The Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) will hold its second annual ‘Earn Your Stripes Invitational’ event on Saturday, September 16th at the Patterson Ice Arena and the Southside Ice Arena in the Grand Rapids area. The one-day event will be dedicated to the training and mentoring of new officials, while giving youth and girls 10U Tier 2 & Tier 3 teams from across the state an opportunity to hit the ice and compete before the regular season.

Led by Michigan Referee-in-Chief Howard (J.P.) Parmentier, the Officiating Program will conduct a morning seminar for participating officials, while 10u games are played throughout the day. During the on-ice competition, new officials will have an opportunity to interact with veteran officials, who will serve as mentors throughout the process. The event concept serves to accelerate the process of onboarding new officials for ice hockey.

 This event will give us the opportunity to pair new officials with veterans, to allow younger referees to get some game experience going into the season,” Parmentier explained. “We hope to attract a few new officials to help us get our numbers back where they were, pre-pandemic.”

MAHA will host 32 teams throughout the day, beginning at Noon and running through 9pm, allowing each team to play two games. Teams will play their games either in the early afternoon or Late afternoon evening flight, and have a short rest between games. The Noon start will allow teams form other parts of Michigan time toi travel to Grand Rapids. There is no charge for teams to attend, but they will be accepted on a ‘first-come, first-serve’ basis. For most participating teams, it will be an opportunity to compete against teams they wouldn’t typically play during the regular season.

Teams interested in participating should register by clicking on the registration link below and registering today! Registration deadline is September 3 or when all the spots are gone.

New Level 1 & 2 Officials interested in participating should contact the Michigan RIC at midistrictric@gmail.com

The Michigan Amateur Hockey Association (MAHA) is committed to ensuring the safety of participants at all ages and skill levels. With the increasing availability of video provided by rink-based programs and partners, and parent or club affiliated resources, we are enacting a policy for video review specifically as a means of determining whether an on-ice action caught on video, but not penalized by officials, is deserving of a formal review process for potential supplemental discipline.

The MAHA will NOT use video review for the purpose of changing any on ice call.

Video submitted for potential review by the MAHA, will only be accepted/considered if presented by a member Association or Club. (No individual or parent submissions will be accepted.) The following process shall be followed:

• Upon review by the Association, Club leadership or Adult League Commissioner, and determination that a request for further action is requested, the Association's President, Club's Manager or Adult League Commissioner must complete the "Video Review Request" form on the MAHA website. https://maha.sportngin.com/register/form/676493789
• The form must be submitted within 5 days of the incident. A $200 deposit will be collected at the time of submission. If the video is accepted for review, the deposit will be returned. If the video is NOT accepted for review, the $200 will be considered a fine to the organization that submitted the video.
• A copy of the game scoresheet must be submitted through the MAHA website.
• Upon receipt, the Vice President of Officials will review and determine if the actions shown on video warrants further review.
• If further review is deemed warranted, a review process will be undertaken by a Video Review Committee (the VR Committee). The Video Review Committee consists of the VP of Officials, District Referee in Chief of the affected District and a District Director of the affected District.
• The Video Review Committee will make a recommendation to the MAHA Executive Vice President who will make the final determination on conducting a supplemental discipline hearing and assign it to the MAHA Discipline Committee who will conduct the hearing.
• Supplemental Discipline will not be imposed unless and until a hearing has been conducted with the player, coach or parent that is the subject of the request.
• Discipline administered by the MAHA will be imposed immediately and the subject of supplemental discipline will retain all appeal rights as provided for in the MAHA Guidebook and USA Hockey Bylaw 10. (Any discipline assessed will not be delayed while an appeal is in process.)

You can download the full policy below or start the registration if you are ready to file a video for review.