Atlantic District Seeking To Restrict 15 & 16 Year Olds From Playing Juniors
2007-01-06

This letter to inform you, that the Atlantic District (AAHA), the governing body for hockey in this area, has set forth a amendment to USA Hockey’s regulations that will ban players who are 15 and 16 years old from participating in Junior Hockey Programs nationwide.

This proposed amendment was placed on the agenda for the Hockey winter meetings which will take place on January 18th and 19th in Orlando , Fl.

This amendment, if passed, will remove your rights as a parent and or a player to choose where you can play. In effect, it will restrict you to the current Youth programs and leagues the you are now a part of

The Jr. Patriots along with many other programs have invested years in developing a tiered structure to allow the younger players to develop at the Junior C and Junior B levels , preparing them for advancement to higher level Junior Programs or College Programs. Allowing the amendment to pass, you will defeat the mission of the Junior Hockey programs all around the country.

For those who are not informed about Junior Hockey, it was established many years ago for the sole purpose of player development, through advanced coaching, and exposure to an advanced level of play, aligning the game rules and lengths with the professional and college level.

Junior programs are regulated in the tuition or fee structure and what must be provided under the fee structure. Youth programs are not regulated and can charge whatever, and are not mandated on what is to be provided for the fee or tuition.

In order to combat the proposed amendment, we are asking every player, parent, coach, to send a short email to USA Hockey, expressing that you are against such legislation on where you can participate. Here is a email address for your letters usah@usahockey.org

Thank You for your support !

Not such a bad idea.

I guess you dont have to be too smart to be a part of that group. There must be a hidden agenda or a favor?

If a player is talented enough and the family has the cash then nobody should get in the way of a kid who wants to challenge himself.

Yea, Yea, I know it hurts High School sometimes, however at that age kids are old enough to decide what they want to do with hockey via right or wrong?

Instead of worrying about this stupid stuff they should have implemented the touch up off sides.

Actually its a great idea.

Hockey Canada has already proposed the same legislation (not sure if its been voted on yet).

Don't forget, it was too long ago that Jr Hockey was for 17-20 yrs old - with the occassional 16yr old phenom on the roster.

While I understand the "player development" argument, this can be accomplished at the higher levels (e.g. AAA) of Midget hockey. More importantly, it SHOULD be accomplished there.

IMHO, too many junior teams as it stands in the east. Is there Jr C hockey in the Mid-West or Western US - NO. They still play Midgets - and their midget teams would have a field team with eastern Jr hockey

I would'nt mind seeing a "cap" on how many 15-16 year olds can be on a Jr roster.....I don't think it's right to say that NO 15-16 year old is allowed to play Jr's.

It's a violation of our basic freedom to choose.

I have tried to post a response twice (this being my third) and my laptop has gone screwy.

I will start with a short one-line response to Matt's above statement.

The proposal essentially establishes a minimum age to play Jr hockey - it has nothing to do with freedom of choice. When a player is of squirt age, he/she can't opt to play Bantams - or vice-versa. Everyone forgets that in the not so distant past 15 & 16 yr olds did not play Jr Hockey - it was primarily 17-20 with the occassional 16yr old player.

The key word here is "Occasional"

Occasionally a 16 year old should be allowed to play Juniors. With age perameters being set...will there be exceptions for the exceptional players?

Agian.....I'm not for every 15-16 year old out there to be playing Jr. Hockey, but if a kid is good enough to play at that level and physically mature enough....who is anyone to say he shouldn't play there because he is only 16?

Perhaps a better way to approach the situation is that a player has 3 seasons of eligibility at the Jr level. If a player decides to play Jr hockey at 15 - then he is done by 18, etc.

Keep the current age max (20 yrs old on 12/31). I think what we will see happen is that kids stay and play Midget hockey until they are truly ready to make an impact at the Jr level. If thats at 15 fine - if its at 17 even better.

Bottom line, NCAA coaches will still demand physical and mental maturity from their recruits (aka the 20 yr old freshman)- its the trickle down theory resulting in players staying in Midgets/Preps/HS longer so they do not use and lose their eligibility.

One other point to mention, once that clock starts ticking, it won't stop.

if there were less teams awarded franchises for junior b and c, the competition would be better and the best kids would play there and the rest would stay in midgets. It should be a kids choice, but there are to many choices.

Correct me if I'm wrong, But any such restrictions should be done on a National Level not just within one district to keep things uniform correct?

A qualified 15 or 16 year old could play junior hockey any place in the country except within the Atlantic District? What could ultimately happen is these players who are that good/skilled/serious will play out of the area instead of choosing a local Jr. team to follow their goal thus the Atlantic District could lose even more skilled players?

I would guess they didn't consider this before they drafted that letter.

I am under the impression that the proposal made by the Atlantic District applies nationwide if it were to be pass.

Know a 15 yr old going on 16 that went from Tier II Bantam AA to Tier II Midget AA last season with good success. Was told moving to Tier II 18AA next season will not be allowed.

Tier I 16U would be an option as would JR B as he is interested in developing & improving his skills not being Tier II 16UAA Team MVP...

Thoughts?

Before you spend a dime, do your homework and make sure your not jumping into un-chartered waters. Ask a lot of questions and read the fine print. If you like to play club and school some Junior teams will not permit playing both.
You may have some big decisions to make.

If the player is that good the Tier II club must be nuts. But I have heard worse.

The playing time of a player at the junior level of hockey would not be limited due to his age. The main problem that the younger kids playing Jr hockey is that they have no yet fully developed physically so when they are playing with kids that are 19 and 20, its not that they aren’t good hockey players they just don’t have the physical attributes to compete with some of the kids at that level.

I am assuming your friend was considering some of the local Jr teams or teams at the same level if he is “settling” for Tier 1 midgets. SOME of the midget teams develop their players better for Jr A hockey than SOME of the Jr b and Jr C teams. If your friends wants to play college hockey I am sure he knows the best way is though the Jr A level, and a certain local Midget team seems to put more players into those leagues (USHL, NAHL, EJHL) than any of the Jr teams in the area as far as I know. So he most likely made the right decision to play midgets and let his talent develop with kids his own age and physical stature.