Although Originally Founded to Provide Youth Hockey to the Residents of Framingham And

Dear Parents,

On behalf of the Framingham Youth Hockey Board of Directors, I wanted to share some important information with you regarding some recent developments which will affect tryouts for the 2011-12 FYHP season and may impact your decision-making regarding your child’s hockey-playing future.

Although originally founded to provide youth hockey to the residents of Framingham and Wayland, for many years Framingham Youth Hockey has welcomed players from many towns throughout the Metrowest region. Without regard to which town a player lives in, the Framingham program has always held its doors open to virtually any youngster who wants to learn and play youth hockey. Following the directive of both USA Hockey and Mass Hockey to “grow the game” of ice hockey among children looking to play youth sports, Framingham has been extremely successful in providing a youth hockey experience that is cheaper, more convenient and simply better for players and parents.

Because of the dedication of the coaches, the fundraising efforts of parents and the good fortune of having a great facility like Loring Arena, Framingham Youth Hockey has been able to provide a superior and more convenient hockey experience at a much lower cost than other programs in the area. As a result, over the last several years a number of parents from outside of Framingham and Wayland have brought their children to the Framingham program to learn and play youth hockey and the program has been happy to welcome them.

Unfortunately, several months ago the Demons Youth Hockey program (from the neighboring towns of Ashland, Hopkinton and Holliston) filed an objection with Mass Hockey to several Framingham Youth Hockey team rosters on the basis that these rosters contained too many players who lived outside of Framingham and Wayland (“out-of-town” players). Mass Hockey has a rule limiting the number of “out-of-town” players to three per team. However, that same rule provides for a waiver process which allows a program’s local district (Framingham is in District 8 along with the Demons, Triboro, Natick, Acton-Boxboro, Nashoba, SMS, Groton and Concord-Carlisle) to vote and approve rosters with more than 3 out-of-town players.

Each year, virtually every program within District 8 avails itself of this waiver process for a number of their team rosters which contain more than 3 “out-of-town” players. For many years, the programs within District 8 have approved all of these roster waiver petitions and allowed teams from many programs to compete with more than 3 “out-of-town” players. This year however, for the first time, the Demons objected to several of Framingham’s rosters and, after a vote, District 8 refused to approve these rosters. Although many other District 8 programs also submitted roste waiver petitions, only Framingham rosters were not appoved.

Framingham Youth Hockey appealed this decision to the Mass Hockey Roster Committee. The Roster Committee issued a ruling which barred two Framingham Squirt teams from playdown competition and barred all three Framingham Mite teams from the Mite Jamboree this season because those rosters contained more than 3 “out-of-town” players. The committee also indicated that, in the future, no more than 20% of the players on any Framingham Youth Hockey roster may be comprised of “out-of-town” players.

In the face of this ruling, the FYHP Board of Directors has agonized over how to respond. In spite of the fact that FYHP has sought only to grow the game by providing a high-quality, less expensive youth hockey experience regardless of each player’s “hometown” program, Mass Hockey has made it clear that it will compel Framingham to limit the number of “out-of-town” players on its rosters and force players to play for their “hometown” programs. Because of this ruling, Framingham Youth Hockey has little choice but to comply and impose a strict limit of 3 “out-of-town” players on its rosters for the 2011-2012 season. Failure to comply would carry the risk that any team with a non-conforming roster will be barred from playdowns and even league play by Mass Hockey.

After careful consideration, the FYHP Board of Directors has decided that the following rules will apply to April tryouts for the 2011-2012 season (not including Midget or Girls teams which are not subject to the above-referenced Mass Hockey rule):

1. No “out-of-town” players will be allowed to try out for FYHP travel teams unless they are currently on a travel team in our program;

2. Any “out of town” players currently in FYHP’s Beginners Program will have to try out for travel teams in their hometown programs—no current “out of town” players in FYHP’s Beginners Program will be able to try out for a FYHP travel team.

3. Tryouts will run as they always have, but during the team selection process, teams will be limited to a maximum of 3 “out-of-town” players per team, including goalies. If a fourth “out-of-town” player is selected for a team, he/she will be automatically placed as the first player on the next-highest team at that age level. This does not guarantee that there will be 3 “out-of-town” players on each team—only that there will be a maximum of 3 “out of town” players on each travel team. Unfortunately, once 3 “out-of-town” players are placed on each team at a given age level, any additional “out-of-town” players will be cut and not placed on a FYHP team. Any “out-of-town” player not placed on a FYHP travel team for this reason will be refunded their tryout registration fee. Anyone who leaves the program voluntarily after placement on a FYHP travel team will not receive a refund of the tryout registration fee.

4. To the extent that our Beginner population allows and FYHP is in compliance with Mass Hockey’s ruling, FYHP may continue to allow “out-of-town” players into the FYHP Beginners Program on a limited basis, but parents of any “out-of-town” player admitted to the Beginners Program will be advised that their child will not be allowed to try out for a FYHP travel team.

It is deeply troubling to me and to the entire Board of Directors that Framingham Youth Hockey has been compelled to make these changes which are certain to impact many members of the FYHP community. The FYHP board has pursued virtually every available avenue seeking relief from this ruling—even getting Mass Hockey to convene an ad hoc meeting of its Executive Board to review the matter—but to no avail. It is my fondest hope—though probably an unrealistic one—that FYHP will not lose any members of the FYHP family because of these changes imposed by Mass Hockey.

In the coming days, FYHP will schedule and publicize a “town hall” meeting among the FYHP community to discuss these changes. In the meantime, feel free to email me or FYHP Vice-President, Joel Idelson, with any questions or comments (; ). It may also benefit you to visit the USA Hockey ( and Mass Hockey ( websites. These sites contain the organizations’ rules and contact information for officers of these organizations to whom you may wish to address inquiries and/or comments about these issues.

-Bob Ryan, Framingham Youth Hockey Program President