The Mid-Atlantic Women’s Hockey Association league spans across six (6) states, each with different local rules and requirements covering indoor sports activities as well as travel quarantine rules.  There is no specific set of guidelines to follow to be consistent within the League’s footprint.  Thus, we must rely upon each organization and host rink for their specific rules regarding competition.  The Executive Board has decided to proceed with a full MAWHA schedule of competition.  The regular season games should be completed by February 14th.

In anticipation of possible incomplete game schedules which are out of the teams’ control, we have made the decision that ALL teams at every level will be invited to the 2021 MAWHA Playoffs. The playoff format for each level, as well as advancement for AAHA teams to District championship, will be finalized and posted by the end of July.

This season we have teams in our league ranging from 10A to 19AAA with up to 12 teams in a single division.  In the AA divisions we are planning a minimum of 18 league games for each team.  In order to accomplish this at the 12AA level we have decided to divide the 8 teams into 2 divisions of 4. Each team in the Division will schedule 4 games against each opponent in the Division and 2 games with each opponent in the opposite Division for a total of 20 League Games.  The division split is also in the interest of keeping teams predominantly in one geographic area in light of the current state to state travel bans and an attempt to reduce hotel stays.

When Scheduling MAWHA League games we would like each team to prioritize league game scheduling over non-league game scheduling.  Teams can start to schedule their MAWHA league games as soon as their facilities will allow for competition.  We are leaving the scheduling up to our member clubs and would like all of the league Schedules loaded into the League’s website no later than September 15th.  This will give the league time to resolve any scheduling conflicts that teams may have come across during the scheduling process.

The SafeSport Training and Refresher Training are each valid for two seasons. Thus, if you took the training during the 2014-2015 season, it was valid for the 2014-2015 and 2015-16 seasons and you will need to complete the SafeSport Refresher course for this 2016-17 season. http://www.usahockey.com/safesporttraining . It is the policy of USA Hockey and the AAHA that those participants who (1) have regular, routine or frequent access to or supervision over minor participants (e.g., coaches, team managers, chaperones, etc.), (2) are responsible for enforcing child abuse and misconduct policies, (3) are in managerial or supervisory roles of a USA Hockey Member Program, and (4) are new and current employees and/or volunteers of a USA Hockey Member Program, shall complete appropriate training

Screening of all coaches, managers, locker room monitors, officials and others that have regular, routine or frequent access to minor participants are to be screened every two years (see screening schedule below). Those in Pennsylvania (or participate in PA for 30 or more days) are required to comply with Pennsylvania Act 153 (amended by Act 15) screening requirements; o Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance; o Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check; and o Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Background Check. For more information on the PA requirements go to http://www.atlanticdistrict.org/screening_rules.php If you are not subject to the Pennsylvania law then go to http://www.atlanticdistrict.org/screening.php All PA clubs must report to the AAHA a list of the cleared certificates received by November 30, 2016. Attached is a copy of the report that needs to be filed with Pete Rothman, AAHA SafeSport Coordinator aaha.act15@gmail.com.

If your Screening Started:

If your Screening Started:
 

Locker Room Monitors that have followed the above training and screening procedures should be scheduled for the season. It is the policy of USA Hockey that all USA Hockey Member Programs must have at least one responsible screened adult (which may include coaches, managers or other volunteers) present monitoring the locker room during all team events. Acceptable locker room monitoring could include having locker room monitors inside the locker room while participants are in the locker room, or could include having a locker room monitor in the immediate vicinity (near the door within arm’s length and so that the monitor can sufficiently hear inside the locker room) outside the locker room that also regularly and frequently enters the locker room to monitor activity inside.

Review your organizations Electronic Communications Policy. If the player is under the age of 18, any email, text, social media, or similar communication must also copy or include the player’s parents. Coaches are prohibited from having players joined to or connected through their personal Facebook page or any other similar social media application. To facilitate communication, an official organization or team page may be set up and players and parents may join (i.e., “friend”) the official organization or team page and coaches can communicate to players though that site. All electronic communication of any kind between coach and player, including use of social media, must be non-personal in nature and be for the purpose of communicating information about team activities or for team oriented motivational purposes.

Submit your Organization’s SafeSport Coordinator Name and Contact Information to Pete Rothman by September 1, 2016. This individual should be familiar with the USA Hockey SafeSport Program Handbook. https://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0102/5713/USA_Hockey_SafeSport_Program_Handbook.pdf

Coming this September (scheduled) USA Hockey will publish a SafeSport Manual.

If you have any questions during the season please call Pete Rothman 610.721.4378 or email pete@rbcpa.net.

Roster changes may be made after December 31st , however players added to the roster after December 31st are not eligible for District playoffs or MAWHA league games and playoffs.

1. Player movement

1. No player will be allowed to play in a Mawha league game unless rostered with AAHA USA Hockey Registrar and Mawha league rosters for the team and confirmed by the appropriate Vice President (or Commissioner).
2. Until December 31st players within a club can move (with appropriate notification and confirmation) within an age division and/or between age divisions, as long as age appropriate (goalies exempt).
3. A player who has played in 3 (goalies; 5) or more Mawha Tier I league games during the current season may not move to Tier II or lower without Executive Board approval.
4. Notification of the move must be made (by telephone or email) to the appropriate Vice President (or Commissioner if the appropriate Vice President is not available) no later than noon the immediate Friday before the Mawha league game.

• Age groups 8U, 10U and 12U – Vice President
• Age group 14U, 16U and 19U – Executive Vice President

1. Once a player move is confirmed, they cannot be moved back to, or to another Mawha team for the weekend.  If the player is to be moved back to, or to another team the next weekend, this player movement procedure must be followed for the next weekend.
2. Required information in notification to the appropriate Vice President;

• Club Name
• Player’s Name
• Birth Date
• Uniform Number
• Position
• Team (Age and Division) Movement From
• Team (Age and Division) Movement To
• Club representative name, email address and cell phone number requesting the move.

1. The appropriate Vice President will email confirmation of the player move to the club official that requested the move.
2. Failure to follow the above notification process may cause the player to be declared ineligible, the club fined and/or the game forfeited by the Commissioner.