CSYHA Registration for the 2019-2020 season is now open on out registration page.  To access it go to centerstatehockey.com and select the register link and then select the button for Register Here Regular Season.

If you register by 1200 AM on 15 July 2019 for the upcoming season you will receive a $75.00 discount on the season registration fee (excludes wrap team).  Register early to take advantage of the savings.  

Center State Stampede Families,

Just a reminder that there are only a few weeks left to save $75 by registering early!!!  Along with the early registration discount, all players that register before July 15th will also receive 4 free preseason clinics!  Registering prior to July 15th also secures existing jersey numbers for returning players. 

The preseason clinics will be available for those who register after July 15, 2019, however the cost will be $15 per session per player.  

After July 15, 2019 jersey numbers will be assigned at time of registration based on number availability. 

2019-20 REGISTRATION & OTHER FEES

*NOTE: Early Registration discount of $75.00 off your registration will be given to any registrations completed by 15 July 2019.  

* LTP players who register for session 1 and then add session two later will not be charged another fundraising fee.  The early registration discount does not apply to the 16U Travel Wrap team as the team requires summer practices.

MULTIPLE PLAYERS PER FAMILY

For families that have more than one player in the organization: the player on the team with the highest registration fee pays the full amount and all other siblings pay 85% of the respective fee for their level.

Families adding LTP players will receive a refund/discount for multiple players when LTP opens, don't worry your discount will carry over for LTP!

UNIFORMS

For the 19-20 season ALL players will be required to purchase a full uniform for the season and should submit a list of numbers options.  Returning players will retain their seniority for numbers used last season and members new to the organization may not receive your top preference for jersey number.

Uniform Costs

The costs of uniform items can change annually and the organization does check in the off season with alternate vendors to keep the costs down.  For the 2019-20 season the uniform cost will be $139.00 and will include home and away jersey as well as two pairs of socks for home and away games.

Uniform Orders

Uniform orders normally are expected to be submitted June 20, September 1, and possibly one more in early October time frame.  go in August 1, October 1, and again later in the season but remember the season starts in September and games normally start in early November.  Plan Ahead!

PAYMENT INFORMATION

The 2019-2020 registration service allows for families to elect one of two options for payment of fees for the coming season. 

PAY ONLINE IN FULL:  Submit total fees online today upon conclusion of this registration session via Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or checking account.

PAYMENT PLAN (MITES-MIDGETS) OPTION:  Fees are divided into (2) equal installments with the first installment to be collected online today upon conclusion of this registration session via Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or checking account. The remaining balance will be automatically debited from the SAME ACCOUNT on October 1st.

USA HOCKEY REGISTRATION REQUIRMENT

Each Player MUST register first with USA Hockey for the upcoming season.   

Once you have a current USA Hockey Registration number return to this Registration Session to sign-up for the 2019-2020 Season with CSYHA.

• Step 1:  Register your player(s) with USA Hockey (THE LINK IS ON OUR WEBPAGE). Be sure to PRINT and SAVE their confirmation code(s). Remember to register EACH of your players with USA Hockey. Each player must have their own unique USA Hockey confirmation number.
• Step 2:  Return to registration and proceed. Later in this registration session you will need to enter the USA Hockey Confirmation Code that you received in Step 1.

FUNDRAISING

The $25.00 fundraising fee (raffle tickets) will still be collected upon registration and each family will be issued five $5.00 raffle tickets for the 2019-20 season.  Families may either sell the tickets and recoup the fee or submit them with your names on them.  Raffles are normally issued near the close of the season.

USAGE OF FEES

Registration fees include practices and games (ice time and referees). Practice and game slots will be allocated by age group (Squirts through Midget Snowbelt are typically allocated 16 home games while the Split Season Midget travel teams are allocated 13.  Mites and Learn to Play are not allocated specific game times).  Away games are at the discretion of the individual team (coach and parents); Center State Youth Hockey Association makes no guarantees with the respect to the amount of games (home and away) to be played.  Ice time is a costly and precious commodity and buying ice time at Morrisville State College consumes most of the CSYHA budget each year. Additional expenses include the cost of referees, insurance, advertising, printing costs, etc. To help offset these costs, CSYHA will be promoting various fundraising efforts throughout the year. Participation in these fundraising efforts is mandatory as money raised through these efforts helps keep the registration fees down.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Dear USA Hockey members and parents,

We have made some important updates to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program and this correspondence outlines how they affect you as a member of USA Hockey. We understand this letter contains a lot of information, but communicating this information to you is part of USA Hockey’s obligation as the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States. Please take the time to review all information below. We thank you in advance for your time, and for your support and dedication to the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.

As the national governing body designated by the United States Olympic Committee for the sport of ice hockey, USA Hockey, including all of its “Participants” (described more fully below), is subject to the jurisdiction of the Center for SafeSport. The Center for SafeSport is an independent non-profit organization committed to ending all forms of abuse in sport, including bullying, harassment, hazing, physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual misconduct and abuse (more information about the Center for SafeSport can be found at www.safesport.org). The Center has two primary functions:

• It is an office for education and outreach, which develops training, oversight practices, policies and procedures to prevent abuse (the SafeSport Training required to be taken by USA Hockey participants is produced by the Center for SafeSport); and
• It is an office for response and resolution that establishes mechanisms to report, investigate and resolve allegations of misconduct (the Center has exclusive authority over allegations involving sexual misconduct, and discretionary authority over other forms of misconduct, including bullying, harassment, physical and emotional abuse).

USA Hockey enacted its SafeSport Program in 2012 by compiling and updating its longstanding policies prohibiting sexual and physical misconduct and hazing, for background screening and locker room monitoring, and our codes of conduct for coaches, officials and administrators, into a comprehensive program aimed at eliminating misconduct and abuse in USA Hockey programs.

The new updates to USA Hockey’s SafeSport Program arise from federal law (the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act of 2017), which created the authority and requirement for the Center for SafeSport to enact policies to protect minors from abuse in sport. The policies adopted by the Center for SafeSport are known as the Minor Athlete Abuse Protection Policies (“MAAPP Policies”), and are required to be adopted by the national governing body of each sport. USA Hockey has incorporated the MAAPP Policies, as well as changes by the Center to its SafeSport Code, into the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook, a copy of which you can find here [LINK]. For your reference, copies of the Center’s MAAPP Policies and the Center’s Safesport Code can be found at www.safesport.org/policies-procedures.

Among the important changes to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program are:

1. SafeSport Jurisdiction. The rules and provisions from the SafeSport Code and USA Hockey SafeSport Program apply to persons within USA Hockey defined as “Participants.” Participants include any person who is seeking to be, currently is, or was at the time of an alleged violation:

a. Registered with USA Hockey as a Registered Participant Member (players and coaches), Referee, or in the Manager/ Volunteer category;

b. Serving as a member of USA Hockey’s Board of Directors, on a national level council, committee or section, or in any other similar positions appointed by USA Hockey;

c. A coach, official or staff person (e.g., trainers, physicians, equipment managers) for any USA Hockey team, camp or national level program;

d. An employee of USA Hockey, a USA Hockey Affiliate or Member Program; and

e. Authorized, elected or appointed by USA Hockey, a USA Hockey Affiliate or Member Program to a position of authority over minor athletes or to have regular contact with minor athletes (even if not registered with USA Hockey).

2. Mandatory Reporting by Participants. All Participants defined above are required by the SafeSport Code and by law to report actual or suspected sexual misconduct or child abuse to the Center for SafeSport and, when appropriate, to applicable law enforcement. The Center will have exclusive jurisdiction for the investigation and resolution of such reports related to a person’s eligibility for USA Hockey programs. USA Hockey retains the authority to investigate and resolve allegations of SafeSport policies that are non-sexual in nature. Information on how to make a report to the Center for SafeSport and/or USA Hockey can be found at www.usahockey.com/makingareport.

3. SafeSport Training. There are several changes to the SafeSport Training requirements, as required by federal law and the Center for SafeSport:

a. SafeSport Training is required for all adults that have regular contact with minors which, as explained more fully below, includes adult-aged players on the same team with minor athletes.

b. Beginning this season, SafeSport is required every year rather than every other year (however, anyone who completed training in the most recent season (2018-19) will retain valid training status for 2019-20, and will complete training annually beginning in 2020-21).

c. A person must first take the course known as “Core Center for SafeSport Training,” which is taken online and takes approximately 90 – 120 minutes to complete. After that a “Refresher Course” is available each subsequent year for a person that has completed the Core Center for SafeSport Training. The Refresher Course takes 30 minutes or less to complete. There is no cost to members of USA Hockey to complete either training course.

d. Training must be completed before a person begins having regular contact with minor athletes, or if they do not have regular contact with minors, no more than 45 days after beginning the role that requires them to complete training.

4. Training for Players Seventeen (17) and Over in Age Classifications that Allow Minor Age Players. To ensure that all adult-age players on the same team with minor athletes comply with the law, (i) all players 17 years of age or older on or before December 31 of that playing season, and (ii) who play on a team in a classification that allows minor-age players, must complete SafeSport Training before being added to such team and prior to participation (on-ice or off-ice). This requirement applies to all teams in the age classifications Youth, Girls, High School, Junior Hockey, Flex Hockey and Disabled Hockey programs that allow both minor-age and adult-age players, and to officials who are turning 17 before December 31. Players and officials that complete the training prior to turning 18 will be required to provide parental consent.

5. Youth Athlete Training. Shortly after its release by the Center for SafeSport, USA Hockey will be offering age-specific SafeSport Training to youth athletes. USA Hockey will notify all parents of the availability of the training, and how to access and take the training. Accessing the youth athlete training will be subject to parental consent on the Center for SafeSport website. Youth athlete training will not be required for participation but is strongly recommended.

6. Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies. USA Hockey has had longstanding Locker Room, Social Media & Electronic Communications, and Travel policies. To incorporate the Center’s required MAAPP policies, USA Hockey has adopted updates to those policies, and has also adopted new policies addressing One-On-One Interactions and Athletic Training Modalities. Information on these policies can be found in the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook.

7. One-On-One Interactions. The One-On-One Interactions Policy specifically prohibits one-on-one interactions between adult members of USA Hockey or those authorized by a USA Hockey program to have regular contact with or authority over minors, unless they occur at an observable and interruptible distance by another adult. There are exceptions for emergency circumstances.

8. Background Checks. The current changes to the SafeSport Handbook do not include changes to USA Hockey’s background check policy. However, we anticipate updates to the background check policy that will come into effect for the 2020-21 season.

9. Communication of Changes. We will be communicating more specific information to groups affected by these changes, including local programs, coaches, officials, players 17-20 years of age, and parents of youth athletes, so please stay tuned for more information in the coming days.

Thank you again for all of your efforts in support of the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.

Dear USA Hockey player and parent (Minor Hockey),

You recently received a summary of several significant changes to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program. Recent changes to federal law and by the U.S. Center for SafeSport require that adults in all sports and all organizations who have regular contract with minor athletes must complete SafeSport Training -- this includes adult-age players that play on a team in an age category that may also include minor-age players. In USA Hockey, the Youth (18U), Girls (19U), Junior, High School and Disabled Hockey levels of play all permit players who are, or will be, 18 years of age or older to participate on teams with players that may be under 18. To comply with law and to avoid being required to remove players from a team in the middle of a season, USA Hockey is requiring that all potentially affected players complete SafeSport Training prior to being added to or participating with a team.

You are receiving this email because you (or your son or daughter) were born in the years 1999 to 2002 and are eligible to play on a team in a classification that allows minor-age players. If you intend to play on a team in the Youth (18U), Girls (19U), Junior or High School classifications, you will be required to complete SafeSport Training prior to being added to the roster. Players that have not completed training will not be permitted on a roster and may not participate on any of the aforementioned teams until the training is completed. If you are 18 or over and are playing only Adult hockey, then you are not required to complete SafeSport Training.

If you (or your son or daughter) are under 18 at the time of training, USA Hockey is required to obtain parental consent for the player to complete training. If you registered on or after May 28, 2019, then the consent was incorporated into your registration; if you registered prior to May 28, USA Hockey will be contacting you soon to obtain the consent of the parents for a minor-age player to complete the SafeSport Training.

The training requirement must be completed every year prior to participation each season. The training is provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, and each player required to complete training must first take the “Core Center for SafeSport Training,” which is completed online and takes approximately 90 – 120 minutes. In subsequent seasons, players will complete the Center for SafeSport’s “Refresher Course,” which is also online and takes 30 minutes or less to complete. There is no cost to complete either training course.

We strongly encourage you to complete the training now so that there will be no delay in you being allowed to participate or join a team. The training can be accessed at www.usahockey.com/safesporttraining and will require you to have your USA Hockey registration number.

It is also important to know that all persons of adult age in USA Hockey programs (as with adults in all youth sports organizations) are considered mandatory reporters of child abuse, including sexual abuse. Accordingly, in the event of any actual or suspected sexual misconduct or child abuse, any adults must report such information to the U.S. Center for SafeSport and, when appropriate, to applicable law enforcement.

A copy of the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook can be found at the USA Hockey website at www.usahockey.com/safesportprogram. Please refer to the SafeSport Handbook for details of these and other policies affecting USA Hockey programs. You can also reach out to your Affiliate SafeSport Coordinator or to USA Hockey if you have questions or need assistance.

Thank you again for all of your efforts in support of the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.

CSYHA Registration for the 2019-2020 season is now open on out registration page.  To access it go to centerstatehockey.com and select the register link and then select the button for Register Here Regular Season.

If you register by 1200 AM on 15 July 2019 for the upcoming season you will receive a $75.00 discount on the season registration fee (excludes wrap team).  Register early to take advantage of the savings.  

Center State Stampede Families,

Just a reminder that there are only a few weeks left to save $75 by registering early!!!  Along with the early registration discount, all players that register before July 15th will also receive 4 free preseason clinics!  Registering prior to July 15th also secures existing jersey numbers for returning players. 

The preseason clinics will be available for those who register after July 15, 2019, however the cost will be $15 per session per player.  

After July 15, 2019 jersey numbers will be assigned at time of registration based on number availability. 

2019-20 REGISTRATION & OTHER FEES

*NOTE: Early Registration discount of $75.00 off your registration will be given to any registrations completed by 15 July 2019.  

* LTP players who register for session 1 and then add session two later will not be charged another fundraising fee.  The early registration discount does not apply to the 16U Travel Wrap team as the team requires summer practices.

MULTIPLE PLAYERS PER FAMILY

For families that have more than one player in the organization: the player on the team with the highest registration fee pays the full amount and all other siblings pay 85% of the respective fee for their level.

Families adding LTP players will receive a refund/discount for multiple players when LTP opens, don't worry your discount will carry over for LTP!

UNIFORMS

For the 19-20 season ALL players will be required to purchase a full uniform for the season and should submit a list of numbers options.  Returning players will retain their seniority for numbers used last season and members new to the organization may not receive your top preference for jersey number.

Uniform Costs

The costs of uniform items can change annually and the organization does check in the off season with alternate vendors to keep the costs down.  For the 2019-20 season the uniform cost will be $139.00 and will include home and away jersey as well as two pairs of socks for home and away games.

Uniform Orders

Uniform orders normally are expected to be submitted June 20, September 1, and possibly one more in early October time frame.  go in August 1, October 1, and again later in the season but remember the season starts in September and games normally start in early November.  Plan Ahead!

PAYMENT INFORMATION

The 2019-2020 registration service allows for families to elect one of two options for payment of fees for the coming season. 

PAY ONLINE IN FULL:  Submit total fees online today upon conclusion of this registration session via Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or checking account.

PAYMENT PLAN (MITES-MIDGETS) OPTION:  Fees are divided into (2) equal installments with the first installment to be collected online today upon conclusion of this registration session via Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or checking account. The remaining balance will be automatically debited from the SAME ACCOUNT on October 1st.

USA HOCKEY REGISTRATION REQUIRMENT

Each Player MUST register first with USA Hockey for the upcoming season.   

Once you have a current USA Hockey Registration number return to this Registration Session to sign-up for the 2019-2020 Season with CSYHA.

• Step 1:  Register your player(s) with USA Hockey (THE LINK IS ON OUR WEBPAGE). Be sure to PRINT and SAVE their confirmation code(s). Remember to register EACH of your players with USA Hockey. Each player must have their own unique USA Hockey confirmation number.
• Step 2:  Return to registration and proceed. Later in this registration session you will need to enter the USA Hockey Confirmation Code that you received in Step 1.

FUNDRAISING

The $25.00 fundraising fee (raffle tickets) will still be collected upon registration and each family will be issued five $5.00 raffle tickets for the 2019-20 season.  Families may either sell the tickets and recoup the fee or submit them with your names on them.  Raffles are normally issued near the close of the season.

USAGE OF FEES

Registration fees include practices and games (ice time and referees). Practice and game slots will be allocated by age group (Squirts through Midget Snowbelt are typically allocated 16 home games while the Split Season Midget travel teams are allocated 13.  Mites and Learn to Play are not allocated specific game times).  Away games are at the discretion of the individual team (coach and parents); Center State Youth Hockey Association makes no guarantees with the respect to the amount of games (home and away) to be played.  Ice time is a costly and precious commodity and buying ice time at Morrisville State College consumes most of the CSYHA budget each year. Additional expenses include the cost of referees, insurance, advertising, printing costs, etc. To help offset these costs, CSYHA will be promoting various fundraising efforts throughout the year. Participation in these fundraising efforts is mandatory as money raised through these efforts helps keep the registration fees down.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Dear USA Hockey members and parents,

We have made some important updates to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program and this correspondence outlines how they affect you as a member of USA Hockey. We understand this letter contains a lot of information, but communicating this information to you is part of USA Hockey’s obligation as the national governing body for the sport of ice hockey in the United States. Please take the time to review all information below. We thank you in advance for your time, and for your support and dedication to the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.

As the national governing body designated by the United States Olympic Committee for the sport of ice hockey, USA Hockey, including all of its “Participants” (described more fully below), is subject to the jurisdiction of the Center for SafeSport. The Center for SafeSport is an independent non-profit organization committed to ending all forms of abuse in sport, including bullying, harassment, hazing, physical abuse, emotional abuse and sexual misconduct and abuse (more information about the Center for SafeSport can be found at www.safesport.org). The Center has two primary functions:

• It is an office for education and outreach, which develops training, oversight practices, policies and procedures to prevent abuse (the SafeSport Training required to be taken by USA Hockey participants is produced by the Center for SafeSport); and
• It is an office for response and resolution that establishes mechanisms to report, investigate and resolve allegations of misconduct (the Center has exclusive authority over allegations involving sexual misconduct, and discretionary authority over other forms of misconduct, including bullying, harassment, physical and emotional abuse).

USA Hockey enacted its SafeSport Program in 2012 by compiling and updating its longstanding policies prohibiting sexual and physical misconduct and hazing, for background screening and locker room monitoring, and our codes of conduct for coaches, officials and administrators, into a comprehensive program aimed at eliminating misconduct and abuse in USA Hockey programs.

The new updates to USA Hockey’s SafeSport Program arise from federal law (the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and SafeSport Authorization Act of 2017), which created the authority and requirement for the Center for SafeSport to enact policies to protect minors from abuse in sport. The policies adopted by the Center for SafeSport are known as the Minor Athlete Abuse Protection Policies (“MAAPP Policies”), and are required to be adopted by the national governing body of each sport. USA Hockey has incorporated the MAAPP Policies, as well as changes by the Center to its SafeSport Code, into the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook, a copy of which you can find here [LINK]. For your reference, copies of the Center’s MAAPP Policies and the Center’s Safesport Code can be found at www.safesport.org/policies-procedures.

Among the important changes to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program are:

1. SafeSport Jurisdiction. The rules and provisions from the SafeSport Code and USA Hockey SafeSport Program apply to persons within USA Hockey defined as “Participants.” Participants include any person who is seeking to be, currently is, or was at the time of an alleged violation:

a. Registered with USA Hockey as a Registered Participant Member (players and coaches), Referee, or in the Manager/ Volunteer category;

b. Serving as a member of USA Hockey’s Board of Directors, on a national level council, committee or section, or in any other similar positions appointed by USA Hockey;

c. A coach, official or staff person (e.g., trainers, physicians, equipment managers) for any USA Hockey team, camp or national level program;

d. An employee of USA Hockey, a USA Hockey Affiliate or Member Program; and

e. Authorized, elected or appointed by USA Hockey, a USA Hockey Affiliate or Member Program to a position of authority over minor athletes or to have regular contact with minor athletes (even if not registered with USA Hockey).

2. Mandatory Reporting by Participants. All Participants defined above are required by the SafeSport Code and by law to report actual or suspected sexual misconduct or child abuse to the Center for SafeSport and, when appropriate, to applicable law enforcement. The Center will have exclusive jurisdiction for the investigation and resolution of such reports related to a person’s eligibility for USA Hockey programs. USA Hockey retains the authority to investigate and resolve allegations of SafeSport policies that are non-sexual in nature. Information on how to make a report to the Center for SafeSport and/or USA Hockey can be found at www.usahockey.com/makingareport.

3. SafeSport Training. There are several changes to the SafeSport Training requirements, as required by federal law and the Center for SafeSport:

a. SafeSport Training is required for all adults that have regular contact with minors which, as explained more fully below, includes adult-aged players on the same team with minor athletes.

b. Beginning this season, SafeSport is required every year rather than every other year (however, anyone who completed training in the most recent season (2018-19) will retain valid training status for 2019-20, and will complete training annually beginning in 2020-21).

c. A person must first take the course known as “Core Center for SafeSport Training,” which is taken online and takes approximately 90 – 120 minutes to complete. After that a “Refresher Course” is available each subsequent year for a person that has completed the Core Center for SafeSport Training. The Refresher Course takes 30 minutes or less to complete. There is no cost to members of USA Hockey to complete either training course.

d. Training must be completed before a person begins having regular contact with minor athletes, or if they do not have regular contact with minors, no more than 45 days after beginning the role that requires them to complete training.

4. Training for Players Seventeen (17) and Over in Age Classifications that Allow Minor Age Players. To ensure that all adult-age players on the same team with minor athletes comply with the law, (i) all players 17 years of age or older on or before December 31 of that playing season, and (ii) who play on a team in a classification that allows minor-age players, must complete SafeSport Training before being added to such team and prior to participation (on-ice or off-ice). This requirement applies to all teams in the age classifications Youth, Girls, High School, Junior Hockey, Flex Hockey and Disabled Hockey programs that allow both minor-age and adult-age players, and to officials who are turning 17 before December 31. Players and officials that complete the training prior to turning 18 will be required to provide parental consent.

5. Youth Athlete Training. Shortly after its release by the Center for SafeSport, USA Hockey will be offering age-specific SafeSport Training to youth athletes. USA Hockey will notify all parents of the availability of the training, and how to access and take the training. Accessing the youth athlete training will be subject to parental consent on the Center for SafeSport website. Youth athlete training will not be required for participation but is strongly recommended.

6. Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies. USA Hockey has had longstanding Locker Room, Social Media & Electronic Communications, and Travel policies. To incorporate the Center’s required MAAPP policies, USA Hockey has adopted updates to those policies, and has also adopted new policies addressing One-On-One Interactions and Athletic Training Modalities. Information on these policies can be found in the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook.

7. One-On-One Interactions. The One-On-One Interactions Policy specifically prohibits one-on-one interactions between adult members of USA Hockey or those authorized by a USA Hockey program to have regular contact with or authority over minors, unless they occur at an observable and interruptible distance by another adult. There are exceptions for emergency circumstances.

8. Background Checks. The current changes to the SafeSport Handbook do not include changes to USA Hockey’s background check policy. However, we anticipate updates to the background check policy that will come into effect for the 2020-21 season.

9. Communication of Changes. We will be communicating more specific information to groups affected by these changes, including local programs, coaches, officials, players 17-20 years of age, and parents of youth athletes, so please stay tuned for more information in the coming days.

Thank you again for all of your efforts in support of the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.

Dear USA Hockey player and parent (Minor Hockey),

You recently received a summary of several significant changes to the USA Hockey SafeSport Program. Recent changes to federal law and by the U.S. Center for SafeSport require that adults in all sports and all organizations who have regular contract with minor athletes must complete SafeSport Training -- this includes adult-age players that play on a team in an age category that may also include minor-age players. In USA Hockey, the Youth (18U), Girls (19U), Junior, High School and Disabled Hockey levels of play all permit players who are, or will be, 18 years of age or older to participate on teams with players that may be under 18. To comply with law and to avoid being required to remove players from a team in the middle of a season, USA Hockey is requiring that all potentially affected players complete SafeSport Training prior to being added to or participating with a team.

You are receiving this email because you (or your son or daughter) were born in the years 1999 to 2002 and are eligible to play on a team in a classification that allows minor-age players. If you intend to play on a team in the Youth (18U), Girls (19U), Junior or High School classifications, you will be required to complete SafeSport Training prior to being added to the roster. Players that have not completed training will not be permitted on a roster and may not participate on any of the aforementioned teams until the training is completed. If you are 18 or over and are playing only Adult hockey, then you are not required to complete SafeSport Training.

If you (or your son or daughter) are under 18 at the time of training, USA Hockey is required to obtain parental consent for the player to complete training. If you registered on or after May 28, 2019, then the consent was incorporated into your registration; if you registered prior to May 28, USA Hockey will be contacting you soon to obtain the consent of the parents for a minor-age player to complete the SafeSport Training.

The training requirement must be completed every year prior to participation each season. The training is provided by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, and each player required to complete training must first take the “Core Center for SafeSport Training,” which is completed online and takes approximately 90 – 120 minutes. In subsequent seasons, players will complete the Center for SafeSport’s “Refresher Course,” which is also online and takes 30 minutes or less to complete. There is no cost to complete either training course.

We strongly encourage you to complete the training now so that there will be no delay in you being allowed to participate or join a team. The training can be accessed at www.usahockey.com/safesporttraining and will require you to have your USA Hockey registration number.

It is also important to know that all persons of adult age in USA Hockey programs (as with adults in all youth sports organizations) are considered mandatory reporters of child abuse, including sexual abuse. Accordingly, in the event of any actual or suspected sexual misconduct or child abuse, any adults must report such information to the U.S. Center for SafeSport and, when appropriate, to applicable law enforcement.

A copy of the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook can be found at the USA Hockey website at www.usahockey.com/safesportprogram. Please refer to the SafeSport Handbook for details of these and other policies affecting USA Hockey programs. You can also reach out to your Affiliate SafeSport Coordinator or to USA Hockey if you have questions or need assistance.

Thank you again for all of your efforts in support of the safety of participants in USA Hockey programs.