Financial Aid (Athens Youth Hockey Association | Athens Ohio | Bird Arena)

PrintFinancial Aid
WHAT IS A PLAYERSHIP?
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The AYHA Playership, supported by the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, provides financial aid to youth players who might otherwise be unable to play ice hockey due to family financial circumstances. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Families interested in a potential playership are encouraged to submit an application after registering their youth hockey player for the 2024-2025 season.  Applications are evaluated by a committee appointed by the AYHA Board based on need and combined household income, with the assistance of the Association's certified public accountant. Reviews of applications and supporting documentation are kept confidential.

Accepted applications are forwarded to the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation, which makes awards based on need and available funding.  Those funds are distributed to the AYHA, which then applies reimbursements to family's Active registration account (families can only receive an Active registration fee reimbursement from a playership; direct cash transfers of funds to families are not permitted).

HOW ARE POTENTIAL REIMBURSEMENTS DETERMINED?
Reimbursement of registration fees is based on combined family household income, as shown in the table below. 

 Combined Family
 Household Income 		  Potential Registration
Fee Reimbursement (2)
 Under $27,750 (1) 100%
 Between $27,750 and $41,625 80%
 Between $41,625 and $55,500 60%
 Between $55,500 and $69,375 40%
 Between $69,375 and $83,250  20%
 Between $83,250 and $100,000  10%
 (1) Based on 2022 Federal Poverty Guidelines for a family of four.  The AYHA reserves the right to adjust the thresholds for larger families based on 2022 Federal Poverty Guidelines.
 (2) Maximum possible reimbursement. Actual reimbursement based on funds provided from CBJ.

If the Columbus Blue Jackets Foundation awards all of the playership funds requested by the AYHA, each family will receive the full percentage of reimbursement based on their income.  If the Foundation awards less than the full amount requested by the AYHA, the award funds will be distributed amongst all family's applications as a percentage of each family's requested reimbursement amount (for example, if the CBJ Foundation provides 90% of the total funding requested by the AYHA, a family with a household income less than $27,750 would receive a reimbursement of approximately 90%, a family with an income between $27,750 and $41,625 would receive a reimbursement of approximately 72%, etc.)

HOW TO APPLY
To apply for an AYHA Playership, please download and complete the following application form. 

2024 AYHA Playership Application 

2022-playership-envelopes.pngA copy of each family's 2023 Federal Income Tax return is required to verify financial need.  The tax return should be placed in a sealed envelope with page 2 of the application, along with any other supporting financial documentation.  Please note that no members of the AYHA Board or staff will view any tax documents or other supporting documentation within the sealed envelope; the envelope is forwarded to the Association's certified public accountant, who is the only individual authorized to view and confirm financial need.   All tax and financial documents remain confidential with the accountant, who will destroy the documents once the playership evaluation is complete and a recommendation sent to the AYHA committee (no financial details are provided to the committee).

Place the sealed envelope and page 1 of the application form in a larger envelope and mail to:
Athens Youth Hockey Association
Attn: Playership PO Box 614
Athens, OH 45701-0614

Please do not place page 1 of the application form in the same sealed envelope with page 2 and your financial documents.  To maintain confidentiality, hand delivered applications will not be accepted by the AYHA Board of Directors or other staff.


TIME FRAME OF REVIEWS AND AWARDS
The deadline to submit an AYHA Playership application is September 16, 2024 (postmarked).  After the AYHA determines the total amount of eligible funding reimbursement from all of the received applications, the Association will make a funding request from the CBJ Foundation.  Typically, the CBJ Foundation notifies and provides funding to the AYHA by mid-October, at which time reimbursements will be determined and applied towards family's Active registration accounts.

If you have any questions, please contact the AYHA President, Jennifer McKinney, at [email protected] for more information.

Updated 2024-05-25.