USA Hockey sets Boys National 15 camp in Amherst, New York

USA Hockey’s Boys National 15 Camp ran July 15-21 at The Northtown Center at Amherst, putting 2011-born players in Amherst, New York, for the first national checkpoint in the youth-to-junior pipeline. The Boys National 15 Goalie Camp followed July 13-15, and all games from the 2026 boys and girls camps streamed on USAHockeyTV.com.

The Amherst stop was part of a wider summer slate that began June 25 for the boys in Amherst and July 13 for the girls in Oxford, Ohio. USA Hockey has run its Player Development Camps since 1977, and the boys program includes national camps for ages 15, 16 and 17, plus the separate goalie camp for 15-year-olds.

USA Hockey built the 15 camp around age-appropriate on-ice and off-ice work from elite instructors, with the players skating against peers from around the country instead of local competition. The on-ice block includes drills, small-area games and competitions that force quick reads in tight spaces. Off the ice, the program adds strength and conditioning, team-building, mental skills, nutrition education and classroom sessions.

USHL and NTDP scouts track the event early in the pipeline. A 15-year-old is still a projection, but Amherst gives staff and scouts a first national look at who can play fast, think fast and keep pace as the game tightens up. The goalie camp ran July 13-15 for 2011-born netminders before the main camp began.

The Northtown Center at Amherst has three NHL regulation ice pads and one Olympic-size ice pad, and it has hosted multiple USA Hockey national championships over the years.