I coached Timbits and low tier U9 hockey. Do not be afraid to throw your kid into hockey. Good Coaches will ability group the kids and alter the practice plan to put kids in positions to succeed. Also, u7 and u9 should have 20-30 mins of dedicated skating in practice. U7 more fun and u9 more technical.
Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into..
1) Timbits hockey is early (like 6:30 - 8:00 am) on weekends. Would your kids be happy getting up for hockey (one of mine was, one hated it). If he is miserable it wont be a good experience for him.
2) Do not be discouraged if your kids are bottom of the group in Timbits. It does not really matter going forward. The worst kid in Timbits might be the best kid in U11.
3) there is a lot of pressure on parents to put their kids into a million camps to keep up with the Jones's on the team. Its expensive, time consuming and probably wont make a big difference.
4) Coaches, Managers etc. are volunteers and treat them with respect. Some of them can put in 150hrs of Volunteer time.
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