Parent's Guide to Hockey Alberta U15 Hockey 2025-26

This comes from Hockey Alberta Information Bulletin 19-10 (May 4, 2020) and its U15 Non-Checking FAQ, which are older than the 2025-26 Regulations. The 2025-26 Regulations do not restate the checking rule, so check the date before relying on it.

• For the 2020-2021 season, Alberta's six tiered Minor Hockey Leagues unanimously supported non-checking / body contact only hockey at Tiers 4 to 6 of the U15 division. Tiers 1 to 3 were body checking.
• An association with one U15 team declares each season whether it is "body checking" or "non-checking / body contact only". An association that declares body checking can move to the non-checking tiers (4-6) before the end of the league's tiering process or by its re-tiering deadline. An association that declares non-checking cannot later move up to body checking / Tier 3 or higher.
• Body contact is not eliminated. Hockey Alberta defines body contact as incidental contact of two opposing players in pursuit of the puck or position in the same direction, and body checking as an attempt to gain an advantage on the opponent with the body, such as when two opposing players collide skating in opposite directions.
• Hockey Alberta strongly recommends that coaches of non-checking teams keep teaching how to give and receive a body check.
• Players from non-checking teams can affiliate to body checking teams if the player agrees.

Under the 2025-26 Regulations all U15 head coaches need Hockey Canada Skills - Checking and HA - Intro to Principles of Checking.

Section B (3. Player Eligibility) of the 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations says:

• A player cannot be registered to a team in any Minor Hockey Association unless they are a resident of the Province of Alberta.
• A player's residence is determined by the residence of their parents or court-appointed guardians, as defined in the Hockey Canada Regulations.
• A player who is not an Alberta resident must submit an Appeal to Transfer in accordance with the Hockey Canada Bylaws.
• A player who is neither a Canadian citizen nor a landed immigrant must also submit an Appeal to Transfer under the Hockey Canada Bylaws.
• A player registering for the first time with an MHA must provide an official birth certificate recognized by the civil authorities in Alberta as proof of age.
• A player registering must provide proof of the Respect in Sport - Parent course, shown as a card number on the player's registration in the Registry.

From Section B (5. Player Movement) of the 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations:

• A player must get permission from their primary Minor Hockey Association (MHA) before being transferred, in the Registry, to a new MHA.
• If the primary MHA does not give permission, an application for player movement can be submitted to Hockey Alberta through the online form.
• Permission can be denied if there are outstanding fees or other financial obligations owing to the MHA the player was last registered with.
• Without the required processes the player's registration is not completed and the player is ineligible to play in any game. If a player plays before completing them, the team officials and the MHA of the team may be disciplined.
• Permission from the primary MHA is not needed when: the player is trying out for an AA or AAA team and did not play that level the previous season; the primary MHA has no team in the player's age division; two MHAs combine participants of the same age division by agreement to field teams; the primary MHA has no available player allotments in the division and agrees to let players take part elsewhere; or an exception for extenuating circumstances is agreed by both MHAs.
• When registering for the first time with a Hockey Alberta MHA, a player may register with the MHA of their choice.

From Section B of the 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations:

• One team at a time: a player may be registered on only one team at a time. Players who register with more than one team without proper releases or transfers are suspended and stay suspended until dealt with by the Office of the CEO (4.4).
• What a release is: a release, issued on the Standard Release Form, is a method of permanent movement for special circumstances within Minor Hockey, for example conduct (6.1).
• Deadline: a player can be released from a team and registered with a new team they are eligible for up to and including January 10 (1.5). No player can be registered after February 10 (4.5).
• AA and AAA tryouts: a player who receives an Elite Waiver and is not selected to the AA or AAA team they tried out for is considered released and must return to their primary association (6.3).
• Registration data: a player's registration in the Registry must include name, date of birth, gender, physical address, mailing address and email address (4.2).

Affiliation lets a higher division or category team dress the maximum number of players for a game. Section B of the 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations says:

• Affiliation must be declared and filed in the Registry before the affiliated player takes part in any game with that team, and requests can be filed up to and including January 15.
• A team can affiliate up to 19 players from a lower division or category within its association. If the association has no eligible players, and the player's own association approves, affiliates can come from another association.
• A player cannot be on more than one affiliated players' list in a category at the same time.
• An affiliated player can play with the team they are affiliated to for a maximum of 10 games, excluding exhibition and tournament games. Beyond 10, the player is ineligible for that team. If the player's registered team completes its regular season and playoffs before the affiliated team does, the player can affiliate an unlimited number of times after that.
• Affiliates are marked "AP" on the official game report, and appearing on the report counts as taking part in the game.
• Players on AAA teams cannot affiliate to teams below the AA category, and players on AA teams cannot affiliate to teams below the A category.
• All affiliations end when the season ends.
• A player who plays as an affiliate without proper filing is an ineligible player, and the team officials may be disciplined.

From Section B (Minor Hockey) of the 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations:

• October 15: Minor Hockey Associations must submit their order for team registration.
• November 15: all teams must be registered with Hockey Alberta before their first league game (including tiering games) or November 15, whichever comes first. A team registered after November 15 will not be eligible for provincial competition.
• January 10: last day a player can be released from a team and registered with a new team they are eligible to play for.
• January 15 (5:00 pm MST): last day to file affiliation requests in the Registry.
• February 10: final date for player registration. No player may be registered after February 10 with any Minor Hockey Association.

Roster limits:

• A U15 team can have no more than 23 allotments, but a team can have a maximum of 20 players registered at one time. AA and AAA teams cannot register more than 20.
• Other teams can apply to Hockey Alberta to register up to 23 at one time, but can dress only 20 players in a game (18 skaters and 2 goaltenders).
• With 20 registered, at least 2 must be goaltenders; with 19, one goaltender must be designated.
• A player can be registered on only one team at a time (see the question on releases).

The 2025-26 Hockey Alberta Regulations set these qualifications for U15 teams:

• U15 head coach, all tiers: Hockey Canada Coach 2, the U15/18 Player Pathway and Hockey Canada Skills - Checking online, plus HA Coach 2 - Minor Leagues and HA - Intro to Principles of Checking in person. Development 1 is a recommendation for coaches at U15 Tier 1 once all required clinics are done.
• U15 AA head coach: Hockey Canada Skills - Checking, Development 1 and HA - Intro to Principles of Checking.
• U15 AAA head coach: Hockey Canada Skills - Checking, High Performance 1 and HA - Intro to Principles of Checking.
• Safety: one team official per team must hold a safety clinic.
• Respect in Sport: all registered team officials must have completed the Respect in Sport - Activity Leader program.
• Registration: team officials on the bench must be registered in the Registry before taking part, and the final date to complete all required team official certification is November 15.
• Female teams: every female team must have at least one female team official registered; it is recommended for any team with at least one female player.

Hockey Alberta's Game and Conduct Management page sets these expectations for families and associations:

• Local Minor Hockey Associations and club teams manage conduct concerns within their jurisdiction under their own policies. Hockey Alberta gives guidance but does not take part in the association's investigation or decision.
• The first step is generally to raise the matter at team level, in a timely and respectful way, following your association's communication procedures (which may include a team liaison or a 24-hour rule).
• If it is not resolved at team level, bring it through the local association's established process.
• Hockey Alberta expects associations to acknowledge every concern, have it investigated by someone independent of the incident where there are reasonable grounds, have a neutral party decide whether a rule or policy was broken, tell the person facing an allegation about the concern and let them respond before a finding, and give an appeal involving a neutral party where a violation is found.
• Once the association's process has finished, you can ask Hockey Alberta to review whether the association followed its own policies and procedures. That review is not an appeal and does not re-investigate the original complaint or overturn the decision.
• Concerns involving maltreatment may follow a separate reporting process.
• Parents, caregivers and families are encouraged to approach feedback, conflict and conduct concerns respectfully and through these processes.
• When a player registers, proof of the Respect in Sport Parent course must be provided (shown as a card number on the player's registration in the Registry).