EFFECTIVE 19 NOV 2025
2.04 Player Movement and Affiliation Procedures
See ALLIANCE Hockey Manual of Operations Section 7.13 Affiliation
2.04.01 Player Affiliation
Any team that fails to follow the Affiliated Player protocols for notification and procedures shall
be denied player affiliation for 30 days following the first offence and for the second offence the team
shall have its affiliation privileges suspended for the remainder of the season.
2.04.02 Player Movement
Movement from one team to another within the Recreational League may not occur after
November 15th for any given season.
2.04.03
Players are encouraged to participate at their age appropriate level. In some situations, in
consultation with the Director of the appropriate level and the Vice Chair – Recreational League,
exceptions will be made for the benefit of the player and the teams.
2.04.04 Underage Player Movement
Definition: Underage Player Movement, also known as “Playing Up” refers to a player playing
at a level one-year-older than their chronological age.
GENERAL POLICY
1) All players with Sarnia Hockey Association are to try-out and play at their age appropriate
level for both social and skill development.
2) Representative team players with outstanding ability are encouraged to try-out and to play for
the Zone AAA team in order to continue to play at their age appropriate level and with their
social peers.
The OHF and Alliance have specific criteria that needs to be met for players 8 and under to play
up. These criteria and evaluation processes are detailed in the OHF “Playing Up For Players 8 and
Under Policy” and Alliance “Info Bulletin 2017-28 Policy for 8 & Under Player Movement”.
A request for a Representative player to accelerate to the next higher age group must be approved
by the SHA Board of Directors. The decision to allow a player to accelerate will be made by the
Board, in its discretion, on a case-by-case basis.
A request for acceleration will only be considered if the player seeking to be accelerated has
played at least one year with the SHA Representative teams in the age-appropriate group (i.e. the
age group corresponding to that player’s birth year).
A written request from the parent or guardian of the player seeking to be accelerated to the next
higher age group must be received by the Vice Chair Representative Teams no later than
February 1 (i.e. approximately four months prior to tryouts for the season to which the request
applies). The request shall include the team (i.e. age group) the player wishes to try out for and
the player’s position (i.e. forward, defense or goalie).
In evaluating a request for acceleration, the Board may consider any factors that it considers to be
relevant, which may include but are not limited to the following:
• Whether the Head Coach at the next higher age group believes the player should be
selected to that team
• Whether the player is one of the top three (3) forwards, the top two (2) defense, or the top
goalie, among the players trying out for the team at the next higher age group
• Other aspects relevant to whether the player is a good fit on the team at the next higher
age group
The player’s first responsibility during this process is to their own age group and the player must
attend those tryouts first. Players will be required to pay tryout fees for BOTH teams.
If the request for acceleration is approved by the Board and the player is signed to the team in the
higher age group, the accelerated player must remain with that team at that age level for the
balance of the playing season and is subject to the rules of that age group.
Coaches, and any associated team staff, will not solicit players from younger age groups. Any
violation of this rule will be subject to review by the Board, and may result in the removal of any
team official found to be involved in such activities.
Team staff will not offer any advice, counsel or comments that encourage a player to make a
request for acceleration. Interested parties should simply be referred to the Board by means of
written request to the Vice Chair Representative Teams.
3) Recreational League players with exceptional ability may be moved to a higher age or lower
age grouping after consultation between the Recreational League Directors and parents of the
player involved.