PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA FOR DIVISIONAL PLAYER CHANGES OTHER THAN USA HOCKEY REQUIREMENTS The following guidelines are used by the MAHL for player movement.
The House commissioner will maintain overall player-number balance between all teams and divisions to meet the MAHL Budget. - Player movement can be initiated by the House Commissioner.
- The Executive Committee will maintain final endorsement of all player division changes.
Downward movement is NOT supported nor allowed by USA Hockey. Exception to this would be if a medical condition exists. The player and MAHL will have to have USA Hockey’s permission to allow a player to skate down. Those players who move down to a younger age division will forfeit the right to participate in any MAHA or USA sanctioned tournaments. Player Skate Up Requests USA Hockey Rules permit a player to “play up”, but players should not generally “play up” more than one age classification. For example, an 8 year old player may play up one age group so he/she could play for the 10 and under team, IF the house commissioner and MAHL will allow it to occur. In some cases, based on the skill or size of a player it may be desirable to utilize this option; in other cases it may be best for the player to remain in the lower age group, even thought the child or his/her parents want them to play up. Nothing in USA Hockey’s rules requires an association to allow any player(s) to play up. All such requests must be made in writing to the MAHL House Commissioner by the parents or legal guardian of the player by September 1st of the year the skate up request is for. Decisions on play up requests will be made on a case by case basis. In order to play up, the player must demonstrate a skill level that would place him/her in the upper third of the first year age bracket for the division that the player is requesting to move into. The House commissioner, ACE Director and the head coaches as a group will determine if the individual meets the above criteria during the draft (evaluation) skates. Even if the player demonstrates the skill level to place him/her in the upper third of the first year age bracket for the division that the player is requesting to move into that is not a guarantee the player will be allowed to play up. Other factors such as number of players on a team and the overall competitiveness of the divisions will be taken into account as well. The House Commissioner will have the final say on the play up request. PLAYER MOVEMENT IS DISCOURAGED. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DRAFT PROCEDURES - RECREATIONAL DIVISION MITES THROUGH MIDGETS USA Hockey and MAHA (Michigan Amateur Hockey Association) Rules govern the MAHL draft procedure. DRAFT PROCEDURE REQUIREMENTS - Produce skill balanced teams within each age division so that the Midland teams are as closely matched to each other as can be determined through the draft skates. The draft skates are used by the coaches to evaluate each player’s skill set.
- Provide for the son/daughter of the head coach to be on the same team. Each team is allowed to protect one player for the draft. If the head coach has a son/daughter in the draft, that coach will have to protect their son/daughter.
- Provide for the coach who has little, if any knowledge of the players’ skills to have/select a team that is equivalent in skill to the other teams.
Player Skate Up Requests USA Hockey Rules permit a player to “play up”, but players should not generally “play up” more than one age classification. For example, an 8 year old player may play up one age group so he/she could play for the 10 and under team, IF the house commissioner and MAHL will allow it to occur. In some cases, based on the skill or size of a player it may be desirable to utilize this option; in other cases it may be best for the player to remain in the lower age group, even thought the child or his/her parents want them to play up. Nothing in USA Hockey’s rules requires an association to allow any player(s) to play up. All such requests must be made in writing to the MAHL House Commissioner by the parents or legal guardian one month prior to the draft skates. Decisions on play up requests will be made on a case by case basis. In order to play up, the player must demonstrate a skill level that would place him/her in the upper third of the first year age bracket for the division that the player is requesting to move into. The House commissioner, ACE Director and the head coaches as a group will determine if the individual meets the above criteria during the draft (evaluation) skates. Even if the player demonstrates the skill level to place him/her in the upper third of the first year age bracket for the division that the player is requesting to move into that is not a guarantee the player will be allowed to play up. Other factors such as number of players on a team and the overall competitiveness of the divisions will be taken into account as well. The House Commissioner will have the final say on the play up request. DRAFT PROCEDURE Persons involved at the time of the draft will be the House commissioner and the head coaches (or his designate) of the division teams being selected. In all divisions, the coaches as a group will rank the second year players in sets. This will be done according to the players’ skill level. The number of players in a set will match the number of teams in the division. The first set will be those players that the coaches believe are the most skilled second year players in the division; the next best second year players will be set two; the next best will be set three and so forth, until all second year players have been assigned to a set. The procedure will then be repeated with all first year players. The coaches will then select in an alternating fashion, one name from each set. |