1.0 General
1.1 The purpose of the Nepean Minor Hockey Tryout Policy is to be transparent and consistent throughout the tryout process for a Nepean Minor Hockey team. The Nepean evaluations are based on scoring of individual player’s skills augmented by an evaluation of;
- the player’s abilities in game/skill situations
- through scrimmages and/or exhibition games.
- players will also be assessed on their attitude on and off the ice
- work ethic, conditioning and ability to function in a team environment during the evaluations.
1.2 All evaluators during the tryout process will be independent and chosen by the Vice-President of Programs and Development, Comp Directors and Technical Director.
2.0 Tryout Reporting Structure
2.1 Technical Director is chosen by the Vice-President of Programs and Development.
2.2 The Technical Director will work with all coaches and evaluation teams during the entire tryout process.
2.3 The Technical Director shall be present at all sessions held on home ice for the duration of the tryout until the team is finalized. For exhibition games on the road, the Technical Director will attempt to be present or send another executive member.
2.4 Should the Technical Director not be able to attend a session, or be in conflict of interest with a level, the Vice-President of Programs and development will either attend or name a replacement as TC for the required session(s).
3.0 Role of Vice-President of Programs and Development, Competitive Directors
3.1 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will oversee the entire tryout process;
3.2 The Vice-President of Programs and Development and Competitive Directors will coordinate the schedule with the coaches and the evaluators;
3.3 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will name Executive Member(s) who will adjudicate any decision or dispute during the tryout process, with the guidance of the Technical Director
3.4 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will coordinate with the Referees and Chief to ensure referee requirements during the tryouts;
3.5 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will approve all the players’ releases after consultation with the Technical Director and Comp Directors for their respective group(s);
3.6 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will not share comments or opinions with any players/parents or other interested observers; and
3.7 The Vice-President of Programs and Development will report to the president immediately for any potential issues during the tryout process.
4.0 Role of the Technical Director
4.1 The Technical Director will solicit independent evaluators that should be available throughout the tryout process and will gain approval from the Vice-President of Programs and Development for all evaluators used.
4.2 The Technical Director will support the evaluators and the coach with the player’s evaluation during the entire tryouts;
4.3 The Technical Director will liaise with the comp directors, evaluators and the team coach during the tryout process;
4.4 The Technical Director will be vigilant of any conflicts and/or discrepancies between the evaluators and coach evaluations and keep the Vice-President of Programs and Development and Comp Directors updated;
4.5 The Technical Director will provide the evaluation forms for the evaluators;
4.6 The Technical Director will ensure all evaluations are confidential and kept in a secure location;
4.7 The Technical Director will report to the Vice-President of Programs and development immediately for any potential issues during the tryout process;
4.8 The Technical Director will not share comments or opinions with any players/parents or other interested observers;
5.0 Evaluator Selection
5.1 Evaluators must have an appropriate mixture of experience and background to effectively evaluate the players.
5.2 Preferred traits include, but are not limited to:
- Experience with player evaluation systems;
- Suitable background in hockey either as a player or as a coach.
5.3 The evaluators would remain the same for each group and level throughout the entire process.
5.4 Proposed evaluators are subject to the approval of the Vice-President of Programs and Development;
5.5 Individuals may only evaluate a level in which they do not have a child registered/participating;
5.6 Evaluators are expected to behave professionally and cannot discuss the results of their evaluations with others during and after the selection process. Any evaluator not acting in the spirit of fairness and honesty will be removed and will not be asked to participate in future evaluations;
5.7 Evaluators that operate hockey instruction schools and/or camps must disclose to the executive the identity of any of their clients that are participating in the Nepean Minor Hockey tryouts; and
5.8 In the event Evaluators are approached or contacted by parents regarding the status of their children, they are to be reported and referred to the Vice-President of Programs and Development.
Evaluator Management
5.9 Evaluators will have the responsibility to:
- Learn and understand drills and scoring criteria;
- Ensure fairness, objectivity and impartiality; and
- Evaluate game play skills relative to other players.
Guideline for Evaluators
5.10 There should be a consistency of evaluators for a given age group or division. This continuity ensures that the players are being observed by a group of evaluators who have a benchmark for performance and knowledge of the overall ability of the group that they are observing.
Evaluators should:
5.11 Review all drills and skills to be observed so that they are clear on the on-ice process:
- Review the evaluation criteria prior to the process to ensure that all evaluators are evaluating the same skill with the same intent;
- Stay separate from the spectators and parents during the entire on ice process;
- Make sure that all evaluators have the same evaluation page with the same tryout numbers and colors;
- Review their marks at the end of the session to ensure they have not made any errors;
- Provide evaluation documents to the Technical Director or the Vice-President of Programs and Development at the completion of each ice session;
- Not share comments or opinions with any players/parents or other interested observers; and
- Refer questions, comments or complaints received from parents, players or other observers to the Vice-President of Programs and Development and the corresponding Competitive Director for that division without offering comments on the questions or complaints.
6.0 On-Ice Instructor/Bench Assistant
6.1 The On-Ice Instructor fulfills a key role in the evaluation process. They are responsible for:
- The supervision of the dressing room during the tryout process
(Following the Two Deep Rule of supervision recommended by Hockey Canada);
- The control and organization of players during the skating sessions;
- Explanation of drills to players without teaching;
- Demonstration of drill;
- Spacing of players to allow enough time for the evaluators to score; and
- Ensuring that players are afforded regular shifts during scrimmages and/or exhibition games to give every player an equal opportunity to be evaluated.
- Parents are not allowed to assist with their players scrimmage.
6.2 No assistance or coaching will be provided to players during skills sessions, scrimmages and/or exhibition games.
Guideline for On-Ice Staff
6.3 During the ice sessions, there should be a minimum of one lead coach and two (2) helpers for the duration of the session;
6.4 The responsibilities of the on-ice staff include:
- Keeping up the pace and flow of the drills to finish within the allotted period. To accomplish this, it is imperative the lead is aware of the time for each drill and the order that the drills occur;
- Controlling the warm-up to ensure a brisk and adequate stretch;
- Ensuring the players understand the drill, if they are struggling, advise them to go to the back of the line;
- If a player has their performance affected by items out of their control, it is at the coach’s discretion to allow the player to perform the drill a 2nd time;
- Checking that all players have the proper protective equipment;
- Encouraging the players to perform to the best of their ability;
- Not sharing any personal insights with parents/players/other observers that may appear bias or alter the process; and
- Verifying with evaluators that they have had ample time and opportunity to review players in the given drill.
7.0 Goalie Evaluations
7.1 All goalies will participate in a separate, goalie-only session to evaluate their execution of skill drills:
- They will be expected to work through a series of stations and will be evaluated in their ability to perform various skills.
- Goalies will also participate in the team sessions and will be evaluated under game situations during scrimmages and/or exhibition games to further assess their abilities.
8.0 Injury and Absenteeism
8.1 Players anticipating missing any sessions of the competitive tryouts will need to notify the Vice-President of Programs and Development in advance. Absentee players will be considered on a case-by-case basis and may be required to play in extra evaluation games or attend additional tryout sessions;
8.2 Any player that is injured or ill and wishes to try out for a competitive team must notify the Vice-President of Programs and Development prior to tryouts. Medical verification with a doctor's note will be required. It will be at the Vice-President of Programs and Development discretion to approve this player in collaboration with the Head Coach and President based on length and severity of the injury / illness; and
8.3 To determine the subsequent tryout status of the returning player injured player, the Vice-President of Programs and Development will consult with a variety of sources to obtain sufficient information about the player. Vice-President of Programs and Development will take into consideration both what is best for the player, as well as the affected team or teams. The sources will include, but not be limited to, the current coach, previous coach, lower-level coach, and any other appropriate source deemed relevant by the Vice-President of Programs and Development.
9.0 Control of Evaluation Documentation
9.1 The Vice-President of Programs and Development and/or the Technical Director will collect all evaluation documents used following each evaluation session to ensure the integrity of the written information. The evaluations will be secured in the appropriate Technical Director Secure Folder;
9.2 Evaluation documents shall not be released to any individual outside the Tryout Group. The documents are to be used only for player assessment. They will be retained past the tryout period only for the purposes of collecting information to responding to complaints; and
9.3 All evaluation documents shall be held by the Vice-President of Programs and Development until the start of league play. At that time, all evaluation documents shall be destroyed.
10.0 Release Process Tryout Transfer
10.1 The Technical Director and/or the Vice-President of Programs and Development will review the results from all tryout sessions;
10.2 Players at the U9 to U18 levels who do not meet the minimum expected performance level for competitive AA/A hockey will be released at the end of the first two ice sessions. Players will only be kept longer if they have a reasonable chance of being selected for the team;
10.3 The evaluators, the Head Coach and the Technical Director will work towards a consensus on the players to be released;
10.4 The Vice-President of Programs and Development, along with the Competitive Directors will be excluded from all discussions on player releases. This ensures that they remain unbiased any complaints/concerns received;
10.5 Excluding any unforeseen circumstances, continuation list will be posted within as soon as possible following a session (or next morning if late session the night before).
10.6 Jersey numbers of continuing players will be posted on the website’s “Continuation Page”.
10.7 Released players may request some explanation related to the reason(s) that led to their removal from the tryout process. Evaluators’ notes will not be shared but the Vice-President of Programs and Development, Technical Director and/or Head Coach will provide the information via email. The goal is to provide points for improvement as well as identify what the player did well during tryouts so that he/she can work on aspects of their games for next season’s tryouts.
Tryout Transfer
10.8 The objective of the NMHA is to provide, for all players within its boundaries, a place to play hockey. This objective is supported by Hockey Eastern Ontario Minor (HEO Minor) residency regulations and Hockey Canada rules.
10.8.1 Transfers for tryout purposes at the competitive level are permissible under the following circumstance:
- The player is registered in the NMHA; and
- The player has attended NMHA tryouts, has been released, and wishes to tryout for a higher-level team in another District or Association.
10.8.2 To apply for a transfer, the requesting player must:
- Attended NMHA tryouts and been released;
- Obtain a tryout approval signed by the receiving organization’s President or their delegate, the receiving District Chair (should they require it) then;
- Obtain signed approval by the NMHA President or their delegate, and the Nepean District Chair.
Competitive Tryout Transfer Application
10.8.3 If released; the player trying out for another District or Association has three (3) days to notify the NMHA of their release. Failure to notify the NMHA of their release within this time will result in their removal from the NMHA active player list.
10.8.4 Players successful in securing a roster spot in another Association or District, must complete a transfer request, as per the usual process.
10.8.5 If a player attends tryouts in another District or Association, the NMHA is under no obligation to hold a position for the player on any of our competitive teams.
****No player may tryout or attend any on-ice activity with another District or Association without the approvals identified above. ****
11.0 Post Tryout Review
11.1 Within 30 days (about 4 and a half weeks) of tryout completion, the VPHO is to provide the following to the NMHA Executive Committee:
- Number of players per team for each level;
- Name of players that made the team.
- Number of exports by teams and by association;
- Any issues raised during the tryouts;
- Any complaints during the tryouts; and
- Any recommendations for next year’s tryout.
11.2 Vice- President of Programs and Development's report is to be recorded in the minutes of the NMHA Executive Committee.
12.0 Annual Update of Tryout Policy
12.1 The Tryout Policy will be posted prior to the start of the tryouts; the Vice-President of Programs and Development will draft an updated (as required) version of the tryout policy;
12.2 The tryout policy shall be reviewed on an annual basis by the Vice-President of Programs and Development, Competitive Directors and the President of the NMHA.
12.3 The tryout policy shall be made available to all its members, coaches, evaluators and all players trying out. This policy is to be posted on the NMHA Website; and
12.4 Questions regarding the Tryout Policy can be sent via email to the Vice-President of Programs and Development and the President of the NMHA.
Approved: August 2024