Mite Travel Team Composition Policies and Procedures

Mite 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.

3. Tryouts. The Board will determine, no later than at its February

meeting, the weeks during which tryouts will be conducted. The

Board may establish guidelines for each level’s tryout process. As a

general rule, each player will attend two tryout sessions held

approximately one week apart (respectively, the “Week#1 Tryout”

and the “Week#2 Tryout”). The player’s highest score from either

Tryout 1 or 2 will be used as the determining factor for team

assignment. At the discretion of the Level Coordinator and to improve

the tryout process, players may be divided into intermediary and

advanced sections during the “Week#2 Tryout”.   

4. 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. The team shall have no

fewer than 13 registered skaters. There will be no designated goalie

and each player will rotate playing goalie throughout the season. Players

not chosen will be eligible to play in the Town Line League (TLL)

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. Automatic selections shall be based solely on

evaluative scores. The number of automatic selections for the team shall be equal

to its roster size minus five and shall be those players with the highest evaluative

score from Tryout 1 or 2. In this case the 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.

Absent Players. In the event that a player is unable to make one or more

of the tryout sessions to which he or she is assigned, the player or his/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.

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.

7. 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.