MAHA Summer Meeting: Organization eyes future, approves small rule changes
By @StefanKubus –
TRAVERSE CITY – The Michigan Amateur Hockey Association Summer Meeting featured the organization’s annual vote on proposed rule changes.
But perhaps the most fruitful part of the weekend was the perspective brought forth by Dottie Deremo, principal partner of The Deremo Group, an organization that helps companies maximize their potential.
Deremo was brought in by MAHA to provide consulting and guidance, as she spoke on issues like leadership, succession planning and how MAHA can best prepare for the future.
Deremo presented on the importance for all companies to adapt as they grow and, through a variety of electronic polls she ran for the members in attendance, helped reveal and highlight the desire for change within MAHA. That’s something that proved important to the organization as it plans for the future.
“Overall, I thought the weekend went great,” MAHA president George Atkinson said. “We did a lot of work on our long-term strategic planning, charting the course of the future of the organization. We had a lot of input from the associations and I think we have a lot of good stuff moving forward to make MAHA a better organization.”
Additionally, the voting members and executive board passed a quartet of minor rules.
The most noteworthy rule surrounded tryout dates that will allow more opportunity for Tier II players to make the jump to Tier I (words in bold indicate change to the existing rule):
“No Tier I or Tier II team may recruit or solicit players, offer contracts, hold tryouts, conditioning skate or any activity that could be construed as a tryout/solicitation or recruitment or player evaluation until the specific date outlined below:
- All teams in national-bound categories for the current season (not postseason) shall not begin tryouts until after 4PM on the Wednesday after the completion of the National Tournament for their respective age classification.
- All teams in Tier 1 non-national bound categories for the current season (not postseason) shall not begin tryouts until after 4PM on the third Monday of March.
- All teams in Tier II (A/AA) non-national bound categories for the current season (not postseason) shall not begin tryouts after 4PM on the fourth Monday of March.
Reason for change: “There is more movement between players from Tier II to Tier 1 and vice versa at the non-national bound levels (e.g. formation of Squirt AAA). Therefore, having Tier I go a week earlier allows for all Tier II players an opportunity to try out and attempt to make the change. If they cannot, then their Tier II tryouts begin the next week. Furthermore, this allows Tier II coaches better insight into whether or not players he/she commits to will truly skate for them. Lastly, by setting a firm time table as to when these tryouts will occur, it gives both leagues and the state a clear deadline as to when that classification needs to be complete.”
The other notable rule was to fully establish the pilot program for girls’ hockey (so it didn’t need an annual approval) – to support associations working to grow girls’ hockey from the youngest age groups and upward:
“Beginning at the 14U age group at the Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels for Girls, to be able to roster a team there shall have been a Tier 1, Tier 2 or House/Rec team in the association one age classification younger or in the same age group in the previous regular hockey season. When starting a 10U or 12U team, there is no requirement for an association to have had a team in the previous season at the age group below. For a 14U team to form, a 12U or 14U team must have been in place the previous year. For a 16U team to form, a 14U or 16U team must have been in place the previous season. For a 19U team to form, a 16U or 19U team must have been in place the previous season. An association that wants to form a Girls team, yet does not meet the previous-year-team requirement can petition the MAHA Girls/Women’s Committee for an exception and must demonstrate that the team formation is not creative negative consequences for Girls teams in other associations.”
Reason for change: “With limited numbers of female players, when players move from one association to another, the original team is often negatively affected to the point that it folds, eliminate a place for girls to play and causing many to drop out of the game completely.”
Other rule changes:
- An emergency goalie (from within team’s own association or district if no spare goalie is registered) can be utilized throughout the entire playing season if the regular, rostered goalie is injured.
- A score of 0-1 will be recorded on the official game sheet(s) for all games if any game is a forfeit.