ELIGIBILITY-AGE
The age group determinations for the Grass Roots Series are the same as the other ECHO events. The player’s age will be determined as of 12/31 of the previous year. For example, all events in the year 2008 will use 12/31/07 as the age determination date. How old was the player as of that date?
Players are required to provide a birth certificate, driver’s license or passport to verify age.
ECHO Grass Root Series has adopted the USA Hockey Inline rule allowing girls to play down one BIRTH YEAR (not necessarily age division). Maximum number of girls skating down one division is three.
NON-RECRUITING GUIDELINES
When a roster is submitted at the first tournament of the year, those players are committed to that team. If a player wants to move to another ECHO Grass Root Series Team, that player must get a written release from the coach and/or club president to become eligible to play with that new team at an ECHO Grass Root Series event. Without a written release, that player will be ineligible to play at any ECHO Grass Root event, except with his/her original team. Special circumstances will allow a player to change teams: A: a physical change of address, B: the original team folds or C: the original team no longer attends ECHO Grass Root events. All appeals to this rule will be handled on a case-by-case basis by ECHO Hockey. Guest Players: If a team is not attending a particular Grass Root event and another team is short a player, a player from the non-attending team may GUEST PLAY for that team, provided that he/she returns to the original roster the next time the original team plays an ECHO Grass Root event.
When a roster is submitted at the first tournament of the year, those players are committed to that team. If a player wants to move to another ECHO Grass Root Series Team, that player must get a written release from the coach and/or club president to become eligible to play with that new team at an ECHO Grass Root Series event. Without a written release, that player will be ineligible to play at any ECHO Grass Root event, except with his/her original team. Special circumstances will allow a player to change teams: A: a physical change of address, B: the original team folds or C: the original team no longer attends ECHO Grass Root events. All appeals to this rule will be handled on a case-by-case basis by ECHO Hockey. Guest Players: If a team is not attending a particular Grass Root event and another team is short a player, a player from the non-attending team may GUEST PLAY for that team, provided that he/she returns to the original roster the next time the original team plays an ECHO Grass Root event.
TRAVEL/CLUB PLAYERS AND RESTRICTED TOURNAMENTS
The “NO TRAVEL PLAYERS” rule is not nearly as black and white. For the vast majority of players that compete in the ECHO Grass Root Series, the grey area of what constitutes a travel player is not an issue. These kids play recreational hockey at their home rink and are the best of the best recreational players there. There is another, much smaller, group of players that have, at one time or another, played some travel hockey. These ex-travel players left travel hockey for a variety of reasons; either too much time, commitment and/or money. Some players gave travel a try and simply found it was not for them. Whatever the case, these players have found a home with ECHO Grass Roots Series and many more in the future may find the community based structure of ECHO Grass Roots more appealing than the “take no prisoners” attitude of travel hockey.
So who is eligible? Any house team that competes at the house level at their local rink. If you have ANY eligibility questions, please feel free to contact us. All rosters must be approved to ECHO Hockey prior to competition. Be prepared to show documentation that proves your team’s roster is identical to the roster in your house league.
If a team is found to have ineligible players, that team will be suspended for a period of ninety days. If it is proven that a team knowingly presented inaccurate or fraudulent documentation, that team will be suspended for a period of twelve months. All protests must be accompanied by a $50 payment which will assure that the protest is not frivolous in nature. If the protest is found to be valid, the $50 payment will be returned. In all cases the burden of proof will be on the team filing the protest. In other words, they will be responsible for providing proof to support their claim.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Just like the ECHO Hockey “travel” series, the Grass Roots Series has a National Championship event which will be held in conjunction with the travel series event. To qualify for this event, your team must compete in one of the regional qualifier events.
Just like the ECHO Hockey “travel” series, the Grass Roots Series has a National Championship event which will be held in conjunction with the travel series event. To qualify for this event, your team must compete in one of the regional qualifier events.
