OVSS Hockey Club - Competitive Player Evaluation Process
Atom, Peewee, Bantam and Midget
 
Silver Seven Player Evaluation Policy Statement
 
The goal of the OVSS Hockey Club’s Player Evaluation Process is to fairly and consistently evaluate players for the purposes of proper team placement on our competitive club teams. This will be achieved through the establishment and maintenance of an evaluation program consistent across the Atom, Peewee, Bantam and Midget categories. The OVSS Player Evaluation Process will be based upon the standardized scoring of skills against an established set of criteria augmented by evaluation of game skills during evaluation/exhibition games.
 
Evaluations will not be influenced by player history or any other preconception that may affect the tryout process.
 
-     Competitive coaches are selected based on the Competitive Coach Selection policy.
 
The Competitive Directors shall oversee a given level during the tryout process and remain the team’s liaison for the duration of the season.
 
Evaluator Selection for Directors of Competitive and Head Coaches
 
Evaluators must have an appropriate background to effectively evaluate player skills and performance. Preferable background characteristics can include, but are not limited to the following:
 

1. Experience with player evaluation and performance systems;

2. Suitable background in hockey either as a player or as a coach;

3. Knowledgeable persons that are not stakeholders in the program;

4. Players or coaches from higher level hockey programs such as Midget or Junior, for example;

5. A willingness to evaluate players in categories in which they do not have a child registered.

 
It is desirable to have a consistent group of Evaluators throughout the entire process. Preference shall be given to Evaluators that are able to commit to the entire evaluation process for one level.
 
Enough Evaluators should be present to achieve an appropriate sample. It is recommended that at least 5-6 Evaluators be prepared for each ice session; however a minimum of 3 is acceptable.

 
A list of proposed Evaluators shall be submitted by the Director of Competitive and Head Coaches, no later than the 10th of August. Evaluators are subject to the approval of the Director of Hockey Operations. Evaluators from the list submitted will only evaluate a level in which they do not have a child registered/participating.
 
To maintain anonymity, each Evaluator will be assigned by the Director of Hockey Operations a code number. This number is to be recorded by the Evaluator on each scoring sheet. The code number will be known only to the Director of Hockey Operations and will not be made known. The code will be broken by the Director of Hockey Operations only in exceptional cases, such as appeals, complaints, etc.
 
Evaluators are expected to sit apart from parents in the arena during the evaluation sessions. Evaluators are expected to behave professionally and not to discuss the results of their evaluations with others in the arena. Experience has shown that innocent and off-handed comments made during the evaluations are often taken out of context and give rise to hard feelings on the part of some parents. On occasion, these comments later become grounds for appeal. Any Evaluator not acting in the spirit of fairness and honesty will not be asked to participate in future evaluations.
 
On-Ice Instructor Selection for Directors of Competitive and Head Coaches
 
The On-Ice Instructors fulfill a key role in the evaluation process. They are responsible for the organization of players during the skating sessions, explanation of the drills and demonstration of the drills. On-Ice Instructors should have the following background:
 

1. Previous coaching experience or experience communicating drills to young players, and

2. Adequate skating and athletic ability to demonstrate the drills correctly, and

3. Ability to quickly organize players and to stay on schedule during the evaluations.

4. Appropriate certification for level.

5. Head Coaches at the given level are expected to submit the session plan for Session #1.

 
Evaluator Management
 
Prior to the pre-season evaluation process, an Evaluator Information and Training Meeting will be held for all Evaluators and On-Ice Instructors. The meeting will be chaired by the Director of Hockey Operations. The Directors of Competitive will attend to explain the OVSS Player Evaluation Process. The meeting will explain the overall role of the Evaluators and On-Ice Instructors in the program and will focus on ensuring the understanding of the evaluation methodology, drills and scoring criteria for each category. The following points will be covered at the meeting:
 
1. OVSS Player Evaluation Process,
 
2. Expectations of Evaluators,
 

• Time commitment

• Duty to learn and understand drills and scoring criteria

• Duty of fairness, objectivity and impartiality

3. Role of On-Ice Instructors,
 

• Control and organization of players

• Explanation of drills and skill being scored to players

• Demonstration of drill

• Spacing of players to allow sufficient time for the Evaluators to score

• Ensuring that players alternate positions during scrimmages to ensure that all are given equal opportunity to play all positions

 
4. Standardized scoring system for skill based drills,
 

• Scoring against established drill criteria as opposed to performance relative to other players 5. Scoring system for game play scrimmages,

• Evaluation of game play skills relative to other players

• Game skill components and scoring

6. Review of Category drills and scoring criteria,

7. Distribution of Category Drill packages for review and use at evaluation sessions.

 
Prior to evaluation sessions, the Director of Competitive assigned to the level will be responsible for notifying all Evaluators of the evaluation session times and durations with sufficient advance notice. To the extent practical, evaluation session ice times will be scheduled in blocks to allow several evaluations to be performed in one booking. This will aid consistency between evaluation sessions and will help to reduce the time demand on Evaluators.
 
The Director of Competitive assigned to the level will also be responsible for the coordination of On-Ice Instructors, Evaluators and certified Trainers for the first two (2) tryout sessions.
 
The Director of Competitive assigned to the level will work with the club’s Registrar for notification of players, greeting and marshalling of players at evaluation sessions, distribution and coordination of jersey numbers and colors, distribution and gathering of scoring sheets and coordination of refreshments for volunteers.
 
Goalie Evaluations
 
Goalies will be present in most evaluation sessions for participation in shooting drills and scrimmages. Goalie Evaluations, however, will be held separately in one goalie evaluation session. All Midget, Bantam, Peewee and Atom will be evaluated formally in these sessions.
 
In the goalie evaluation sessions, goalies will work through a series of goaltending skill stations and will receive a score at each station based upon their execution of skill drills. Goalies will also be evaluated under game situations in the scrimmages to assess their skills in a game atmosphere.
 
Absenteeism
 
Players missing any of the competitive tryouts will be placed into tryouts at the discretion of the Director of Hockey - Scores derived from partial sessions will not be extrapolated to give full scores as this is felt to be unfair to those attending all the sessions. Absentee players will be considered on a case by case basis and may be required to play in extra evaluation games, attend additional tryouts.
 
Any player that is injured or ill and wishes to tryout for a competitive team must notify the President prior to tryouts, medical verification with a doctor’s note will be required. It will be at the Director of Hockey Operations discretion to approve this player in collaboration with the Head Coach based on length and severity of the injury / illness.
 
Director of Hockey Operations and Competitive Directors
 
The Director of Hockey will assign a Director of Competitive to each category to assist in and oversee the implementation of the OVSS Player Evaluation process.
 
Following each evaluation skating session a copy of all evaluation score sheets will be taken by the Director of Competitive and kept in a binder for verification and cross-checking of data entry.
 
Once all evaluation sessions are complete, the Director of Competitive will assist in the final tabulation and ranking of players and the final list of teams.