Player Movement - Playing Up

Guidelines for Playing Up an Age Level

At CIGHA, we are committed to placing every player in the best possible environment for their development, safety, and overall hockey experience. While players generally compete within their designated age groups, we have established clear guidelines for situations where a player may move up to an older age level.

Player-Initiated Petitions If a player wishes to challenge themselves by petitioning to play at an older age level, we ask that they follow these steps to ensure it is the right fit for both the player and the organization:

• Dual Tryouts: The player must attend tryouts for both their current age group and the older age group they are petitioning to join. Excluding 19U as the team is formed prior to the 14U tryouts. If a player is offered a spot on the 19U team they will not have to tryout for 14U.
• Skill Requirement: To be approved for the older team, the player's tryout evaluations must rank them among the top three most skilled players on that petitioned team.
• Team Impact: The move must not leave the player's original, age-appropriate team at a significant competitive or numerical disadvantage.

Organization-Initiated Movement Occasionally, unusually high registration numbers at a specific age level may require the Board of Directors to recommend moving players up to complete a roster at an older age level. If this occurs, we handle the process with the following commitments to our players and families:

• It is Entirely Voluntary: No player will ever be forced to move up. Players must willingly accept the roster spot on the older team.
• Based on Merit and Readiness: We will approach the most highly skilled players first, based strictly on tryout evaluations. Furthermore, the Board will only move a player if the coaching staff is fully confident that the player is developmentally and competitively ready for the older age group.
• Protecting Team Integrity: As with player petitions, we will only move a specific number of players to ensure that the original, younger team is not left at a detriment.

Our Promise: Every roster decision is made with the best interests of the individual player and the overall health of our teams in mind.