Most sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students use the weekends as a chance to relax from school, have fun with friends, and get some homework done. But for the players of the Wareham Jr. Vikings, Friday and Sunday nights from September to April mean hockey.

The Jr. Vikings is the middle school level of Gateway Youth Hockey, a program open to all kids in the South Coast, including Wareham, Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and the surrounding areas.

Gateway Youth Hockey, which currently calls Tabor Academy in Marion its home rink, has players from kindergarten to middle school in a variety of skill levels. The Jr. Vikings take on 11 other Massachusetts teams in the Jr. High League at the Foxboro Sports Center.

This season began in September. The Jr. Vikings are currently at 4 wins, 7 losses, and 2 ties. Coach Howie Ladd said he is quite happy with the standings, as the team suffered a series of tough losses last season.

"We've already won more games so far this season than we did all of last season," Ladd said, adding that he's proud of and impressed with what the boys have accomplished.

The Jr. Vikings are also gaining a bit more of an identity, with jerseys that now say "Wareham Jr. Vikings" instead of "Gateway Youth Hockey."

The team received its blue "away" jerseys at the beginning of the summer and will be getting its white "home" jerseys soon.

"They're still part of Gateway Youth Hockey... but now they have a little bit more pride," Ladd said of the jersey change.

Ladd, who has been playing hockey since 1964, is in his third year of coaching in the Jr. Vikings. He has also coached Middleboro Chiefs for 10 years.

"I just enjoy coaching," he said, adding that he is not related to any of the Jr. Vikings and only coaches for the love of the sport.

On Dec. 11 the Jr. Vikings played a scrimmage against Ladd's Middleboro team, something the coach says he "loves" to do.

"We try to teach them there's more to life than hockey," he explained, saying that it's a good way for the boys to make friends with other hockey players off the ice.

But Ladd doesn't have to worry about his two teams going head-to-head in a regular season game because they're in separate divisions in the Jr. High League. Wareham is currently in the C division, though Ladd hopes to raise the team through the ranks in the future. Middleboro plays two steps above in the B1 division.

Kathy Atkinson, whose son Alex plays on the Jr. Vikings, said the people who run program are excellent and she's pleased that they make sure the boys get as much time on the ice as they possibly can.

"It's a really positive experience as a parent," she said.

Alex, an eighth grader at Wareham Middle School who has been playing on Gateway Youth Hockey teams for the past four years, agreed that his experiences as a player on the team have been very valuable.

Not only has he made friends with his teammates, but he has had the opportunity to help out with the younger hockey players on the mites, squirts, and pee-wee teams.

"I'm having a lot of fun playing too," Alex added.

Currently the Jr. Vikings are an all-boys team, but Ladd said he wishes the team had some girls on the roster. The team will accept any girls who want to play.

The Jr. Vikings team not only provides middle school students a chance to play hockey, but benefits the high school team in the long run.

Ben Hathaway, Wareham High School hockey coach and Gateway Youth Hockey president, said that in the past the high school hockey team lost many good players to graduation and didn't have enough new players coming in to replace them.

"We're going to have a lot of kids in the next three to four years," Hathaway said.

Playoffs begin in mid-April. The C division teams will face off in groups of four based on their rankings, meaning even if the Jr. Vikings are ranked in the bottom four, the team will still have the opportunity to take part in a playoff game.

"It's huge for the program," Ladd said of the team's guaranteed spot in the playoffs. "It gives the kids something to work for."