1. REGISTER WITH USA HOCKEY
   This is done every season. Registration for managers and volunteers is free. Note: Volunteer parents, no matter how well intended, cannot be on the bench or step on the ice unless they are officially level certified and rostered, no exceptions.
2. NATIONAL BACKGROUND SCREENING
   This is good for two seasons. Please send the letter with the "card" on it to the registrar.
3. SAFESPORT TRAINING
   There is no cost for this training. It is done online and good for two seasons. Please complete all parts of the training and submit final certificate that states "Safesport Trained" to the registrar.
4. PENNSYLVANIA CHILD ABUSE HISTORY CLEARANCES (CY113)
   This is a check for a record of abuse on a child. This is free for volunteers and is good for 60 months.
5. PENNSYLVANIA CRIMINAL RECORD CHECKS (SP4-164)
   This is a criminal record check. This is free for volunteers and good for 60 months.
6. (FBI) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK
   The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services utilizes IDEMIA to process fingerprint-based FBI criminal background checks. The fingerprint-based background check is a multi-step process. For general questions about FBI clearances, please contact the FBI Background Check Unit at 877-371-5422. For IDEMIA registration, processing, or billing questions, please contact IDEMIA/IdentoGo at 1-844-321-2101 and registration if needed can be done online at www.identogo.com. If a volunteer has been a resident of PA for 10 years, this background check may be waived. Please download waiver at forms page, complete it, and submit to registrar.

When there is any disagreement between parents and coaches on a team it is the manager's role to be at any meeting following the 24 hour rule to solve these disagreements.

For guidelines regardng what is expected in the way of coach, parent, and player behavior please read the NHAHA Handbook as well as the NHAHA Code of Conduct signed by the parents and players.

To add a new player to your roster,  the new player to complete the on line registration .  No player can be added until this registration is completed.  In addition, the team manager should give two copies of the NHAHA Parent and Player Codes of Conduct to the new player and parent. One copy is signed and placed in the payment box at the PIA. The other copy is for the parent and player to keep. These forms can be found here.

If you are adding the player to a PAHL team after team placement,  the online registration must be done by noon on Wednesday or the player will not be permitted to play until the following week. The manager needs to inform the registrar by Wednesday noon as well. The PAHL Placement Committee meets Wednesday evenings to determine whether a new player will be permitted to join the team or not.  If the player plays game(s) prior to approval by the Placement Committee, the team will forfeit those game(s) for using an unauthorized player.

NHAHA provides each Team Manager a Binder to organize these documents. All these Forms and Credentials are to be placed in the team binder and available for the registrar or a member of PAHL at any time.  The Team Manager must have the Binder at every scrimmage and game.

TEAM DOCUMENTS: 

• USAH Approved Roster  
• Team Schedule
• Score Sheets (white & yellow copies from all home games and pink copy from away games, plus tournament scoresheets)
• Additional Information (including bank account statements, fundraiser information, etc.)

Each Player:

No paperwork is required for players in the binder, unless there is a player rostered on your team that is playing up. In that case you must keep a signed copy of the wavier in the team binder.

•  Do NOT Place in Binder:
  • USA Hockey Code of Conduct
  • USA Hockey Consent to Treat
  • Birth Certificates
  • USA Hockey IMR Numbers

Head Coach and Assistant Coaches:

• USA Hockey Individual Membership Registration (IMR) Number
•  Mid AM Screening Letter
• Safesport Training Certificate
• Verificiation of Online Age-Specific Modules

Note: If a coach is active on more than one team, he/she must provide copies of everything listed above to all teams.

Note: PA Clearances (ACT 153) do not go in team binders, these clearancess must go to registrar. For directions on completing the clearances, download the following PA Clearances Directions.

Please remind all your coaches that in order to be reimbursed for anything such as the screening they must submit the receipt and the Reimbursement Form within 30 days.

Team Manager:

• USA Hockey Individual Membership Registration (IMR) Number
•  Mid AM Screening Letter
• Safesport Training Certificate

Note: PA Clearances (ACT 153) do not go in team binders, these clearancess must go to registrar. For directions on completing the clearances, download the following PA Clearances Directions. 

Other Volunteers:

Any individual who has routine access to minor children on your team, on or off-ice, such as locker-room monitors, must also complete all of the items listed above under team manager.

Each Viper and Viper Stars team has the responsibility to utilize all ice time scheduled for them without causing unnecessary waste of ice time and money by causing ice time that is paid for to stand idle. It is the responsibility of each team manager to notify the ice scheduler of any black-out dates in which ice time cannot be used no later than August 15th. The blackout dates are to include not only weekends but any week nights the team will not be able to practice due to travel arrangements or any other cause. Any teams that do not report blackout dates at least one month in advance will be responsible for the ice time they are scheduled for. This will reduce the monetary burden of unused ice for the organization.

It is suggested but not required that teams which wish to participate in tournaments in addition to their regularly scheduled games first consider entering tournaments on dates which are already blacked out by the rink because those teams will not have any practice time or home games scheduled those weekends and it will have the least impact on game/practice scheduling.

Beginning immediately, we will enforce the following rules for scheduled ice time slots.

Any team determining it needs to blackout any ice after the August 15 deadline must notify the scheduler no later than 20 days prior to the first day of the month of the proposed blackout dates in order to provide sufficient scheduling and notification time.

Any team which will be using weekdays/nights to travel to and from tournaments or away games and will not be able to use those weeknight practices or which cannot use weeknight practices for any other reason must notify the ice scheduler at least 20 days prior or must follow the process below.

Once scheduling for a specific month has been done the following will apply:

1. Teams cannot cancel scheduled ice time except for extreme circumstances as determined by the ice scheduler/NHAHA Board without adhering to the following procedures. Not following these procedures places the team in the position of possibly receiving a future ice reduction or fine depending upon the circumstances of the cancellation. Such action would be determined on a case by case basis.

2. Any team that cancels their ice time is required to attempt find a replacement team for that time slot by notifying other teams in the association in a timely manner. The replacement team can either exchange time slots with the canceling team, or acquire the canceled time slot in addition to their scheduled ice time. However, if the replacement team merely exchanges its ice slot for the empty ice slot, the originating team is still responsible for the empty ice slot unless the receiving team agrees to use both slots and then doesn’t use both. The Ice Scheduler should be copied on all correspondence.

3. Any team which cannot get another team to accept an ice slot it cannot use should then notify one or more of our webmasters to put a notice on the web site advertising the availability of this slot so that teams from another association can purchase the ice or so that any NHAHA coach, including assistant coaches, can take the ice slot to use as a free “stick time” for any combination of NHAHA players. A coach must be on the ice for this time.

4. Any team which cancels its use of a shared ice slot is responsible to notify the team sharing the ice slot so that they can plan accordingly with a cc to the ice scheduler.

5. Teams that decline the full ice time available in September and October to attend tournaments must notify their members that full ice has been declined in order to attend such tournaments.

6. Before any team playing in PAHL schedules any tournaments during the months of September and October, they must take into consideration any requirements PAHL places upon those teams for mandatory placement scrimmages and/or appeal scrimmages.

7. No team which has followed the procedures described above would be subjected to any type of ice time or financial fine provided the ice scheduler has be cc ed on all correspondence.