OHL Entry Age - probably other sports similar?

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I know the OHL starts at 16 years old, unless the team gets special permission from the league.

But how does it work in details? Like, are players are eligible the year they turn 16? So a player with a November birthday might start playing when he was 15? Or is it firm to the actual day of birth? And if it IS based on the actual birth day, not the year, would players be drafted and given spots on the team and then not played until their birthday, or would they have to wait until the next year?

This is probably the same rule for most age-based sports, but I'm finding it surprisingly hard to get a firm answer from the internet.

Thanks for any help!
 

cornflake

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I know the OHL starts at 16 years old, unless the team gets special permission from the league.

But how does it work in details? Like, are players are eligible the year they turn 16? So a player with a November birthday might start playing when he was 15? Or is it firm to the actual day of birth? And if it IS based on the actual birth day, not the year, would players be drafted and given spots on the team and then not played until their birthday, or would they have to wait until the next year?

This is probably the same rule for most age-based sports, but I'm finding it surprisingly hard to get a firm answer from the internet.

Thanks for any help!

I believe it's by calendar year, same as other divisions.

You can, again I believe, draft into the OHL at 15 (so you can attend camp), and I think there's a limit on how many 16-year-olds can be rostered.

Most people drafted that young don't go right onto a team.

Have you checked the rule book? I didn't download it, but it'd likely have the age specifics.
 

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I did check that, yeah. It's clear about the ages, but not about when they determine what age counts.

So, if it's by calendar year, I could have a player turning 16 in the fall of his first year in the OHL? He'd be in grade 11?
 

cornflake

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I did check that, yeah. It's clear about the ages, but not about when they determine what age counts.

So, if it's by calendar year, I could have a player turning 16 in the fall of his first year in the OHL? He'd be in grade 11?

Wait, now I'm confused, heh.

Calendar year yes but it's late I think.. If we go backwards, right, to like Tyke, it's the same all the way up.

Ok, nevermind, found the answer to your original q. by doing exactly that, heh.

Voila. See the notation on the bottom of the chart.

I'm still confused by 'in the fall of his first year...' you know hockey starts in the fall, right? Also, what grade you're in entirely depends and that kid probably isn't in proper school anyway.
 

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I used to go to a regular high school with a lot of OHL players - I just didn't pay attention to what year they arrived it!

But that site is perfect, thanks. OHL isn't technically OMHA, but surely they use the same age rules!

(And, yes, hockey starts in the fall - so if the guy was drafted in the early summer, he'd start playing in the fall. That would be his first fall. I just wasn't sure if a guy born in, say, October, would be able to play in the year he TURNED 16 or would have to wait until he actually WAS 16).
 

cornflake

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I know they're not the same same but yeah, they go by the same age rules, this I'm pretty certain; they tend to draft from there and etc., I mean one stems from the other - not that you can't get in the OHL from elsewhere but you know what I mean, clearly.

Sorry, didn't know if you were hockey-aware, but if you're from OHL territory, they'd have deported you otherwise, so... ;)