Hockey Alberta Announces changes to Affiliation Process

To:                   Minor Hockey Associations
From:              Hockey Alberta
SUBJECT:      Update to the Named Player Affiliation Agreement Process

UPDATE:
Following the changes to the affiliation regulations for the 2023-24 hockey season, Hockey Alberta no longer requires players and associations to complete the Named Player Affiliation Agreement for the purpose of affiliation, at certain levels.

RATIONALE:

Beginning in the 2023-24 hockey season, participants in all divisions/ categories are eligible to affiliate to multiple teams given that each affiliated team is in a different division/ category. The pathway of affiliation is defined by each stream’s Recruitment Area and would indicate to which club team(s) or program(s) a participant is eligible to affiliate. With the flexibility in affiliation and the pathway defined, the perceived “competition” for players should not exist as a participant can affiliate to multiple levels and multiple teams; a participant may only affiliate to one team within a specific Division and Category.  

The removal of the Named Player Affiliation Agreement will reduce administrative paperwork and streamline the affiliation process for Associations. However, some levels of hockey still require paperwork and the exceptions are listed below.

EXCEPTIONS:

1.     The Named Player Affiliation Agreement remains in place for any level of hockey that is not governed by Recruitment Areas or Boundaries. Those levels of hockey are defined as:

• U18AAA Female
• Junior Hockey (Female, C, B, A)
• Senior Hockey

2.     Any Association that hosts multiple AA teams of the same category (for example, Calgary Northstars U13 AA Green, Calgary Northstars U13 AA Gold). An internal process must be created to ensure players are provided a choice to which team they affiliate at a given division/category.

Should you have any questions on this change, please do not hesitate to contact the staff lead for your area of hockey.