Play-Up Policy & Application

Hardy prefers players to stay within their age group, “because it not only helps them develop better from a skill standpoint, but it benefits them socially and emotionally. Sometimes being around older kids they hear or learn things they don’t need to at their age. If parents are going to play their child up a level, they need to make sure the situation is right for the child.” He also noted that playing up isn’t a common occurrence in hockey, and that there aren’t a large number of players that benefit from playing up a level.

Stephen Norris, a specialist in long-term athletic development and vice president of the Canadian Winter Sport Institute, agrees and states, “I have nothing against children playing up a level, but the decision can’t be about the competitive outcome, which is what so many parents are focused on. We tend to throw out the rule book when it comes to common sense in sports.”

Bob Mancini has been involved in player development for more than 25 years, and cautions parents and players not to rush through the process. He notes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to deciding when it’s right for a child to move up a competitive level. He says, “If they have a chance to be one of the top-three forwards or top-two defensemen, maybe that is the right decision to make. It has to be done for the right reason.” Mancini also notes that the most important thing is keeping young athletes within their training window, so for example, a 7-year- old moving up to play with 8-year-olds likely won’t have the same negative impact as an 8-year- old moving up to play with 9 and 10-year-olds.

As HAYHA approaches play-up requests, the Board must be mindful of these considerations, particularly at the younger age divisions. Heather Mannix, the manager of female hockey for USA

Hockey’s American Development Model, says, “Keep in mind that this is all about long-term athlete development – and that it doesn’t happen in a straight line. The best kids at 10U aren’t going to be the same at 14U. It’s full of peaks and valleys.”

It is the goal of HAYHA to provide appropriate skill and sportsmanship development opportunities for every player, at every age level – including our House program. Research indicates that players get better through puck touches and if a younger player is amongst other kids who are bigger and better, they are more likely to end up chasing other players around and aren’t going to become a better player. Their role won’t be as important on the team, and they’re more likely to lose their passion for the game and look back on the experience with regret.

As HAYHA considers play-up requests, the organization should consider:

• Development opportunities and risks,
• Increased risk of injury due to differences in size and ability,
• Negative impact on passion for the game due to lack of success at the higher age level,
• Potential for burnout when the focus on “fun” is removed or replaced with a focus on

competitiveness

• Loss of attention to social and emotional growth of athletes at a formative age.

Stephen Norris says, “you want a kid to look back on his or her experience playing sports and think about the great time they had and feel like they learned a lot from the experience.”

With this understanding, HAYHA has adopted the following Play Up and Play Down Policies.



Consistent with USA Hockey guidance, the goal of HAYHA is to keep players of the same age and maturity levels together. In most circumstances, this means that a player will remain within his or her USA Hockey specified age division.

This policy outlines the extraordinary conditions under which a Helena Area Youth Hockey Association (HAYHA) player may advance to an age division one year above their USA Hockey specified age division.

HAYHA recognizes that in rare circumstances it may be in the best interest of a player’s development to allow a player to “play-up” to the next age division. A balance must be struck, however, to avoid placing the desire of a player or parent above the legitimate opportunity for that participant to be successful in an older age division. It is also a concern that whenever a player is moved up, in effect a spot on a travel team may be taken from a player of age. Only when an underage player clearly has the potential to be an impact player on the team of the higher age division, or a significant roster need is otherwise demonstrated, should the player be considered for playing up. In addition, the HAYHA Board will be responsible for assessing whether a play up is in the best interest of the Association and the teams affected by the request.

Even assuming a player seeking to play up can meet the initial eligibility requirements of advanced skill and preparedness, as determined by the affected coaches, movement will not be approved where such movement would result in:

1. Too few players being left in the age-appropriate division; or
2. Too many players in the upper age division to the extent that age-appropriate players may be cut from a travel team. (Note: An age-appropriate player being shifted from an A team to a B team does not equate to being “cut.”)

In assessing whether movement of a player would result in too few or too many players, HAYHA will utilize USA Hockey’s recommended team sizes as follows:

• 8U: 9-13 players per team, no full-time goalies
• 10U: 10-12 skaters and 1 goalie per team
• 12U: 15 skaters and 2 goalies per team
• 14U: 16 skaters and 2 goalies per team
• High School: 18 skaters and 2 goalies per team.

A.1 Conditions for Approval 

• A player will not be permitted to move up more than one year in age. For example, a first year 10U player cannot be moved to the 12U age division; however, a second year 10U player may advance to the 12U age division if they satisfy the remaining criteria and policy requirements. This stipulation applies to 8U players applying to play up to 10U, 10U players applying to play up to 12U, and 12U players applying to play up to 14U.

(Note: There is no provision for a 14U player to play up to the High School level. However, a 14-year-old player who is registered and attending High School is eligible to try out for and participate on a High School team or a 14U team.)

• Allowing players to move up from a non-body checking age division into a body checking age division represents the greatest risk and should only be approved under extremely rare circumstances.
• Approval to play up in a specific season does not authorize the player to continue to play up in future seasons. The player requesting to play up and the player’s parents must request the player to play up and meet the criteria to do so for each year of eligibility. It may be necessary to play three years in one age division if the player’s past youth hockey participation did not align with USA Hockey specified age divisions.

A.2 Timeline for Approval 

In most cases, the final HAYHA Board decision will not be made until final roster numbers are declared at the beginning of the season. A player seeking to play up must first register at his or her USA Hockey specified age division before a final decision to play up will be made by the Board. Should a request be granted, the player must then agree to pay any increased fees associated with the upper age division.

A.3 Board Authority 

The HAYHA Board specifically reserves the right to reverse any decision allowing a player to play- up at any time. If a player that has moved up is experiencing difficulty, as determined by the HAYHA Board and/or the player’s coach(es), the Board may reverse the decision at any time, but no later than December 15th to avoid impacts to USA Hockey certified team rosters.



The play-up request process is initiated with two main steps:

Step 1:

Parents/Guardians must complete a Request to Try Out for Play-Up & Acknowledgement of Risk and Liability Form for all players seeking to play up. (Please see Appendix E for a copy of this form). This form must be submitted to the HAYHA Board no later than August 15th and approved by the Board prior to tryouts for the upcoming hockey season.

At this stage, the Board is only considering whether the request is appropriate based on the age of the player and the division in which they wish to participate; and whether there are appropriate player numbers (as outlined in Section 1 of this policy) to permit the play-up request. If those conditions are met, the Board will approve the player for tryouts at the upper age division.

Step 2:

A Coaches Committee, established by the Board, will be responsible for conducting the tryout evaluation of the player requesting to play-up. With input from the age-appropriate Head Coach, and the play-up division Head Coach, the Coaches Committee must assess whether the play-up request is in the best

interest of the player’s development in the following areas:

• the player’s skating and puck-handling skills, general hockey sense, and leadership potential;
• the player’s ability to participate as a positive teammate; and
• the player’s coachability.

Finally, the player must rank among the top 25% of the highest-ranking team of players of the next age division. (This would typically equate to the top four players on a 10U team, or the top 5 players of a 12U or 14U team). If the player is not ranked in that top tier, then he/she must remain as a participant at the age-appropriate level.

If the Coaches Committee determines that the player satisfies the above criteria, they will complete the

Play Up Evaluation and Recommendation Form and submit to the Board for final consideration.

Only those players meeting the criteria and requirements in this policy will be considered eligible to play up. All others will be ineligible for further consideration and the play up request will be denied.

The parent/guardian of the player carries the burden of moving the request forward, adhering to appropriate deadlines, and asking the affected coaches to complete the tryout evaluation form.

Participation in Tryouts

Players having completed the required form and received Board approval will be allowed to participate in tryouts for the age division they are wishing to move up to, and are strongly encouraged to participate in the tryouts for their appropriate age division as well. A place will not be guaranteed on the lower age division team if they do not participate in those tryouts.

Special Considerations – Inadequate Numbers

In the event HAYHA does not have adequate numbers to fill out a team, HAYHA may use players and/or goalies from a lower age division without the player(s) from the lower age division losing his/her eligibility to continue in league and state tournament play at the lower age division provided those play up players fill out and submit a Play-Up Request & Acknowledgement of Risk and Liability Form. In such circumstances, this form will be required to demonstrate the intent of the player to play up and to acknowledge the risk of playing with older players. In an inadequate numbers/dual roster scenario, the player must attend tryouts, but the ranking requirement will be waived.

Final Decision

The final decision to authorize a player to play up or to authorize a player to participate in an older age

division’s tryout will be made by the HAYHA Board. The decision of the HAYHA Board is final, and no

appeals will be allowed.

If the HAYHA Board determines that older team player development or team/player ratio at either the lower or higher age division will be adversely affected by granting the play up request, the request must be denied.

Play Down Policy

The goal of HAYHA is to keep players of the same age and maturity levels together. In most circumstances, this means that a player will remain within his or her USA Hockey specified age division. HAYHA recognizes, however, that in rare circumstances involving a player’s medical condition, it may be appropriate to allow a player to play down. Typically, only players with a severe medical condition will be allowed to play down. See MAHA/USA Hockey policies for further information.