Girls Travel Team Composition Policies and Procedures
Girls Travel Team Composition Policies and Procedures
1. Mission Statement: Our objective in constituting teams is to act in the
best interests of the children and the program. Team composition is an
inherently imprecise and subjective exercise. It is the responsibility of
the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Parkway Youth Hockey, Inc.
(“PYH”) to make the process as fair and transparent as possible, while
protecting the confidentiality of individual players’ evaluative scores and
coaches’ selections.
2. Coordinators: In advance of the tryouts beginning and, in any event
no later than the February meeting of the Board of Directors (the
“Board”), the Board shall choose coordinators for each try out level of
the program. A coordinator need not be a member of the Board.
Parents of players are not disqualified from serving in the role of
coordinator. Multiple coordinators may be chosen for a level;
however, one person must act as the head coordinator of that level.
Each coordinator is responsible for organizing the tryout sessions for his/her
level, determining which players will report to which session, obtaining and
assigning tryout pinafores, ensuring that accurate and timely communication
regarding the overall process and session assignments is posted on the website,
ensuring sufficient volunteer help is available on and off the ice, securing room
and table availability, providing resources to evaluators and coaches (i.e., water
bottles, pucks, clipboards, pencils, score sheets), entering and processing data
from evaluations, maintaining the confidentiality of all results as appropriate,
arranging and conducting the team selection meeting (see below) and making
any necessary judgment calls in connection with the tryout and team composition
process. The head coordinator must determine on which team, if any, each
player is currently participating in the program.
2. Tryouts. The Board will determine, no later than at its February
meeting, the week(s) during which tryouts will be conducted. The Board
may establish guidelines for each level’s tryout process. In situations
where there are not enough eligible players to field two teams at one
level i.e. U18, no tryout will be conducted. As a general rule, each
player will attend two tryout sessions. (respectively, the “Tryout #1”
and the “Tryout #2”).
3. Player Commitment. PYH recognizes that many of our members play
on or try out for select teams and/or other programs. The Board shall set
a date and specify the manner by which all players trying out and their
family will notify PYH if they choose not to participate in PYH for the
upcoming season. If notice is not received from a player by such date,
PYH will assume that such player will participate on a Parkway travel
team. No refunds or credits (for the tryout fee or otherwise) will be made
to such player in the event that the player later determines not to play
for Parkway.
5. Team Number, Roster Size and Coaches. No later than its April
meeting, the Board shall determine the expected number of teams that
it will field at each level, the roster size of each team and the coach of
each team. In determining how many teams to have at a given level,
subject to the Board’s ability to supersede, each team shall have no
fewer than 12 registered skaters and a goalie and no more than 16
registered skaters and a goalie. In the event that there are three teams
at a level, there shall be “A”, “B” and “C” teams. In the event that there
are four teams at a level, there shall be one “A” team, one “B” team and
two “C” teams. No team at any level should have more than one more
player than any other team at that level. The larger roster size(s) should
be allocated to the lower teams. Coaches shall be selected from those
who have applied. Those coaches who have children at that level and
wish to coach their child’s team shall only be eligible to coach a team for
which their child may be selected under the rules below.
Players are not guaranteed a spot on a travel team by trying out; some
players may not be assigned to a travel team due to the number of
players/teams at a given level in a given year. Every effort shall be made to
place a player in a program or team should they not be assigned to a travel
team.
No “Grandfathering” Provision: There is no guarantee that a player will be
placed on the same level team from season to season. No spots are reserved for
returning players on any team.
6. Team Selection. The head coordinator of each tryout level shall arrange
and conduct a team selection meeting. All of the coaches who have been
selected to coach in the following season must be present. In addition, a
coach or assistant coach of each current team that has a player to be
selected must be present. If notwithstanding diligent efforts by the head
coordinator of a level, he/she cannot secure the presence of a required
attendee, then a waiver may be sought from the Board. In case of
players who currently play in either the House Mite program or
play exclusively in the McLaughlin League, coaches from those programs
should be represented. Those in attendance at a level’s selection
meeting constitute that level’s Selection Committee. The head
coordinator shall chair the meeting and be a member of the Selection
Committee.
Evaluative Scores. All evaluative scores from any tryout session shall
remain strictly confidential and shall be shared only with tryout level
coordinators. Hard copies of the evaluative scores in respect of a level shall be
made available to the members of that level’s Selection Committee at the
selection meeting only. All such hard copies shall be returned to the head
coordinator at the close of the meeting. Unauthorized disclosure of evaluative
scores may result in sanctions including but not limited to removal as a coach,
removal from the Board of Directors.
Week#1 Selections. It is often the case that on the first night of tryouts, a
few players distinguish themselves as clear “A” players. It is the strong bias of PYH
to have players complete both tryout sessions before being placed; however, the
head coordinator may place a player onto the “A” team on the basis of the
performance of that player in the Week#1 Tryout. Only second-year players who
score in the top 5 of their session will be eligible for selection in this manner,
however, even among such players, the bias should remain that players attend
the Week#2 Tryout and no player should expect to be placed in this manner.
Among the factors that a head coordinator should consider in exercising his/her
discretion to place a player in this manner is the player’s evaluative score relative
to others and the team on which the player participated during the current year.
The sole purpose of these selections is to remove players from the Week#2 Tryout
who clearly belong on an “A” team and who, if they attended the Week#2 Tryout,
would be expected to dominate play and reduce the time evaluators have to
observe other players.
Head Coaches Evaluations. Each Head Coach shall fill out an evaluation
sheet that is substantially similar to the one used by the tryout evaluators for each
player on his/her roster. In addition to the numerical ranking for each skill, the
head coach shall include a brief narrative for the player as well as that player’s
“ranking” on the present team (i.e. 1 st , 2 nd out of 14 skaters). The Head Coaches
evaluation shall only be used for the purposes providing the subsequent coach
with additional information aiding the selection of players eligible for the team but
not considered “Automatic Selections” (i.e. Coaches Selections). All Head Coaches
evaluations shall be submitted to the Tryout Coordinator prior to tryouts.
Automatic Selections. At each level where there are multiple teams, there
shall be automatic selections based solely on evaluative scores. The number of
automatic selections for each team shall be equal to its roster size minus five and
shall be those players with the highest evaluative scores who have not been
selected to a higher team. (i.e. if an “A” roster has 13 skaters, there are 8
automatic selections).
Coach Selections. The remaining five shall be chosen by the team’s head
coach from among the players with the next fifteen (15) highest evaluative scores
(“Eligible Players”). The head coach must consider the input from each Eligible
Player’s coach. In close situations, the head coach should favor second-year
players over first-year players and those currently on Parkway teams over those
who did not play for Parkway in the most recent year. In the event that a member
of the Selection Committee objects to a coach’s selection, the Selection
Committee may with a vote of no less than two-thirds of committee members
reject the coach’s selection.
Goalies. At each level’s tryout, each goalie will be evaluated and provided a
score. At the team selection meeting, the default is that the scores will determine
placement. The Selection Committee, by simple majority, may supersede the
default placement. In deciding to supersede the default placement, the Selection
Committee should consider the input from the goalies’ current coaches, the
difference between the players’ evaluative scores, the goalies’ status as first or
second year players and whether they played for a Parkway team during the most
recent season.
Absent Players. In the event that a player is unable to make the tryout
session to which she is assigned, the player or her parent(s) should promptly
contact the head coordinator and explain the reason for the absence. If the head
coordinator excuses the absence, the player shall be placed on a team by the
Selection Committee based on all available information about such player,
including the level of the player’s current team, his/her coach’s view and
placement of comparable players. Absences due to injury or illness and family
emergencies shall generally be excused. If the head coordinator declines to
excuse the absence, the player or parent may petition the Executive Committee
of the Board. Unexcused absences may result in the player not being placed on
any team or placed on the lowest team at that level.
7. Roster Movement. The Board must approve all pre-season roster
changes. In the event that a player is lost permanently from a team,
the President of PYH and the head coordinator of that level should be
notified. If that loss results in such team having a roster that is 2
players less than the next lower team, the President of PYH and the
level coordinator shall authorize the head coach to choose a player from
the lower team to take a permanent roster spot on the higher team. If
the loss is not season-ending, the higher team shall not be expanded.
Instead, the higher team may choose players game-by-game consistent
with the rules of the respective league governing the same.
If under extraordinary circumstances, the coaches of a team determine
that one of his players is grossly misplaced, the head coach may petition the
Board to have that player elevated to a higher team, provided that doing so
would not create a roster disparity of 2 or more between the two teams involved.
The Board may approve a roster change by a simple majority at a Board
meeting.
Registering After Tryouts: If a player registers for PYH after the travel
team tryouts have been completed and teams have been selected, she shall be
placed on the lowest level team in that player’s age classification. In the interest
of proper placement, players rostered under the circumstances provided in this
paragraph may be called up and rostered at the discretion of the coach, subject
to the terms of Paragraph 5, at the next highest level as space permits. All
players called up under this provision are required to participate in at least TWO
(2) practice sessions prior to being permanently called up.
A late fee of $100 shall be applied to the tuition of a player registering
after tryout sessions have been completed.
Leaving Program After Tryout and/or Team Selection: If a player
leaves PYH after participating in tryouts or after teams have been selected and
decides to come back that player shall be placed one level below, space
permitting, the team they were selected or eligible for. In the interest of proper
placement, players rostered under the circumstances provided in this paragraph
may be called up and rostered at the discretion of the coach at the next highest
level as space permits. All players called up under this provision are required to
participate in at least TWO (2) practice sessions prior to being permanently called
up.
8. Board Oversight. All matters set forth herein are subject to the
oversight of the Board. The Board may exercise its authority to override
any provision hereof.