DCHL Leagues Players —
Our new seasons have already started across the board on all our leagues so I wanted to send out a newsletter to update everyone on all important pieces of info to help you navigate your way through it.
10 IMPORTANT ITEMS — Please read through it all!!!
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1) DCHL (Sundays – 26 teams; 11 am to 10 pm) is already underway and 2 weeks in. MDHL (Wednesday nights – 13 teams; 7 pm to 11 pm) will be in its 2nd week (1st week for teams who had byes last week) tonight. RHL (Monday Night Inline/Indoor Roller – 6 teams; 8 to 11 pm) is already 2 weeks into its season.
NOTE: Sundays are booked solid.
NOTE2: If you like to play Wednesday nights I have two REC teams looking for a male player (but we can always take woman as well in that position). I can add one more male player to our D2 (middle division). They play their first game tonight. Contact me ASAP if you want in. MDHL offers three 17 minute periods (longer games) and more byes so you are not there every Wednesday!
NOTE3: RHL (inline) is booked as well. But if you want to try out roller, let me know and I might be able to get you in to sub. We will be expanding roller again next season. This is only our 3rd season with PUCK. Roller is 4 on 4 with no off sides or icing. And it is gender free. We have several women playing roller.
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2) All players are getting waivers emailed to them (see attached). You do not need to sign them as receipt of the waiver is acceptance of our terms and conditions. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions, the onus is upon you to let the league know and stop your participation in our leagues.
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3) All players must pay an ANNUAL LIABILITY insurance. This is not health or medical (injury) insurance. It is a liability insurance which is required by all major venues to protect them against any liability claims. Cost is $30 for those who choose not to wear helmets. It is $20 for those who do choose to wear helmets. The coverage period is from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
In the next few days I will be emailing new players and those who have not paid to get in compliance. Without payment, you will be suspended from playing.
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4) I have attached a Dropbox Link to a Folder below that contains all you need to know about the leagues (rosters, schedules, stats, rulebook, code of ethics, preapproved list, yearly calendar). PLEASE NOTE THAT you can find all this on our website (www.playdchl.com) as well. Just choose the appropriate league and use the dropdown (on website) or subfolders (in Dropbox) to find the info you need.
DROPBOX LINK – https://www.dropbox.com/sh/
NOTE: You do not need a Dropbox Account (which is FREE anyways) to download all this info.
NOTE2: The 2017-2108 Projected Calendar for all leagues and all seasons are done about a year in advance in February of current calendar year. This year’s calendar covers all league dates and all seasonal projected dates from April 2017 to March 2018. So you can plan for following seasons AHEAD of time.
NOTE3: We do take major holiday Sundays and certain other Sundays OFF (due to national travel team tourney weekends). During those Sundays (weekends), we offer local tourneys that run for 3 to 4 hours. This is great for those that would still like to play for about 2 games worth of time in a draft format with new people. This is a very popular format we have. Cost is normally $20 to play in our tourneys. We open registration the Monday before these tourneys. Check out the tab called Tourneys in the 2017-2018 Projected Calendar file. It lists all our available tourneys through March 2018 so you can plan for it!
NOTE4: One of our players (Owen Evans) has created a Smart Calendar that will sync with your smartphone (of any kind) so you can have the schedule for any particular or all leagues in your calendar.
Here are the instructions and the links!
The best way to use these calendars is to subscribe to them using the URLs INSTEAD OF DOWNLOADING THEM!
Subscribing lets someone permanently have these calendars on their phone/computer. Their calendar will just be up-to-date if the schedule changes and they’ll just see the next season’s games when they are added. If they download the calendar files and import them they’d need to import a new file for each season, and this would likely produce duplicate events.
This is how to add a subscribed calendar on an iPhone:
Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Add Account > Other > Add subscribed calendar > paste calendar link where prompted to enter the Server > Next > Save
Here are the URLs for all the calendars:
MDHL: http://bit.ly/2ujmdB1
DCHL: http://bit.ly/2wnxfCL
RHL: http://bit.ly/2vf8ZT3
DCHL & MDHL: http://bit.ly/2iOiRQt
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5) DCHL Leagues uses player ratings and salary caps to ensure competitive balance. Every player is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 and divisional caps are put in place to keep games competitive (and to avoid stacking).
We also have a sub approval process that the Board of Governors (captains and assistant captains) uses to fill roster holes on game days. Part of this process is a PREAPPROVED list of subs for each division to make it easier for captains to get subs without needing opposing captain’s approval. I have not completed the MDHL PREAPPROVED Sub List yet. But the DCHL one is up and under roster tab (subfolder).
Most players (not all) are PREAPPROVED to sub in at least one division.
NOTE: If you would like to sub and wanted to be move to the top of sub list for the appropriate division, please email your cell phone number. It is easier and faster to text potential subs and coordinate then use email. Only I (Commissioner) will have your cell number if you choose to do this. If you are not comfortable with this, please do not send me your cell number.
Your privacy is important. We do not share your email address to anyone unless you are playing on that team.
Board of Governors (captains and assistant captains) has moved to Slack (free communication software) to conduct its business. But Slack does not limit its privacy enough for us to use it for organize potential subs.
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6) DCHL Leagues – NEW Polices effective this season
PLAYOFF ELIGIBILITY – All players must play 5 games to be playoff eligible. Also each team gets a designated Part Time Player Exemption. This player only needs to play 3 games to be playoff eligible (instead of 5). Captain has already selected this person for each team. NOTE – D4 and REC divisions are exceptions to this rule. There is no PT Player Exemptions in those divisions because in those divisions only just 4 games needs to be played to be playoff eligible
ALL TEAMS – All players from all teams (specifically all road teams) must bring WHITE in addition to their normal color in case there is a color conflict in which case they must wear white. If a player does not have white and needs to wear white, a team will lose a sportsmanship point in the standings
TOO MANY SUBS – In order to gain the full 2 points for a win, a team must have at least SIX of their own players.
NEW DELAY OF GAME PENALTY – In those divisions where icing with a 2 goal lead or more in 3rd period is a penalty (which is all divisions except DCHL D1), roofing the ball and hitting a structure of the roof (intentionally or not) will now be a delay of game penalty. The criteria is same for icing penalty rule.
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7) Please report to games at least 5 minutes before start time — especially for women and goalies. Sometimes games get behind for whatever reasons to start the day but we catch up pretty quickly.
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8) DCHL Leagues will be supporting an excellent local cause by an organization called Sports Beyond Boundaries as they are building of a FACILITY OF ABILITY for disabled children (including an indoor hockey rink, basketball and/or soccer court, etc.) The Washington Capitals, NHL and Montgomery County Government and Executives are involved in this project.
They will be holding a fun street hockey tournament outdoors with TONS of playing time at Green Turtle in Olney, MD. Parking lot is being turned into several makeshift rinks for a 4 on 4 tourney. Cost to field a team is $295 or you can sign up individually. There will be tons of fun stuff to do ($10,000 shot contest along with cornhole games) as well with local businesses (including The Green Turtle) offering food and drink specials.
Gatorade and water will be PROVIDED for free!
Date is Saturday, August 26, 2017 from 8 am – 11 pm! There will be two sessions (AM and PM Divisions) so you can play in either one or BOTH! 🙂
DEADLINE IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 2017!!!
For more details and registration, please use this Eventbrite link to REGISTER. If you have any questions, email me!
Hundred of Volunteers — including local police and EMT — will be there to support this fundraiser.
Come out and put a team together. Guess what! You just need at least one goalie and at least 8 floor players. Ideally a team will have at least 2 women on their roster! It is all about having fun, socializing, being festive, eating/drinking and supporting a great local cause!
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9) If you need any sort of hockey gear (ball, ice, roller and even lacrosse), ReCycle Sports (15245 Display Ct, Rockville, MD 20850) which is less than 2 miles from the Rockville Sportsplex can get you great deals on new, used or customized gear. Tell Mitchell (owner) you are from DCHL Leagues and he will take good care of you!
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10) And finally — DCHL Leagues has a very and varied active social media network (make sure you follow us on our YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and both our business and personal Facebook page). My personal Facebook page especially is a great community tool where tons of info, fun stuff, and group participation occurs on a daily basis. You will be well connected if you follow us! All the info on our social media is below in my signature.
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Thanks for reading!
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Suds – Commissioner
(DCHL Leagues: DCHL, MDHL & RHL)