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Have any programs out there run across anything like this?

This is a no brainer - in fact D6 requires 15 skaters and 2 goalies on
all A teams. If you have 2-6 kids who would be better off on a C team,
then find a neighboring association that needs extra C players and
waive them out to skate there.

Are there any other districts out there that have "minimum requirements?"

Are there any guidelines set forth by USA Hockey or Minnesota Hockey?

Are there any associations within district 6 that would run into
a situation with low numbers? I can see setting this rule if
numbers support it but there are plenty of smaller programs
that this rule would never work.

D16 - No such rules here.

And we have this problem every year in almost every association.

The D6 Director has to give prior approval for any A team less than
15 skaters and 2 goalies. This is to give more kids the opportunity
to skate at a higher level.

I have seen it work both ways though. There have been some bubble
kids when moved up to A that can't handle the extra pressure, but I think the intent was to prevent certain coaches for only wanting to have that select few on 'his' team. This rule forces the development of more talent in the age group.

with that few skaters, i'm guessing that association wouldnt have the talent to field a competitive B team as its bottom team. I'd have B and C teams only, which was not a choice listed in the poll.

There are no C teams in D16.
Some associations will at times have 2 B teams, but not often.

And Roseau generally is pretty competitive, but they are always challenged by 2 or 3 teams within the district.

So I guess one rule does not fit all.

I wouldn't put only 10-11 skaters on a team unless it was out of necessity. 12 or 13 would be my absolute minimum if the numbers are there.

More than 15 skater's at PW level is trouble. 12 min. period's along with the new standard of play will lead to kid's seeing 2 shift's a period, not good. You can get away with 10 or 11 skater's on a team in some district's. I have seen this very situation happen, assoc. decided to go with 2 team's. More kid's quit after that season than any season I had seen. Kid's do want to play.

With pee wees you can get away easily with 10 skaters (preferably 11) at the B level.
At bantams this is not possible.

In D16 we play 17 minute periods for pee wees and the kids can take it.
Heck we have had B level teams with 7 or 8 skaters and play competitively.

And if you have 2 B's and an A team - your pee wee teams double up on the ice and you can have 4 practices a week, a day off, and 2 or 3 games on the weekend. Plus time to be on the outdoor rink or go ice fishing or trapping.

Who would want to be a fourth line wing on a peewee team with 3+ lines?

D6 allows some flexibility for these types of situations - but you have to go through the Director.

How come D16 is playing 17 minute periods at the pee wee level and D4 imposed new rules this year that all levels will play 12 minute periods?

The kids in d16 are going to have 1.5x the gametime the kids in D4 are going to have.

What is the rationale with 12 minute periods? Isn't the trend to increase the length of the periods, especially in D4 since there are many situations where teams drive 2+ hours for a game?

It most likely comes down to ice time costs. longer periods equals more ice time that needs to be scheduled and paid for as well as less times available for practice. I assume that the 12 minute periods also state the game will go into running time if the game time matches the hour time to keep things on schedule.

Its also easier for schedulers to schedule games during that teams normal practice hour.

I would buy into that if it were driven by the associations. I know for a fact that it WAS NOT driven by the member associations. Our association couldn't believe it.

In D5. we play 15 minute periods and resurface once for a total game time of 1.5 hours. I think that two years agao. only Bnatam A and Peewee A played 15 minute periods, the rest were 12. It was proposed by an associations at a district board meeting to extend periods to 15 minutes. The district board sent the motion to the individual associations for discussion and voted the following board meeting.

I'm sure that would hold true for District 4. Some association would have to make the motion, have it seconded and bring the proposal back to the associations for them to vote on it and bring it back to the board.

Schedulers would have a difficult time with scheduling games, unless they already schedule practices at 1.5 hours for those teams. Officiating cost would go up as well as EMT fees if necessary.

Bring it to your association board and have them take it to the District Board to get it changed.

I know this is off topic but are bantam's in D4 playing 12 min. period's also? If so that is new's to me. That would be absurd.

District 4 has the U-14/Bantams, U-12/Peewees, U-10/Squirts, and MITES all playing three 12 minute (stop time) periods this year. For the mites, squirts, and maybe the Peewees its probably right. For the Bantams to play 12 minute periods is ridiculous. JMO

I heared this was true also, if it is that would be really dumb.