Hopefully you will never need to refer to the information in this section. However, if circumstances arrive where you do receive a Match penalty or are suspended, here is a brief over view of the process. For more in depth information refer to the MAHA Rules and Regulations Section XVI and USA Hockey Bylaw 10.

Overview of Suspension & Hearing Process

• If a player or coach receives a Match Penalty during a game, the Head Coach of that team is responsible to contact his/her District Chairperson with 24 hours to report the infraction.
• The affected District Council Chairperson (or designate) shall then gather the report, contact witnesses, investigate the situation if needed and schedule and conduct a hearing within thirty (30) days.
• The District Council Chairperson (or designate) shall provide at least seven (7) days written notice to all persons who are suspended, or subject to suspension, of the location and time of the hearing.
• If the person(s) under suspension or facing suspension refuses to attend or fails to appear at a scheduled hearing, they will be indefinitely suspended until they appear before a scheduled Hearing Panel.
• The Hearing Panel is to include a minimum of three (3) persons, one of whom is a MAHA Director, and must be reasonably disinterested and impartial.
• At the discretion of the Hearing Panel, the hearing may be open to interested parties not involved
• The Hearing Panel may hear any evidence that it believes is relevant to the issue(s) at hand. It may place limits on time, evidence and documentation (but relatively equal time to each side of the issue). It may have witnesses and/or written statements. Note that the Rules of Evidence in Judicial Proceedings shall not apply to the hearing. The “Burden of Proof” is that the charges are more likely true than not true, otherwise referred to as “preponderance of evidence” standard.
• The Hearing Panel shall use reasonable efforts to render its decision to the parties to the hearing within five (5) business days of the close of the hearing.

Any person or organization that has been suspended after a hearing may appeal the suspension. Download the file below for the details of the procedure for filing an appeal if you are suspended by MAHA

The Tough & Clean Hockey Course is designed to help hockey players channel their aggression into positive play. This course can be helpful to both players and coaches alike. It was developed in conjunction with Dr. Larry Lauer at MSU. Youth players that are being required to take this  course must download this workbook first and use it during the course.

Note: The course plays using Adobe Acrobat. You must have this installed on your computer. The workbook file is very large, it takes 3-5 minutes to download and start playing.