Tournaments And Exception Days

Rule/Policy Clarification

We are about to start the season and many Clubs have already had teams going to tournaments. It is probably a good time to go over the details of applying and what the exemptions from the League schedule actually provide.

First, you are all aware that each team is allowed three tournaments and two exception days. In addition you are permitted to enter tournaments at Christmas and at Easter as they do not have any impact on the League schedule in that there are no League games played either at Christmas or during the Easter weekend.

It is important to remember that a tournament exemption is for three days only  – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Should you need an extra day to travel, sharpen your skates or get your hair done, it has to be requested as an exception day along with your tournament application. If you also need the Monday to travel home or to catch up on your sleep it must also be taken as an exception day and applied for along with your tournament permission request. The foregoing scenario means that you will have used one tournament exemption and both of your exception days for the one tournament. You would now have two tournaments left and no exception days to be used for any other purpose ie, fundraisers, Club or team parties, dances, baptisms, bar mitvahs, or trips to Wonderland. The same would apply if you are entering a four-day tournament eg Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Upon approval of your Tournament permission request you have three days for the tournament and one day (Thursday) must be taken as an exception day. The alternative is for you to get the tournament organizers to agree not to schedule you to play on the Thursday of the tournament.

Teams should be aware that there is a cap on the number of teams that can be given an exemption from the schedule for either a tournament or an exception day. Once that cap has been reached no further exemptions can be granted regardless of whether the request is within the five-week cutoff or not. There are a couple of ways to beat the cap.  1) Get your request in early 2) Wait until the 3-week rolling schedule is published and if your team is not scheduled on the days in question you can apply anytime – even after the 5-week cutoff date.

Exception days are intended to provide teams with a way to be exempted from the League schedule for special occasions, fundraisers, parties, etc. Recently, with teams travelling further for tournaments they have also been used to provide extra travel days when required. The same 5-weeks’ notice is needed for exception days as is required for tournament applications. The cut off dates for applying for either tournaments or exception days are available on the website and from your Club Contact.

Five days of complete availability are required from every team and the Club Contacts have provided the days your team is not available to the League office. House League activities and Select practices are not excluded in the NYHL schedule preparation unless your Club has protected them within the two days per week that your team is not available. Any change to a team’s availability must be requested 5-weeks prior to the date when the change is needed in order to b accommodated in the three-week rolling schedule.

We hope the foregoing clarifies the way tournaments and exception days are handled. Good luck and Best wishes for an enjoyable season!