Bay State Girls Hockey League  2007/08
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BSGHL League Volunteers

  §         Executive Committee – Rich Belanger (Seacoast Lightning), Matt Burke (Charles River),Bill MacDonald (Natick), Laura Moynihan (Falmouth)

§         Scheduler – Paul Hendrickson (Masco)

• Chief Enforcement Officer (Cancellations/No Shows) – Matt Burke (Charles River)
• Web Master – Jim Ballway (Masco)
• Assistant (& Future) Web Master – OPEN
• Registrar – Laura Moynihan (Falmouth)
• Team Contact Information – Rich Belanger (Seacoast Lightning)

BSGHL Overview

The Bay State Girls Hockey League (BSGHL) was founded in 1999 with the objective of providing a positive experience for players and fans by scheduling games between teams that are appropriately balanced from an age / ability standpoint. 

The Bay State Girls Hockey League is a home and away league. Teams are scheduled for one away game for each sheet of home ice provided (i.e., if you provide ice for two home games per month, you will generally be scheduled for two away games that month).  Because of the vagaries of ice schedules, a team's number of home and away games may not be in perfect balance every month, but the total of home and away games should be even (or very close to even) over the course of the season.  The league has not established either minimum or maximum numbers of games per team - some teams play a sparse BSGHL schedule (as little as two or three games per month) because they also play in another league, while others play as many games as the schedule allows.  The length of each team’s season is determined by the ice available to each program. Some programs have ice through April while others end at the beginning or middle of March. 

Scheduling is done by the league scheduler. Each program provides a listing of their home ice times, preferably as far in advance as possible. Games are assigned and a master schedule is produced for the league. Typically, the schedule is released on a monthly basis at least 3 weeks before the start of the month. The scheduler’s objective is to achieve competitive balance while not requiring unreasonable amounts of travel. 

The month of October is the BSGHL "Parity Round."  The Parity Round is home and away just like the regular season, but games are scheduled based on verbal scouting reports of the age/ability levels of the teams in the league. The purpose of the Parity Round is to place teams in divisions with other teams of comparable age and ability.  Once the regular season has begun, teams typically remain in their assigned division.  However, the scheduler has the discretion to move a team to another division if necessary to provide an appropriate age/ability placement. 

The league does not place great emphasis on division standings and win-loss records during the season.  Teams will not necessarily play a balanced schedule against all the teams in their division.  Further, at the discretion of the scheduler, teams will occasionally be scheduled against age / ability appropriate opponents outside of their division.   

USA Hockey

The BSGHL operates under USA Hockey.  For all games, USA Hockey rules apply except as noted below for ice sheets with 50 minute hours.  All teams in the league must be registered with USA Hockey and must submit copies of their USA Hockey rosters to the league Registrar no later than December 1. 

Playoffs

The league's first playoffs were held in the spring of 2001.  Since different programs end their years at different times (due to ice availability), the BSGHL playoffs are held in late Feb / early March.  All teams make the playoffs.  Teams losing in the preliminary round(s) of the playoffs return to playing non-playoff games until their season ends.  The specific plan for the Playoffs will be circulated in draft form in early January for any necessary updates and adoption at the January BSGHL meeting. 

Meetings

Three league meetings are held per year to make league wide decisions and set policy.  The regularly scheduled meetings for the 2004 / 05 season will be held on August 2, September 9, and January 10. 

Responsibilities of Home Team

The home team is responsible for:

• Referees - naturally, the better the quality of refereeing, the better the experience for the players. The league strongly recommends two referees for PeeWee / Midget games as well as advanced Squirt games.  Developmental Squirt (U-12) games seem to work fine with one referee.  The age requirements for the referees are as determined by USA Hockey.  However, the league strongly recommends that at least one of the referees for games among the older and higher skilled girls be an "adult".
• Scorekeeper / timekeeper - the scorekeeper / timekeeper should have the game clock ready and should start the 3 minute warm-up clock immediately after the Zamboni leaves the ice.
• BSGHL Gamesheet – a sufficient supply will be distributed at the September meeting.
• Report the score via email to the league scheduler and league statistician no later than the day following the game.

BSGHL Discipline Issues

(Adopted January 16, 2002; Modified September, 2004)

Starting with the 2004 / 05 season, the Executive Committee will assume the responsibilities of the Discipline Committee and act on behalf of the league in matters of discipline and related policy.  The responsibilities of the committee include, but are not limited to, addressing the following:

• Appeals of Player Suspensions by referees or individual programs;
• Game incidents involving players, coaches, or fans;
• Patterns of inappropriate behavior by players, coaches, fans, or teams;
• Use of ineligible players; and
• Any other disciplinary matters arising from violations of USA Hockey rules.

The Committee will establish its own procedures for handling the matters that come before it.  The Committee will have the authority to take any appropriate actions, including the issuance of suspensions of players, coaches, fans, or entire teams.  Appeals of decisions of the committee may be made to the appropriate USA Hockey jurisdiction or may be made to the entire league.  The league will not conduct hearings separate from the hearing of the Committee.  However, in the event of an appeal to the entire league, all parties directly involved in the action leading to the appeal will be permitted to submit written statements.  The written statements will be distributed to each program in the league, and the league will vote on the appeal with each team in the league having one vote.  

The members of the Committee will excuse themselves from participation in hearings, reviews, or other actions involving parties from their own program or games where their program was involved (even if their program was not the alleged offending party).  Three members are required to be present for any hearings on matters before the committee. 

Standard for 50 Minute Hours

(Adopted January 16, 2002)

For BSGHL games when the ice time available is a 50-minute hour, the following procedure will be used for game timekeeping:

• Period 1 - 12 minute stop time
• Period 2 - 12 minute stop time
• Period 3 - running time with the last 2 minutes stop time. At start of third period, the referee will determine how much running time is available while still allowing for the last 2 minutes to be stop time.

Unless there is a goal differential of 5 goals or more, the last 2 minutes of the game will always be stop time.

In addition to the above standard, it is strongly recommended (1) that both teams be ready to go on the ice immediately after the Zamboni comes off the ice, and (2) that the timekeeper start the 3 minute warm-up clock immediately after the Zamboni leaves the ice. 

BSGHL Cancellation / No Show Policy

(Adopted October, 2000; Modified September, 2004)

Whereas the girls hockey programs (Member Programs) that participate in the BSGHL desire to offer to its players a reliable, competitive and enjoyable hockey experience, we have agreed to the following guidelines:

• Member Programs are responsible to communicate this policy to its Team(s) in the BSGHL
• It is the responsibility of every Member Program to meet its obligations as set forth in the most current schedule that is distributed, from time to time, during the regular season.
• By Obligation(s), we mean that every Team will be prepared to begin a hockey game:
  • with a complete team of players (defined as minimum acceptable – 7 skaters and a goalie), and
  • and will arrive on time, at the location as indicated in accordance with the most current league schedule. 
• In the event that a Given Team determines that it is unable to meet its Obligation, the Responsible Coach (defined as the coach whose Team will not meet its Obligation) must call the opposing coach and provide a minimum of 48 hours notice (Required Notice).  Where a Given Team is unable to meet its Obligation due to a scheduling conflict with another league or other non-BSGHL game (or for any other reason that should be known by the Given Team more than 7 days in advance), the Required Notice is 7 days.  The BSGHL will make available to every Member Program with current contact information on teams competing in the BSGHL.
• In the event that a Given Team fails to provide Required Notice and fails to meet its Obligation, the following applies:
  • For the first infraction the Given Team (not the entire Member Program) will be placed on probation within the BSGHL.
    • The Given Team has the right to appeal this probation for extenuating circumstances. This appeal is to be made to the entire BSGHL with each Member Program having one vote.
  • For the second infraction, the Given Team (not the entire member Program) will be responsible to pay a penalty fee of fifty dollars ($50) or to provide a complementary sheet of ice at a reasonable time to the Opposing Member Program.
    • The Given Team has the right to appeal this penalty for extenuating circumstances. This appeal is to be made to the entire BSGHL with each Member Program having one vote.
  • For the third infraction the Given Team (not the entire Member Program) will be expelled from the league.
    • The Given Team has the right to appeal this expulsion for extenuating circumstances. This appeal is to be made to the entire BSGHL with each Member Program having one vote.
• If within forty eight (48) hours before a game is to be played,
  • there is unexpected inclement weather that could prevent a game from being played, or,
  • the rink has closed,

and both coaches mutually agree that the game should be cancelled, there will be no probation, penalty, or expulsion assigned to either team.

·        In the event that a Home Team is aware that a Rink will be unavailable (for example a tournament has been scheduled) for a game and fails to notify the Visiting Team, the Home Team (not the entire member Program) will be responsible to pay a penalty fee of fifty dollars ($50), and to provide a complementary sheet of ice at a reasonable time to the Opposing Member Program.