This regulation is created in accordance with OMHA Regulations 3.6 - Eligibility to Play in Higher Division.
No team player will be advanced to a higher age group without the consent of parents and coach involved and the Board of Directors.
Players are encouraged and expected to play in their appropriate age division. Exceptions to this rule will be considered on a case by case basis by the WLMHA Board of Directors with respect to the best interest of the child involved.
The rationale of the Player Request to Move Up is to provide for those athletes who display ‘exceptional skill’ and excel to an ‘elite’ level at their positions.
Any requests for a player to move up must be made to the WLMHA Board. A “Player Request to Move Up” form must be completed by the parents and submitted to the Board of Directors.
The player must be properly registered with the WLMHA prior to the 1st scheduled try-out.
Players trying out for one than one (1) Rep team must pay the additional tryout fee for the second team.
The player must be eligible by residence as defined by OMHA boundaries.
Any player obtaining permission to try out or move up as an underage player will be allowed to try out or move up for no more than one higher-aged team per season.
If the player moving up is requesting to be moved up to a team that does not hold official tryouts (for example from U8 Local League to U9 Local League), the player shall attend three (3) practices of the higher age team and be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee as outlined above. In-season evaluations for player
The evaluation of the underage player shall including the following:
WLMHA shall appoint a committee to evaluate the underage player. This committee shall include up to three (3) independent evaluators appointed by the Director of Coaching.
The names of the evaluators, as chosen by the Director of Coaching, shall be forwarded to the WLMHA Board of Directors for review no less than 24 hours prior to the 1st tryout or player evaluation. If the Director of Coaching has a conflict (i.e. a child on either the higher or lower-aged team), he/she shall appoint another Board member in his/her place who does not have a conflict.
A standard evaluation form shall be given to all evaluators prior to the try-out or player evaluation.
An underage player may only be approved for selection to the higher-aged team on one of the following conditions:
is evaluated and ranked as the top goaltender;
is evaluated and ranked as a top 3 skater.
The assigned Evaluation Committee will determine the underage player’s eligibility for selection to the higher team no later than the conclusion of the third tryout or three (3) practices with the higher aged team.
Once the Evaluation Committee's determination has been made, the recommendations will be provided to the Director of Coaching (or his/her appointee). The Director of Coaching (or his/her delegate) will notify the head coach of the higher-aged team, and will provide notice to the WLMHA Board of Directors.
The WLMHA Board of Directors shall review the determination of the Evaluation Committee and provide notice of the decision to the coach of the higher-aged team as to selection/non-selection of the underage athlete to the team.
The Evaluation Committee may provide a determination to the Director of Coaching (or his/her delegate) regarding the underage athlete’s non-selection at any point after the conclusion of the second try-out or second evaluation.
Representative teams from U8 (Novice) through to U18 (Midget) are allowed a maximum of two underage players.
At the end of the current season, an underage player must return to the team of his/her proper age division and must follow the same procedure for the upcoming season if he/she will be requesting to play for a higher-aged team again.
Please include what team you are requesting to move up to or to try out for.
Example: [email protected]
Example: ###-###-####