Canada’s Quebec League and the US North East Team Handball Conference (NETHC) have announced that they will form an alliance starting with the 2006-07 Season.
The Men’s teams will split into two leagues of 6 teams, split primarily along National boundaries (Chaudiere 2 will play with the 5 US teams). Each team will play the 5 teams within in its own league twice and the 6 teams in the other league once, for a total of 16 games. The top 4 teams from each league will then qualify for an end of season knockout tournament in April
The Women’s teams will consist of two divisions. The senior division will be organized similar to last year with the USA Women’s National Team as the only US participant. A lower division will be split into a US League of 5 teams and a Canadian League of 4 teams. Teams in the US League will play each other twice and the Canadian teams once. In the Canadian League the teams will play each other three times and the American teams once.
NETHC Website: http://www.nethc.org/
Quebec League Website (in French): http://www.handball-elite.com/
Full text of the merger announcement:
PROJECT
Alliance between the NETHC and the Quebec League
PROPOSAL
The alliance between two leagues: The “Northeast Team Handball Conference” (in USA) and the ‘Circuit Québécois’ (CANADA), which will allow inter-league games between the participating teams of each league.
RESPONSIBLE OF THE ALLIANCE
Commissioner of the NETHC: Christian Latulippe
Coordinator of the Quebec League: Michelle Lortie
Responsible of the referees in USA: Bruce Mosberg
Responsible of the referees in Canada: To be named
Responsible of the NETHC website: Kathy Darling
Responsible of the Statistics (Quebec League):
NUMBER OF INTERESTED TEAM FOR THE SEASON 2006-2007
On the men side, the alliance will have 12 teams divided in 2 leagues
Circuit Québécois (Men)
Champlain 1
Chaudière 1
Alberta
Champlain 2
Montreal
Sherbrooke
NETHC (Men)
New York Cty
Chaudiere 2
New Jersey
New England
Cortland
On the women side, the alliance will have 9 teams divided in 2 leagues.
Circuit Québécois (Women)
Chaudière
Sherbrooke
Laurier
Laval
NETHC (Women)
University of North Carolina
West Point Gold
USA ‘B’
West Point Black
Cortland
Please note that the ‘Circuit Québécois senior on the women side will remain similar to last year with the following teams: Champlain, Montreal, USA, Laval, Drummondville, Granby, Chaudière, Sherbrooke and Champlain 2.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
Each team will play the following number of games:
Circuit Québécois and NETHC (men) = 16 games (two games against each team of their league and 1 game against the teams of the other league)
NETHC (women) = 12 games (2 games against each team of their league and 1 game against the teams of the other league).
Circuit Québécois (women) = 14 games (3 games against each team of their league and 1 game against the teams of the other league).
For the NETHC games, the game schedule will be divided in weekend tournaments held between October and March, where each team will play 3 to 4 games per tournament. Only Alberta and University of North Carolina will play all their games during 3 tournaments.
The game schedule should allow each team to travel early Saturday morning and to comeback at a decent time late Sunday night, for example: Saturday games at 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, 16:30, 18:00 et 19:30 and Sunday games at 9:00, 10:30 et 12:00. When Alberta and University of North Carolina come to play, it is possible that they will play a game early Saturday morning.
Each team based in the Northeast Region will have a chance to host one of the tournaments. The team responsible will be asked by the league to provide the date when they can host a tournament. The commissioner will then decide the schedule.
PLAYOFF
On the men side, the top 4 teams of each league will participate to the playoff tournament, April 14-15, 2006. This year, a coin toss had decided that the final tournament will be hosted by the NETHC. See the schedule for the detail.
On the women side, the top 4 teams of the NETHC only will participate to the playoff tournament, April 14-15, 2006.
The playoff tournament will have to be played on an official size Team Handball court (40m x 20m).
LEAGUE ENTRY FEE
The NETHC entry fee will be calculated in function of the number of games played in the league. The cost per game was established at $85. This fee pays the referees, the organization of the league (website and so on) as well as the awards.
NETHC (Men) = 16 games x 85$ = 1360$US
NETHC (Women) = 12 matches x 85$ = 1020$US
* The entire league entry fee must be paid before the first game.
MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE LEAGUE
Each American player, coach and referee participating in the league will have to be a member of the Northeast Team Handball Conference. The cost of the membership will be 20$US, no matter the age of the player.
The membership card will provide a special risk accident & liability insurance for the league officials and the athletes participating in the league.
GAMES RULES
IHF Rules of Competition will be observed unless stated by specific tournament modifications. The IHF Rules can be found on the Web page: http://www.ihf.info/
GAME FORMAT
Game Time 2 x 30 minutes
Time-out One time-out per half (60 seconds)
Overtime Only during play-off (2 x 5 minutes, twice, then Shootout)
Half time 10 minutes
Forfeit Failure to arrive by game time will result in a forfeit
Protest rules
• Protest must be based on a rule application, not a referee’s individual judgment
• The protest fee is $50, which must be paid up-front to the Competition Committee, as well as your protest in writing. The protest fee is refundable only in the case where the protest in upheld.
PLAYER ELIGIBILITY
For a player to be eligible to play in the league, he/she must:
• Be a member of the ‘Fédération Québécoise de Handball Olympique’ or of the Northeast Team Handball Conference» at least 24 hours before his/her first game. The coaches will have to register their players online on the league website. A date and an hour will give to the commissioners the exact time of the registration. The player lists will be available online for all the teams
• The commissioners will handle eligibility infractions on a case-by-case situation. However, any ineligible player found to have played would result in at least a forfeit and a loss for that game. Further penalties (such as fines) will also be applied by the commissioners.
• Players must be on the roster before January 31st, 2007 and play at least one game before March 1st, 2007, in order to be eligible to play in the PLAYOFF.
• Note that a player can only appear on one roster list.
OFFICIALS
The referee responsible in USA will be responsible for scheduling the referees for all league games. Host teams will not be required scheduling officials; however they will be required to provide timekeeper and scorekeeper. The referees will receive 25$ per game. Transportation, hotel and a per diem will also be allowed to the referees.