Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy Teams Approved for 2025-26 Tier I Status
WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee Wild and Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy, proud members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL), are excited and honored to announce that the program will again field four USA Hockey Tier I teams in the 2025-26 season. Tier I designation means that all four programs will be eligible for USA Hockey’s year-end district and national tournaments.
The Academy teams’ Tier I status for 2025-26 was approved earlier this month. The four teams representing the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy are the program’s 14-and-under (14U), 15-only (15O), 16-and-under (16U) and 18-and-under (18U) teams. The 14U and 15O teams compete as part of Wenatchee’s weekend program, in which players play and practice on weekends, and return home to attend school and live with their families during the week. The 16U and 18U teams are fully-billeted programs, in which players stay with host families during the season like their WHL counterparts, and attend classes during the week at Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee. The Academy fields Washington state’s only 15O team, one of its three Tier I 14U programs, and one of the state’s two teams at the Tier I 16U and 18U levels.
“We are excited to be the only program in the state that offers all four teams at the Tier I level, from 14U to 18U,” said Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy director Troy Mick. “The players have a great development path here in Wenatchee. You can start here at the 14U level, and play all the way to 18U. We are also the only program to have a WHL team in our building, with the Wenatchee Wild, so the exposure to high-level hockey is phenomenal. That in itself is a great learning tool for development.”
The 2025-26 season will be the third for the Academy as a full member of the CSSHL, widely considered Canada’s top education-based hockey league. The Wild Hockey Academy’s 18U and 16U teams both take part in full CSSHL competition schedules, while the Academy’s 14U and 15O teams are periodically invited to appear as guest teams at league showcases. This season, 39 accredited programs in Canada and the northwestern United States are fielding a total of 124 teams across eight different CSSHL divisions.
Tryout dates and registration details for the program’s 2025-26 teams will be announced early next week. For more information on the Wenatchee Wild Hockey Academy, or for more information on billeting a Wenatchee Wild or Wild Hockey Academy player, visit the program’s website at WenatcheeWildDevelopmentTeams.com.