NCAA Rules that Hockey Parents need to know

Parents have many concerns about the attendance of their son at the training camp of a Major Junior team prior to committing to play Major Junior or NCAA. In order to ensure that a player maintains his NCAA eligibility, parents should be aware of the following NCAA Rules:

Applicable Rule:

12.2.1.1

Rule Breakdown:

A player may attend ONE expenses-paid Major Junior training camp if:

the training camp does not exceed 48 hours, and

any compensation paid to the player in connection to the training camp is not more than actual and necessary expenses.

A player may attend ONE expenses-paid major training camp for longer than 48 hours if:

any compensation paid to the player in connection to the training camp is not more than actual and necessary expenses, and

the player pays for additional expenses beyond the 48-hour period.

Additional Concerns:

Players are often invited to a rookie camp that lasts 48 hours AND a training camp that lasts longer than 48 hours. If the players goes to both, although they may be months apart, the hours of each camp are combined for eligibility purposes.

A player who wishes to retain NCAA eligibility may NOT play in a training-camp related exhibition game against another major junior team.

The NCAA and its schools’ compliance departments track this through several streams of information: CHL team news releases on training camp rosters, CHL team social media posts, and player social media posts.

A recent penalized violation of the rule was in 2011: http://yhoo.it/144wj10

The NCAA Clearinghouse/Eligibility Center application specifically asks hockey players about major junior training camps. PLAYERS SHOULD NOT LIE ABOUT HOW LONG THEY WERE AT A CAMP. If the NCAA finds out later that the player lied on his Eligibility Center application, the player will be suspended for a number of games.

The Language of the Rule:

12.2.1.1 Tryout Before Enrollment-Men’s Ice Hockey and Skiing.
In men’s ice hockey and skiing, a student-athlete remains eligible in a sport even though, prior to enrollment in a collegiate institution, the student-athlete may have tried out with a professional athletics team in a sport or received not more than one expense-paid visit from each professional team (or a combine including that team), provided such a visit did not exceed 48 hours and any payment or compensation in connection with the visit was not in excess of actual and necessary expenses. The 48-hour tryout period begins at the time the individual arrives at the tryout location. At the completion of the 48-hour period, the individual must depart the location of the tryout immediately in order to receive return transportation expenses. A tryout may extend beyond 48 hours if the individual self finances additional expenses, including return transportation. A self-financed tryout may be for any length of time.