The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL) today announced the progressive elimination of body checking at the “A” level commencing with the Minor Bantam level in the 2015-16 season. The GTHL Board of Directors proposed the rule change, which was approved by GTHL Member Clubs and Associations with a majority vote of 326 to 195 during a General Meeting today at Humber College in Toronto.

The rule change is a result of feedback received from a league-wide survey on the topic of body checking conducted during the 2013-14 season. The majority of respondents in that survey supported the removal of body checking at the “A”level.

The GTHL Board of Directors initially proposed a rule change at the GTHL Annual General Meeting in June 2014 to move forward with the progressive elimination of body checking at the “A”level for the 2015-16 season; that motion was then amended at the meeting to commence in the 2014-15 season, but the amended motion was subsequently defeated by a slim margin.

The GTHL Board of Directors called today’s General Meeting to ensure potential changes to the body checking rules were considered and resolved before tryouts begin in April.

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