Policies

A. In order to be eligible to participate in the NHAHA tryouts a player must provide:
1. The Tryout Fee
2. The Commitment Fee check
B. At least three tryout sessions will be provided for each player trying out. No part of the tryout fee will be refunded if one or more of the sessions is missed.
No part of the tryout fee will be returned if a player does not accept the team he is assigned to.

II. Commitment Fee

The Commitment Fee will be collected at the first tryout. It is to be paid in a separate check from the Tryout Fee. The Commitment Fee will be held until tryouts are completed and the player has been notified of his team placement. When a player receives his notification he may take up to 24 hours to accept or reject his placement. If the player accepts his placement, the Commitment Check will be deposited and becomes nonrefundable. If the player declines his placement, the Commitment Check will be destroyed after notification of the refusal. Twenty-four hours after notification if the player has failed to respond, the check will be deposited and become nonrefundable.

III Player Resignation from NHAHA

A. If a player decides to resign from NHAHA after September 1, it is the responsibility of that player or that player’s parents to notify both an Executive Officer of NHAHA and either the Manager or Coach of that player’s team. The notification to the Executive Officer must be in writing. What that player owes to NHAHA in order to obtain a release to play for another association will be determined by the date that the Executive Officer and Team Representative received notification of that decision. If they received notification on or after the first of the month, the player will be responsible to pay the monthly fee required of his team for that month whether or not the player has practiced or played for the team during that month. i.e. If the notification is received August 31, no payment is required beyond the commitment fee which will not be returned. If the notification is received any time during the month of September, including September 1, the entire September payment is due, but nothing beyond that. The same policy carries through the entire season. If the player was rostered on a Tier I team which has a different payment schedule, the amount due will be determined jointly by the NHAHA president and treasurer after consultation with the team coach and/or manager.

B. The cost of the Mandatory Raffle is included in the monthly payment schedule. Therefore, any player resigning from NHAHA must either return the raffle tickets or is responsible to pay the balance of the cost for them. Tickets cannot be returned after November 30th.

IV. Payments

A. The Commitment Fee will be deducted from the total tuition fee for each player. The remaining tuition will be divided into 6 reasonably equal payments due on the first of each month from September 1 to February 1. The payments for a Tier I team will begin August 1. A payment schedule will be passed out prior to the beginning of the season.
B. If a player falls 2 months in arrears in payments, he will not be permitted to play or practice with his team unless alternate payment arrangements are made with the Treasurer.
C. If NHAHA is charged a returned check fee for any player, that player is responsible to make the returned check good and also to pay the returned check fee.

V. Reduction Due to Illness/Injury

If a player is unable to play in games or practice with his team for 30 or more consecutive days, he may receive a reduction in the total fees . In order to receive the reduction, he must provide the Treasurer with a doctor’s excuse stating the beginning and ending dates of said illness/injury. The amount of the reduction will be determined by NHAHA.

VI. Tournaments

Each team is automatically enrolled in any appropriate tournament hosted by NHAHA at no extra cost to the players. If we do not have a division applicable for any team, that team may apply the entrance fee(s) toward an outside tournament of their choosing. Should the team decide to attend any outside tournaments, including the end of the year playoffs, that team is responsible for collecting the fee(s) to cover the costs of those tournaments

VII. Jersey Numbers

New players and players replacing jerseys will be given a jersey number that matches his birth year. (even/odd)

VIII. Fund Raising

A. Tournaments – While the tournaments held by NHAHA are designed to provide an opportunity for our players to play different teams and have a good time, they are also fund raising activities. There is no extra fee involved in participating in our tournaments, but each player’s family will be required to “volunteer” up to two or three hours work time for one or more of the tournaments. The “work” may involve, but not be limited to selling raffle tickets, running Chuck-a-puck, selling various items, running a game clock, or keeping a score sheet.

B. Mandatory Calendar Raffle – Each player will receive 8 calendar raffle tickets – four for December and four for January. There is no extra fee for these tickets because the cost is built into your tuition fee. You may sell these tickets for $10 each and keep the $80; thereby reducing your yearly fee by $80. Or you may keep your tickets and possibly win between $50 and $1,000.

C Entertainment Books – For each Entertainment Book you sell you will earn $9 toward your fee and NHAHA will receive $2. This is strictly voluntary – you do not need to sell any books if you do not wish to. You will receive more information on this later.

D. Night at the Races – NHAHA will be having a NATR in November. You will be given tickets to sell for this event. Participation in the sale of tickets is strictly voluntary. You do not need to sell any tickets if you do not wish to: however, those members who have attended the NATR in past years have had a great time. You are responsible to return any unsold tickets in order to not be responsible to pay for them. You will receive more information about this later.

E. Each team may do independent fund raising for that team; however, it is requested you consult with the president before starting any team fund raising.

F. NHAHA’s Tier I teams have traditionally produced a player profile guide and had an opportunity to sell ads for that guide. The price of the ads can then be put toward their tuition fees. Also, the tier I team(s) have traditionally had their own fund raiser – often a NATR in January or February. The proceeds from this FR are put toward the fees.

G. NHAHA’s enthusiastic Fund Raising Committee may come up with further activities by September. If they do, you will be notified ASAP and any new activities will be strictly voluntary.

VIIII. NHAHA “MOVE-UP” POLICY

NHAHA recognizes that in some situations it may be in the best interest of the player, team, or organization to move a player from a lower age division to a higher one. These guidelines are in place to guide both the player and the organization through this process. In order to facilitate the “move-up” the player’s parent or guardian must provide NHAHA’s board of directors with a written request prior to tryouts that provides the player’s age and playing experience plus summarizes the reasons for wanting a “move-up.” Allowing a player to tryout at a higher level does not mean that that player has been allowed to play at that level. Move-up decisions will be made by the board with input from the coaching staff prior to team selections.

1. Player must want to make the move.

2. A player from the higher age division may not be displaced from playing on
a team at that division.

3. The coaches of the higher division that the player is moving to must agree
that the player is capable of playing at that level of competition.

4. The player must attend and pay both tryout fees. Example: Squirt wanting
to play Peewee must attend and pay for both tryouts at the Squirt and
Peewee divisions.

5. Player must rate in the top five of the division he or she should be playing at.

6. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis.

NOTE: Goaltenders are excluded from this policy. A shortage of goaltenders may necessitate a “move-up.” Although ‘moving up” is discouraged at NHAHA, it is permissible. The president of the organization reserves the right to dismiss any or all move up requests if he or she finds that it may not be in the best interest of the organization. Players will be discouraged from moving up from Squirt to Peewee where players are entering their first year of checking and from Bantam to Midget where players could be playing against players who are several years older.

Post Tryout
NHAHA recognizes that a situation may occur during team placement that may cause an individual player to request a move up to another level. A player can request the opportunity to move up if they would be placed at a level, which is lower than the level within the age group in which they competed the prior season.

Example: Player competed at Pee Wee AA in season 1 and due to circumstance beyond their control, such as the association not fielding a Pee Wee AA team in season 2; the player would be placed at Pee Wee A Major.

(The following classifications will be considered when determining level of play:
AA, A and B. Levels such as A Major Gold versus Black will not be a differentiation.)

In Post Tryout instance, the player must attend a supplemental tryout or be evaluated during a team practice by the coaching staff and members of the On-Ice Policy Committee.

The On-Ice Policy Committee reserves the right to dismiss any move up request that is deemed to be not in the best interest of all parties involved. Players will be discouraged from moving up from Squirt to Peewee where players enter their first year of checking and Bantam to Midget where players could be playing against others who are several years older.

Committee decisions will stand unless a written appeal is filed with the President of NHAHA. If an appeal is filed, the President will decide the final outcome by any means s/he deems necessary.