Player Eligibility

Modified Teams:

a. All Modified Players must be full-time students in the 7^th or 8th grade and enrolled in the school represented by their team. Exceptions permitted only in accordance with AAU rules and approved by the league. District players going to Catholic schools can play only if the team is in need of players. Sixth (6^th) graders cannot participate in practice or games at any time.

b. Modified players may not be 15 years of age before September 1 of the current year.

c. Before playing their first game for their Modified team all players must be on the official roster that has been filed with the appropriate League Vice President and that roster must be added to the League Website.

d. Any 7^th or 8^th grader playing in any game (a shift) on Junior Varsity or Varsity will no longer be eligible to play Modified.

e. Modified players currently playing in the Niagara Frontier Modified League will not be eligible to play in the WNYHSCHL Modified League.

Junior Varsity Teams:

a. All Junior Varsity players must be full-time students in the 8th, 9th or 10th grade (no 11th graders) and enrolled in the school represented by their team. District players cut from Catholic schools can play only if the team needs players (approval required by the WNYHSCHL Board).  Eighth (8th) graders will be required to pass the NYS Selective Classification Test before beginning allowed to participate at this level. Seventh (7th) graders cannot participate in practices or games at any time.

b. Junior Varsity players may not be 17 years of age before September 1 of the current season.

c. Before playing their first game for their Junior Varsity team all players must be on the official roster that has been filed with the appropriate League Vice President and that roster must be added to the League Website.

d. All 9th and 10th grade players may play unlimited Varsity games and their JV team will remain State bound (8th graders must have successfully completed the NYS Varsity Selective Classification Test) The team must submit their play-off roster at the end of the regular season. Players will not be permitted to play in the League Play-offs for both teams (Varsity and JV). However, if a JV player has enough qualifying games, they may move up to the Varsity level for States once there JV season concludes. Junior Varsity players playing on a Varsity Federation team can play in the Junior Varsity State Tournament once their Varsity season ends.

e. Students who are currently rostered on, or who have played in a Junior A, B or C team must be off that team’s roster by November 5th to be eligible to play on a Junior Varsity team.

Varsity Teams:

a. All Varsity Players must be full-time students in the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade and enrolled in the school or live in the Public-School District represented by their team. District players cut from Catholic schools can play only if the team needs players (approval required by the WNYHSCHL Board). Eighth (8th )graders will be required to successfully complete the NYS Selective Certification Test before being allowed to participate at this level. 7th graders are not allowed to be in practices or in any games at the Varsity level at any time.

b. Varsity players may not be 19 years of age before September 1 of the current season.

c. Before playing their first game for their Varsity team all players must be on the official roster that has been filed with the appropriate League Vice President and that roster must be added to the League Website.

d. Students who are currently roster on, or who have played in a Junior A, B or C team must be off that team’s roster by November 5th to be eligible to play on a Varsity team.

There is no player pool for the WNYHSCHL. Players who reside in a district not represented by a team are not eligible to participate on an out of district team.

*Mixed School Teams may only be made up of players from 4 schools.

The AAU and the Niagara Section currently allow an exception for GOALTENDERS, but all out of district player requests are subject to approval by the League. In the case of any disputes regarding non-school players, the player will be assigned to the team whose school is closest to the player’s residence.  Private schooled players residing in the Public-School District can only play if: The Public-School team has less than 20 players, and no Public-School players were cut from the team. If the player refuses to play for the team they were assigned to, they are no longer eligible to play for another school.

*Non-district goaltenders must be approved by the WNYHSCHL President before they try-out for any team.