We recognize that in rare and specific cases, it can be appropriate and beneficial to a player’s development for them to Play-Up to the next age classification. A balance needs to be struck to avoid placing the desire of a player above the legitimate opportunity for that individual to be successful in an older age classification.

While KVHA does support Play-Up Requests, KVHA will not take an opportunity away from an age appropriate player to allow a younger player to take an available slot within a division.  In all cases, player priority is based on their registration date. A player playing up will not supersede any other player who registered earlier in either division.   

When spots are available, the player making the request must demonstrate that their current abilities would undermine the balance of competitiveness within their current age appropriate division.  Any player wishing to play up must attend at least one draft/rate skate at their current division and for the division in which they are requesting to be moved. This is the only way to determine is a Play-Up request is appropriate. 

Click here to read and consider this article from USA Hockey regarding playing up

Play-Up requests must be received prior to the house evaluations skates begin so that the player's skill level can be evaluated.  

The decision to play a child "up" should be taken seriously.  Parents are strongly encouraged to have a discussion with their child's coach, as well as the KVHA Hockey Director.   Coaches are expected to provide parents with honest feedback regarding a child's performance and skillset.   Player confidence, safety and well being are the most important aspects overall.

KVHA 8 & Under PLAY with a FRIEND PROGRAM

Each year the association receives numerous requests to be placed with a certain coach, ride-share, best-friend, etc.  Unfortunately, multiple requests are not allowed under MAHA regulations, which require developmental teams to be formed via evaluation and an internal "draft" process with the goal of ensuring that the teams are evenly competitive and that coaches are not trying to "stack" teams.   

Each coach is permitted one protected player other than their own child, which is usually an assistant coach or manager.  Families are allowed to make requests known to various coaches, but the final decision lies with that head coach.  

KVHA does not offer any promises or guarantees for players to be placed, or not placed, on any certain team.  Refunds will not be considered for players who are not drafted on any specific team, with specific teammates, by any specific coach, or any other team request. 

Siblings within the same division will be placed on the same teams, no play with a friend request needed

In our 6u and 8u Divisions each player is allowed to make one friend request to play with a neighbor or friend.   No multiple/chain requests will be honored.  To make a valid Play with a Friend request, BOTH families must submit a request.    

1. To make a valid play with a friend request, BOTH families must submit the request at the link listing the other as a friend (the link is active on June 1 every season)
2. Each player is only allowed one play with a friend request and no “chain request” are allowed.  Please do not submit multiple requests.

Examples:
· Player A request player B / player B makes no request = NO
· Player A request player B / player B request player C = NO
· Player A request players B and C / player B request player A / player C request player A = NO
· Player A request player B / player B request player C / player C request player A = NO
· Player A request friend B / Player B request friend A = YES

3. A submission email will be sent to the entered email address. Both parties must reply to this email to confirm the request.
4. Play With A Friend requests must be received before the season begins.  

MAKE YOUR PLAY WITH A FRIEND REQUEST HERE - https://kvha.formstack.com/forms/2024_25_kvhaplaywithafriend

Our KVHA House Hockey pre-season begins with a series of Training. Conditioning, Skills Skates to prepare for the House  Evaluations skates leading up to team selections (draft) mid to late August. 

The conditioning skates are provided for your child’s benefit and are included in the cost of your yearly registration.  These skates are a great chance for kids to shake off some rust, realize that they have outgrown equipment, or just be more comfortable going into the evaluation skates.

All players participating in conditioning skates must be registered with KVHA and USA Hockey.  No unregistered players will be allowed to participate

The evaluation skates are where players are assessed on skill level to create fair and even teams based on player ratings.  Siblings are automatically placed on the same teams but their overall rating is also factored into the creation of the teams.   

We utilize third party trainers and coaches, volunteer coaches or Board Members to conduct the evaluation skates.  The evaluators will rate players based on different skills: level of skating, puck handling, game sense, their attention span and enthusiasm. The older age groups will be more technical than younger age groups -for example, in Mini Mites, backward skating is not evaluated, in Squirt, this skill will be considered in their overall rating. These ratings will be combined to arrive at an average rating to be used in the draft.

REGISTERED PLAYERS MUST ATTEND AT LEAST ONE EVALUATION SKATE TO BE PLACED ON A TEAM.  PLAYERS WHO DO NOT ATTEND EVALUATION SKATES WILL NO LONGER BE PLACED ON A TEAM!!    YOU MAY MAKE A FORMAL REQUEST TO BE PLACED ON A TEAM WITHOUT BEING EVALUATED BUT THIS IS SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND AVAILABILITY BY THE KVHA BOARD OF DIRECTORS.  REQUESTS FOR A WAIVER OF EVALUATION SKATESS MUST BE RECEIVED 10 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START OF THOSE EVALUATION SKATES.  EMERGENCIES WILL BE HANDLED ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS.    

In viewing hundreds of kids during the evaluation skates, as well as being seasoned hockey professionals, the evaluators are able to pick out sandbaggers.  These players will be rated based on the evaluator’s perceived player skill level.  The draft provides coaches with a “window” of only three times the number of teams (6 teams = 18 player options per pick) to choose from, thus limiting the chance of sandbag or sleeper picks.

 **** We can always use help on the ice for our conditioning and evaluation skates. We cannot hold these skates without the help of volunteers.  If you are a parent who will be bringing your child anyway and wish to help out, please bring your gear and our coaches will guide you.   Please email Michelle office@kvhockey.org to volunteer an hour of your time****  

The draft is likely one of the most misunderstood processes in all of youth hockey.  The mystery of what happens behind closed doors, leads to numerous complaints and allegations of stacked or rigged teams.  To begin, the draft rules are dictated by MAHA regulations and the draft is attended by a MAHA representative.  Some of the regulations include number of 1st/2nd year players, out of district players, and goalie selections.  The goal of the draft is to create even teams across each division.

How are some teams better than others?  Most of this is pure luck, including which coach receives the 1st pick (reverse order in even number rounds).  While the evaluations give a glimpse into each player; some kids perform better in drills than game stress situations (some opposite) and some kids improve quickly, while others take a little longer adapting to changes in the game. Since most complaints arise around the mid-point of the season, it is recommended that families work with their coaching staff to grow and strengthen as a team. We find that an early away tournament and more off-ice team activities, the better the team bonds and thus, functions as a whole.

Coaches are not provided player lists or ratings until just minutes before the draft.  Certainly some coaches earn a slight advantage by knowing the kids, making their own evaluation notes, and being able to “read” the draft.  Each coach comes to the draft with their own plan: some take top rated players each time, some select players/families they know.  Prior to the draft, coaches are warned not to agree to any deals and to avoid additional protected player requests.  They are also urged to report any pressure to comply.

In the end, the MAHA representative present at the draft, as well as the KVHA Board of Directors, have the power to invalidate the draft if there appears to be any integrity problems.  This could lead to coaches having to re-draft or teams being assigned based on ratings alone.  The draft results are final and we are not allowed to make any changes after.

Each year the association receives numerous request to be placed with a certain coach, avoid another coach, ride-share, best-friend, etc.  Unfortunately, these request are not allowed under MAHA regulations. Each coach is only permitted one protected player (which is usually their son/daughter).  Families are allowed to make requests known to various coaches, but the final decision lies with the coach and is limited to the availability of those players.

KVHA does not offer any promises or guarantees for players to be placed, or not placed, on any certain team.  Refunds will not be considered for players who are not drafted on any specific team, with specific teammates, by any specific coach, or any other team request.

From Page 35-37 MAHA Annual Guide

D. 10U - 18U (Squirt, Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget Classification) Tier III Category and B & BB Division.

1. The Tier III category is a recreational level of hockey in Michigan. Teams in this category include teams which plays in a declared Tier III league or any team playing an independent schedule, registered as a Tier III team. The recognized Youth classifications shall be the Youth
10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U age classifications. (or Squirt, Pee Wee, Bantam and Midget)
The category will be Tier III and the Division will be B or BB (18U only). Teams in this classification are eligible for MAHA State playoffs and must meet all requirements to be eligible for MAHA State playoffs.

2. May have no more than three (3) players who reside outside the District in which the team is registered; except for the 16U & 18U (Midget classification), which may have no more than six (6) players who reside outside the District in which the team is registered.

3. Michigan resident players of any age classification are permitted to play for an Association/Club that has the rink closet to their residence, based on the shortest distance by roads calculated by Google Maps, and will not be counted as an out of District player if it is beyond District boundaries. Player residence documentation must be provided at the time of team registration with MAHA/USA Hockey and approval received from both the respective districts.

4. In the 16U (Midget 15/16 classification), no players from the 18U (Midget 17/18) classification are allowed.

5. To remain eligible for District and States Playoffs, teams may not play more than 30% of their games against teams in higher classifications.

6. Teams shall have no more second year players (players in their last year of eligibility in an age classification) than are listed on the team make-up formula below: (does not apply to 16U (Midget 15/16 classification).

(a) Teams that do not qualify for District Playoffs, due to an unavoidable lack of first- or second-year players being available, may apply to their District Council and the State Playoff Committee for exception.
# of Players      20 19 18  17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
Max. 2nd Year: 13 12  11 10  10 9     9   8   8   7   6

7. Tier III Category and B & BB Division are teams with players chosen through an open draft. To qualify for District and State Playoffs, teams in the B or BB classification must adhere to the
following draft system:

8. Association draft rules must be submitted to the District Council Chairperson by August 15th of the current season. These rules must detail how B or BB teams are to be formed within the Association. The District Council shall determine if Association draft rules conform to the
requirements contained herein.
(a) Each team may protect a maximum of one (1) player prior to the start of the player draft.
(b) Parental requests pertaining to not playing for a specific coach, for transportation reasons or twin sibling reason must be submitted in writing by the parent(s) to the Association prior to the draft. These requests may or may not be honored based on the Association’s
draft rules, but all requests must be administered on a consistent basis.
(c) The Association must continue drafting until all available players are drafted to teams.
(d) Associations with single entry B or BB teams must certify in writing that said players were taken on a first come basis. The formation of single-entry teams must be certified valid by their respective District Council.
i. Associations that did not have a team or fielded a single-entry team in this division the previous regular season must provide evidence of open draft skates and/or registration. This shall be done by publishing the dates and times on a MAHA District website, or in a local newspaper or routine hockey publications at least two weeks prior to the first draft skate. A copy of this must be submitted to the District Chair prior to the draft skate and/or registration.
(e) Dates, times, and locations of all Association drafts shall be submitted to the District Council Chairperson a minimum of two weeks prior to the draft. The draft shall be monitored by a member of the District Council or Officer of the MAHA.
(f) All teams playing in this classification are restricted to a maximum number of games per season. (Rule III,A,e).

9. Within a single Association, in the 12U (Pee Wee), 14U (Bantam), 16U (Midget) B and 18U Midget BB classifications only, goalies are allowed to participate on more than one team inthe same classification or one age classification higher under the following conditions:
(a) at the draft, there are not enough goalies to draft one per team.
(b) or there is a severe injury to the only goalie on a team.
(c) or the only goalie on the team is lost to a high school team.
(d) This only applies to players registering and playing in the B & BB classification. Using an A or AA goalie from a lower age classification is not allowed.
(e) For District/State eligibility, individual goalie game counts can be waived by submitting an individual exception request to the State Playoff Committee.

10. A team may pick up a substitute goalie from within its own Association or District if it does not already have a spare goalie registered. The substitute goalie must be registered in the current season on a team of equal or lower age classification and equal or lower team classification category/division.
(a) A substitute goalie, under such circumstances, may be used only in the case of an injury to the regular goalie. If a team elects this method for a substitute goalie, the team may have only nineteen (19) players registered at any time so as not to exceed the maximum number of players allowed.

11. Tier III Category and B & BB Division players are allowed to dual roster and participate on Tournament Teams for tournaments if they meet to following criteria:
(a) Teams can be created, not to exceed 20 players (18 skaters and 2 goalies), all players must be currently on a regular season House/Rec. approved roster.
(b) Tournament teams must provide a USA Hockey 1T roster and all necessary paperwork to an Associate Registrar for certification 72 hours before first scheduled game.
(c) Team must turn in the completed MAHA Pilot Program Roster Form along with copies of the current rosters the players are on. Regular season coaches must give approval for participation on the form.
(d) If players and Coaches are not on a current roster, they must meet all the requirements to be placed on the roster.
(e) Tournament teams would be designated A or AA teams depending on the age level of the players. (Teams with the majority of the player’s ages being in the first year of that division would be allowed to participate in the A division if they choose. Teams with the majority of the players ages being in the second year of that division would be designated AA).
(f) These players will continue to participate as a member of their teams remembering a player cannot play more than two games in any single day. Regular season and Tournament Teams cannot participate in the same tournament.
(g) Failure to follow the above rules will subject the tournament team head coach to MAHA disciplinary action.
(h) Tournament teams are not eligible for MAHA District competition.

12. All (B) and (BB) teams needing a ruling or exception to make the team eligible to play in leagues, tournaments, Districts, and States must submit their requests (through their District Councils first) to the State Playoff Committee for disposition. Teams requesting an exception
may participate until the State playoff committee has made its decision.

13. Each Association and team must notify their District Council in writing of their intent to enter the State Playoffs no later than November 1.

From MAHA Annual Guide page 37

E. 8U & 6U (Mite & Mini-Mite) Age Classification.

1. As a best practice, it is recommended that all Associations incorporate the ADM practice curriculum and initiatives into their 6U & 8U Player Development practice program.

2. All games and scrimmages at 6U & 8U classification shall be played either cross-ice or halfice.3. No Youth team which has a majority of youth eight (8) and under players may register or participate as a regular league member of another (higher) classification.

4. In Cross-Ice / Half-Ice games, the MAHA encourages the use of referees as a training ground for young referees.

5. Each Association and team must notify their District Council in writing of their intent to enter the State Playoffs no later than January 1.