St. Paul, MN – September 8, 2015 – The Minnesota Hockey Board of Directors instituted two new changes for the upcoming 2015-2016 season during a special board meeting teleconference on July 26, 2015. The Board approved a one-year Pilot Program to change the Girls’ 14U classification to 15U for the upcoming season. A ruling was also made to institute a mandatory minimum 3-game suspension for spectators violating the Minnesota Hockey Conduct Rule.

15U Girls Pilot Program: “The 15U Girls Pilot Program was implemented after discussions with the District Girls Coordinators centering on how to improve the numbers and competitiveness at this level,” said USA hockey Girls/Women’s Minnesota District Section Representative, Doug Foster. “Additionally, there have been many examples of players cut from their local High School program that do not have a 19U team in the area.”

The push for the pilot program was made due to two factors:

1. There are 15 year olds in the Metro area who quit hockey due to not making the Varsity or Junior Varsity high school program, or they opt not to play High School or 19U due to the age spread. This allows them an extra year of playing, with the hope of growing 19U programs in the process.
2. To provide an extra year to this age in areas that don’t have Junior Varsity teams, often in Greater Minnesota.

With this change, the Board of Directors is sensitive to how this may impact High School programs, with players deciding to play girl’s hockey instead of High School. Data will be collected during this pilot season and reviewed at the end of the season, before any determination is made for future seasons.

Conduct Rule: A provision was added to the Minnesota Hockey Conduct Rule, which is located on page 35 of the 2015-2016 Minnesota Hockey Handbook. This change will implement a mandatory three game suspension from a team’s game for any spectator who is asked to leave the arena due to violating any of the following:

1. Making racial or ethnic slurs and/or harassing conduct of any kind
2. Abusive conduct that, in the referee(s) opinion, it is distracting from the game or inciting the players.

Any spectator removed under this paragraph will incur a mandatory minimum 3-game suspension from that team’s games and may be subject to further disciplinary action by the local governing body.