at the top of the pyramid.
The new Jersey Jr Bears are a USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier III Junior A ice hockey team from Flemington, Pennsylvania. They play in the South Conference of the Eastern Hockey League (EHL). For the 2024-35 season the Bears are adding a team to the Premier (EHLP).
The Provincial Junior Hockey League (PJHL) is a Canadian junior ice hockey league spanning parts of Southern Ontario. The PJHL is the third tier of the Ontario Hockey Association and is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation and Hockey Canada. The league was formed in 2016 with the merging of eight Junior C leagues. PJHL teams compete for the Clarence Schmalz Cup.
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
