What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

[aaronbetsy]

What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

 

[HockeyEast33]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

If I remember correctly, I don't think there is specifically an age limit - that would be age discrimination and subject to all sorts of legal challenges. It is governed by when you enter/graduate high school. Again working from memory so others correct me if I'm wrong:

- You get 5 years to finish high school from when you enter grade 9 - any years beyond that can reduce your number of eligible years in Division 1 (D3 may have more lax rules) - for instance, know of at least 1 case where a girl repeated 9th grade (public to private school) and then did a post grad year for a total of 6 years in high school. I recall that she lost a year of NCAA eligibility.
- You get 4 years of NCAA eligibility
- Exceptions/redshirts can be approved for almost anything (usually medical, olympics, military service) if you can convince the NCAA that they are reasonable

 

[joehockey]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

PC has an incoming freshman from Austria who will only have a year of eligibility for the reasons you state above.

 

[Hux]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

If I remember correctly, I don't think there is specifically an age limit - that would be age discrimination and subject to all sorts of legal challenges. It is governed by when you enter/graduate high school. Again working from memory so others correct me if I'm wrong:

- You get 5 years to finish high school from when you enter grade 9 - any years beyond that can reduce your number of eligible years in Division 1 (D3 may have more lax rules) - for instance, know of at least 1 case where a girl repeated 9th grade (public to private school) and then did a post grad year for a total of 6 years in high school. I recall that she lost a year of NCAA eligibility.
- You get 4 years of NCAA eligibility
- Exceptions/redshirts can be approved for almost anything (usually medical, olympics, military service) if you can convince the NCAA that they are reasonable

It may have changed, but at one point it was 24 years of age. Recently they instituted the five years from graduation, with the exceptions you noted.

 

[Cali]

If I remember correctly, I don't think there is specifically an age limit - that would be age discrimination and subject to all sorts of legal challenges. It is governed by when you enter/graduate high school. Again working from memory so others correct me if I'm wrong:

- You get 5 years to finish high school from when you enter grade 9 - any years beyond that can reduce your number of eligible years in Division 1 (D3 may have more lax rules) - for instance, know of at least 1 case where a girl repeated 9th grade (public to private school) and then did a post grad year for a total of 6 years in high school. I recall that she lost a year of NCAA eligibility.
- You get 4 years of NCAA eligibility
- Exceptions/redshirts can be approved for almost anything (usually medical, olympics, military service) if you can convince the NCAA that they are reasonable

Adding to that, you get 5 years to use up your 4 years of NCAA eligibility so you can redshirt or be centralized and still maintain your 4 yrs of eligibility.

Adding in Hux's info, that would then imply that you can play up to 10 years from when you enter Grade 9.

Is that correct?

 

[whoop87]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

I know most of this discussion has centered around D1 eligibility. I recall that a few years back a father squared off against his son in a D3 game (UMass-Boston vs. Babson) so I know the max age limits must be a bit different for D3. This occurred in 2001 and I have no idea if they have tightened up the strings in D3 since then.

I dug up an article on the matchup between 48 year old Pops and 20 year old son

http://www.dailynewstranscript.com/sports/x19881465

Here's another about the father taking 30 years off between shifts at BU and UMass-Boston.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1021579/1/index.htm

 

[OnMAA]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

Adding to that, you get 5 years to use up your 4 years of NCAA eligibility so you can redshirt or be centralized and still maintain your 4 yrs of eligibility.

Adding in Hux's info, that would then imply that you can play up to 10 years from when you enter Grade 9.

Is that correct?

Sounds about right. Would get you from 14 to 24. Lam Twins turn 24 this year. There are other examples of high profile players who did a PG year and had another year off due to centralization to get them to 24 in their senior year. Agosta was one of them. With Jenner and Poulin centralized for a second time during their college years (2010 and 2014 Olympics) they fall into the same category. Both are 22 this year and will be 24 when they are back at school for their final year. The two years off makes them two years older than most of their graduating classmates in 2015.

As another poster already indicated, there is No Age limit. Eligibility is tied to your high school start and graduation dates. Nuances vary a bit by sport and gender. For example, IIRC there are a few special rules for Men's hockey, tailored to attract players to the NCAA in favor of going the Junior route.

 

[Watson Rink]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

In squash there is no age limit, and some years ago at one D's match we were talking to someone from Smith who we took for a coach until she excused herself to go on court. Her subsequent explanation was succinct: "I'm an Ada!" Turns out that Smith has a number of Ada Comstock Scholars who are middle-aged women finishing up their bachelors degrees that for whatever reason they never finished. This woman was 43 years old and said she enjoyed riding the bus, sleeping four to a room and otherwise fraternizing with her teammates who hadn't been born when she was an undergraduate previously.

 

[Blackbeard]

Re: What is the age limit to play women's college hockey?

It may have changed, but at one point it was 24 years of age.

That's what it was as recently as 2008 and possibly even later.