I. Age Classifications
(3) Participation in Older Divisions of State/Affiliate and/or District or National Championships
No player 12 years of age or younger (as defined in the age classification chart for the current season) is eligible to play on a team intending or declared to compete in the state/affiliate and/or district and national championships or playoffs leading thereto except as follows:
(a) A player 13 years of age or older may play on a youth or girls team in an older classification at a District or National Championship Tournament only if the applicable Affiliate’s rules or decisions, and the applicable local program’s rules or decisions, permit that player to do so. A player residing in one Affiliate may not play on a team in an older classification in a different Affiliate unless both the Affiliate where the player resides and the Affiliate where the player desires to play have granted permission to play in an older classification. In the event a youth or girls player has been denied the permission to play in an older classification in the Youth or Girls state/affiliate and/or district and national championships on a team in an Affiliate other than the Affiliate where the player resides, the player may appeal such denial to the National Championship Appeal Committee.