Carolina Amateur Hockey Association

Designated USA Hockey Affiliate Association 
for North and South Carolina

“Ensuring every day will be a great day for hockey!”

Carolina Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) is the USA Hockey governing body for ice hockey in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. Formed in 2000, CAHA's mission is to encourage, foster and promote the development and growth of the sport of amateur hockey in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Important Information Regarding USA Hockey's National Background Screening Program

As we hope you are all aware, in order to comply with new requirements from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (“USOPC”), USA Hockey will be implementing a national level background screening policy. Beginning on April 1, 2020, background screening will be conducted by our national background screen vendor, NCSI, and information on background screening will be included following your registration. This letter is also to notify you of other important dates and information regarding background screening.

As of March 22, 2020, applicants will no longer be able to submit new USA Hockey background screens through Affiliate vendors, and will not be able to submit new screens through NCSI until April 1, 2020.

If you were screened after April 1, 2019 for the 2019-20 season, your screen is valid for the 2020-21 season, and you will not need to be screened under the new system until prior to the 2021-22 season. If your most recent screen is from prior to April 1, 2019, you will need to be screened under the new system, after April 1, 2020, in order to participate in the upcoming season.

All new screens submitted through the new NCSI national screening program after April 1, 2020 will be valid for two seasons. For example, a screen submitted and approved on April 15, 2020 will be valid through the end of the 2021-22 season, which is August 31, 2022.

Background screens through NCSI under the national program will cost $30 for all domestic screens. For international screens (members who have lived outside of the US for six consecutive months in any one county during the past 7 years) the flat rate fee in $150. If that country is solely Canada, the flat rate fee is $75.

Please note that all coaches, officials, board members, employees, volunteers, billets, and anyone else who will have regular contact with, or authority over, minor athletes are required to submit to a background screen before any such contact with minor athletes.

Matt Meinig
CAHA SafeSport Coordinator
safesportcaha@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 11, 2020

USA Hockey Cancels National Championships, Disabled Festival

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — USA Hockey announced tonight it has canceled its series of upcoming National Championships, including high school, youth, girls, adult and sled, that were set to begin in various locations across the country on March 26. In addition, the organization also announced it has canceled its Disabled Hockey Festival, which was set to take place over two weekends (March 26-29 and April 2-5) in Pittsburgh, Penn.

“Safety of our participants has always been our top priority and with the current coronavirus situation, our executive committee unanimously decided to cancel these national events,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey.

“We felt it was important to get the news of the cancellation out immediately,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “We’re sure there will be many questions and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we together work through this unprecedented situation.

“While we're disappointed that we had to make this decision, we celebrate the success of USA Hockey teams across the country this year, as well as the time and effort so many people invested into these signature events. We’re thankful to our national sponsors, tournament directors, volunteers and so many others for their support in making hockey an enjoyable experience for all.”

USA Hockey will continue to provides updates regularly on the coronavirus situation at USAHockey.com.

NOTE: There are games/tournaments played throughout the U.S. at the local level that include USA Hockey members that are not national-level events and are operated by districts, affiliates, local associations or even private operators. The decisions relative to those events are made at the local level. We continue to encourage all involved to engage with local health and medical professionals, and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization, in making educated decisions.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – USA Hockey announced today a presidential directive that changes the penalty for racial/derogatory slurs of any kind that fall under Rule 601 (e. 3) from a game misconduct to a match penalty.

“We continue to get reports of disturbing incidents of racial and other derogatory slurs, behavior which is reprehensible and has absolutely no place in our game, especially around our children,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey. “For reasons I cannot explain or understand, the current penalty in place does not seem to be enough of a deterrent to stop this type of conduct.”

>>Letter from USA Hockey President Jim Smith

Smith noted that while modifying the severity of the penalty is an important step, it’s also vital that parents and coaches take the time to address the topic with athletes.

Effectively immediately, anyone penalized under Rule 601 (e.3) will receive a match penalty, which carries a five-minute penalty, disqualification from that game, and suspension from further participation until such time the governing Affiliate or junior league has conducted a hearing to review the matter. Affiliates or junior leagues have up to 30 days to investigate and conduct a hearing and the offending individual(s) is subject to further discipline.

Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey, noted the importance of all stakeholders working together for the betterment of the sport.

“The use of hateful language is a hurdle to creating a welcoming environment for families that want to be involved in our sport. Eradicating this kind of behavior from our game is critical as we continue to make a positive impact on society through hockey.”

All players seventeen (17) years of age or older on or before December 31 (2002, 2001 and 2000 birth years), that play on a team in a classification that allows minor age players, are required to complete U.S. Center for SafeSport online training before being added to the team and prior to participation (on-ice or off-ice). This requirement applies to all teams in the Youth, Girls, High School, Junior Hockey, Flex Hockey and Disabled Hockey program classifications that allow both minor age and adult age players. Players required to take the training must complete the Core Center for SafeSport Training prior to being added to the team.

The training that the players need to complete is the same training as other adults -  accessed through the USA Hockey website by clicking on “register for SafeSport Training”  www.usahockey.com/safesporttraining.

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