24 Hour Rule

24 HOUR RULE

Hockey can be an emotional experience. The excitement and energy generated during games can often spill off the ice and create strong reactions in coaches and parents. As parents, we will not always agree with a coach's decision. However, it is important to recognize that the coach's role is to make decisions for the team first and a player second. Also, we need to understand that most players are not aware of any problem until we, as parents, bring it to their attention. For parents, it is important to separate their child’s hockey development from game time emotions. For this reason, guided by USA Hockey, we are adopting the “24-Hour Rule” which includes the following:

• Parents/guardians are never allowed to confront a team, coach, player, or league official at the rink to discuss any “negative” game or practice situation(s).
• Should a parent/guardian need to discuss any game or practice situations, they shall wait until at least 24 hours have passed from the completion of the game or practice in order to do so.
• Violation of the 24-hour rule policy may result in Parent/guardian being suspended for up to 7 calendar days.
• In the event of a serious incident, parents/guardians are encouraged to notify the CTRH Board of Directors, Disciplinary Committee and/or President.

If parents respect the 24-hour rule, their concerns are more likely to be fully addressed in a reasonable discussion. More importantly, a child's enjoyment of a game won’t be marred by an ill-timed confrontation. The intent of this rule is to move an emotional and confrontational discussion away from the presence of the players, and to allow the parties to "cool off", compose themselves, and put the incident or situation that occurred in the game or practice in perspective before meeting to discuss it.