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Key Rule Changes from 2018-19 USA Hockey Annual Congress

By Mass Hockey, 07/31/18, 6:00AM EDT

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Each June, some of the members of Massachusetts Hockey Board of Directors take part in the USA Hockey Annual Congress in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This meeting is attended by USA Hockey’s board of directors and staff, representatives from every affiliate across the country, NHL teams’ youth hockey and fan development staff and more.

During this year’s Congress, USA Hockey shared that they had another record breaking year for participation – 562,145 players were part of the organization in the 2017-18 season. Of that number, a record 122,135 were at the 8U level and girls’ participation levels continue to be particularly impressive. USA Hockey also finished with a record 1,178,711 players, coaches, officials, volunteers and parents that were part of the organization in 2017-18. See Full Membership Statistics by clicking here.

Throughout each day various committees met to discuss their areas of responsibility. Daily Town Halls also help set the agenda for the upcoming season. The Girls Section, Youth Council, Coaches Section, Junior Council, and many others gathered to iron out new ideas for growth, rules, support, and programming to help our constituents grow and improve our game as well as ways to keep our players safe.

A few key rule changes were born from these intense discussions and voted on and approved during the USA Hockey Board of Director’s Sunday morning meeting:

 

  • There will be a mandatory 30-day suspension for any coach not wearing a helmet on the ice during a USA Hockey event.

 

  • This rule change effects Tier II Girls’ hockey play up rule for 12U to 14U. The rule that was passed for the 2017-18 season did not allow any 12U players to play up on a 14U nationally bound team. This rule now states that for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons for Girls 14U Tier II only, an affiliate can allow up to 3 players that are 12 years of age for the current season as defined by age classification chart to be rostered on a 14U team if the younger players are needed to field that team with a roster size recommended by the ADM or there is no 12U team available in the local geographic area.

 

More information on USA Hockey’s Annual Congress can be found by clicking here.

Thank you to Amateur Hockey Association Illinois, Inc. (AHAI) for providing a wonderful original breakdown, to see more click here.


2018 USAH Annual Congress News & Documents

To review the committee reports, minutes, elections, legislative synopsis and more that were reported click on this link.


2018 USAH LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALs

This link will connect you to the full language and submission for the 2018 USAH Legislative Proposals that were voted on at the 2018 USA Hockey Annual Congress.


2018 USA HOCKEY LEGISLATIVE SYNOPSIS SUMMARY (Document):

The below document is the 2018 USA Hockey Legislative Summary in Excel document format.


2018 USA Hockey Legislative Synopsis Summary:

The language below is a short summary of the Legislative Proposals that were voted on at the 2018 USA Hockey Annual Congress. If you would like to see the complete language for any of the proposals, please click on the provided links above.

# PROPOSAL TITLE ANNUAL GUIDE DESCRIPTION STATUS SUBMITTED BY REFERRED TO
1 Adult # 1 Rules & Regulations Moves Women's A, B and C into Adult classification Withdrawn Kaufman, Gustafson, Knauss, Laing Girls'/Women's Section, Adult Council & Youth Council
2 Adult # 2 Bylaws Allows 2 Section Directors to be elected from entire ACHA membership rather than current separation by division Approved Adult Council Adult Council
3 Coaches # 1 Rules & Regulations Mandatory 30 day suspension for coach not wearing helmet during practice Approved Safety & Protective Committee Coaching Section, Youth Council & SPEC
4 Coaches #2 Rules & Regulations Clarifies SafeSport requirements for coaches 18 and over Approved Coaching Section & SafeSport
5 Disabled Hockey #1 Rules & Regulations Adds minimum disability requirements, age guidelines and roster rules for sled hockey, and addressing able bodied players Approved Disabled Hockey Section Disabled Hockey Section, Youth Council & Registrars
6 Disabled Hockey #2 Rules & Regulations Allows for persons to assist disabled hockey coaches or players on able bodied teams Approved Disabled Hockey Section Disabled Hockey Section, Risk Management & Coaching
7 Disabled Hockey #3 Rules & Regulations Adds a representative to Section from blind/visually impaired discipline Approved Disabled Hockey Section Disabled Hockey Section
8 Girls'/Women's # 1 Rules & Regulations To allow for inclusion of more players in Senior C Women's division Withdrawn Jean Laxton & Eliza Ollinger Girls'/Women's Section & Adult Council
9 Girls'/Women's # 2 Rules & Regulations To allow for Women's players to play in a division that better suits their current hockey abilities Approved Kaufman, Gustafson, Knauss, Laing Girls'/Women's Section & Adult Council
10 Girls'/Women's # 3 Rules & Regulations Moves Women's A, B and C into Adult classification Withdrawn Kaufman, Gustafson, Knauss, Laing Girls'/Women's Section, Adult Council & Youth Council
11 Girls'/Women's # 4 Rules & Regulations To provide Senior Women and Tier II girls teams additional time to signify intention to enter teams in nationals Approved Girl's / Women's Section Girls'/Women's Section & Registrars
12 Girls'/Women's # 5 Rules & Regulations To provide opportunities for 12U female players to play on girls teams in geographic areas with low registration numbers Approved Girl's / Women's Section Girls'/Women's Section, Youth Council & Registrars
13 Girls'/Women's # 6 Rules & Regulations To remove language allowing waivers for players under 18 to play adult women's hockey Approved Girl's / Women's Section Girls'/Women's Section, Adult Council & Registrars
14 Girls'/Women's # 7 Rules & Regulations To clarify the age for players eligibility to play on teams pursuing a national championship Died, lack of motion Brian Reid Girls'/Women's Section, Youth Council & Registrars
15 Juniors # 1 Rules & Regulations Modifies Tier III Junior Standards Withdrawn Denny Scanlon/NA3HL Junior Council
16 Juniors # 2 Rules & Regulations Provides that no refund is due to a player that leaves for a non-sanctioned team Withdrawn Denny Scanlon/NA3HL Junior Council & Legal Council
17 Juniors # 3 Rules & Regulations Allows for a Junior Council subcommittee to address expansion requests Defeated John Vanbiesbrouck Junior Council & Legal Council
18 Juniors # 4 Rules & Regulations Confirms that Tier I and II expansion is still subject to USAH approval Approved John Vanbiesbrouck Junior Council
19 Juniors # 5 Rules & Regulations Addresses refund due for player that is released/cut by his Tier III Junior team Approved John Vanbiesbrouck Junior Council
20 Juniors # 6 (Approved at Winter Meeting) Rules & Regulations Removes Tier I standards from Annual Guide and moves toward league sanctioning agreement Approved John Vanbiesbrouck Junior Council & Legal Council
21 Juniors # 7 Rules & Regulations Changes Tier II probationary status to provisional, and removes ability for Junior Council to allow exceptions Approved Mark Frankenfeld/NAHL Junior Council
22 Juniors # 8 Rules & Regulations Allows for Tier II expansion requests to be kept confidential Approved Mark Frankenfeld/NAHL Junior Council
23 Juniors # 9 Rules & Regulations Provides a protected radius of 75 miles for all Tier II Junior teams Defeated Mark Frankenfeld/NAHL Junior Council & Legal Council
24 Juniors #10 Rules & Regulations Tryouts for Tier II Junior may begin after Tier II nationals (removes reference to Tier III nationals) Withdrawn Mark Frankenfeld/NAHL Junior Council
25 Juniors # 11 Rules & Regulations Increases lower age limit for Junior subject to exceptions for Tier I and II Defeated Joseph Kolodziej Junior Council & Youth Council
26 Juniors # 12 Rules & Regulations Modifies Player Rights Rules and Responsibilities to address timing for refunds and payments due Withdrawn Mark Kumpel Junior Council
27 Juniors # 13 Rules & Regulations Provides for an injured reserve list for Tier II Junior Approved Denny Scanlon/NA3HL Junior Council
28 Juniors # 14 Rules & Regulations Creates a Tier III A classification Withdrawn Denny Scanlon/NA3HL Junior Council
29 Legal # 1 Policies Removes Confidentiality Policy from Conflict of Interest and creates a separate policy Approved Charles Fuertsch Legal Council
30 Legal # 2 Bylaws Provides that an Affiliate may charge a reasonable fee for appeals Approved Charles Fuertsch Legal Council
31 Legal # 3 Bylaws Clarifies Bylaw 10 does not apply to all civil matters -- not just personal injury Approved Charles Fuertsch Legal Council
32 Legal #4 Bylaws Allows for Executive Committee to submit legislative proposals after review of submissions from public Approved Bill Hall Legal Council
33 Legal # 5 Policies Modifies the Conflict of Interest Policy (rewrite and update to present circumstances) Approved Charles Fuertsch Legal Council
34 Legal # 6 Bylaws Allows for emergency board meetings so long as 90% of Directors waive 15 day notice requirement Approved Bill Hall Legal Council
35 Legal #7 Bylaws Provides for length of term for District Section representatives that are elected and makes them consistent Approved Bill Hall Legal Council, Girls'/Women's, High School and Disabled Hockey Sections
36 Officials # 1 Rules & Regulations Recognizes current officials registration process & creates "tenured" status for level 3/4 officials with 3 years at that level Approved Officials Section Officials Section & Legal Council
37 Officials # 2 Policies Updates the Zero Tolerance Policy Approved Officials Section Officials Section & Playing Rules Committee
38 SafeSport # 1 Policies Clarifies jurisdiction over members for SafeSport Approved Charles Fuertsch Legal Council & SafeSport
39 Youth # 1 Rules & Regulations To align language with current practice for Nationals Approved National Championships Committee Youth Council
40 Youth # 2 Rules & Regulations To modify fee determination for District tournaments Approved Mike Mulhall Youth Council
41 Youth # 3 Rules & Regulations Requires Tier I District tournaments to occur after January 1st to support full season programs Approved Glenn Hefferan Youth Council
42 Youth # 4 Rules & Regulations Requires Youth and Girls National Tournament bound Tier I teams to be full season Withdrawn Glenn Hefferan Youth Council
43 Youth #5 Rules & Regulations To raise competitive standards for Tier I National Tournament Bound teams (requiring more games to qualify for nationals) Withdrawn Glenn Hefferan Youth Council
44 Youth # 6 Rules & Regulations To clarify that the Youth classification is not restricted to male players Approved Don Gould Youth Council, Girls'/Women's Section & Registrars
45 Youth # 7 Rules & Regulations Housekeeping regarding definition of a game in a National Tournament Withdrawn Mike Mulhall Youth Council

Proposals below were passed by Executive Committee for ratification by the Board of Directors:

# PROPOSAL TITLE ANNUAL GUIDE DESCRIPTION STATUS SUBMITTED BY REFERRED TO
46 Junior #15 Rules & Regulations Removal of January 15 deadline for transfer of non-US citizens, making transfer dates and deadlines the same for all players. Approved Junior Council Junior Council
47 Junior #16 Rules & Regulations Upon entry into a Tier II League Sanctioning Agreement, removes Tier II standards from Annual Guide and moves to league sanctioning agreement Approved John Vanbiesbrouck Junior Council
48 Junior #17 Rules & Regulations To align with the number of affiliate players the USHL currently has on their affiliate player list. Approved International Council Junior Council