MYH Player Evaluation Process

Player Evaluation & Team Selection

Supporting Balance for Your Hockey Players

Middleton Youth Hockey Club understands that many hockey players and their families take competitive hockey seriously. Please remember, particularly during a stressful evaluation/try-out process, that hockey is a beautiful game that is otherwise very easy to enjoy playing. We support balance in our kids' lives, trying out and focusing on many different passions and hobbies, and we absolutely support our athletes as students. Study, learn, and cultivate a growth mindset. Hockey is a lot - but it isn't everything.

To that end, please enjoy the article below about achieving balance for your kids as you learn about the Middleton Youth Hockey evaluation process.

Betting_a_Childhood_on_Sports.pdf

Team Selection Overview

Middleton Youth Hockey intends to have multiple teams at the Squirt, Peewee, Bantam, and High School age levels. The number of teams at each level depends on the number of skaters registering and the availability of coaches. All teams will be selected by skill level (A, B, C1, C2 teams) unless otherwise announced through the evaluation process. All skaters will be placed on a team.

Age Level Considerations

At the Mite level (skaters predominately 7 to 8 years old), teams will also be formed by skill level. Unlike Squirt and above, Mites will not participate in the evaluation process. Mite teams are formed by the coaching staff after observing the skaters for the first few weeks of practice. The format for Mite hockey will emphasize development and fun with smaller teams and local games. Mites will play half-ice games throughout the season. WAHA rules do not allow full ice games at the Mite level. The Mite program is encouraged for players seeking to play hockey as Squirts.

Team Sizes

Mite teams may vary from 8-10 players. Squirt teams can expect team sizes of 10 to 13 players. While several factors contribute to team size, the primary deciding factor is skill level. If the skill level of the players drops noticeably after the 10th or 11th player, the coaching committee may recommend a smaller team if this does not create hardship to other teams at the same age level (i.e., too small or too large).

The skill level of players will also determine team sizes for the Peewee and Bantam levels, though as a result of a physically more demanding game (checking and 1.5 hour games vs 1 hour games), those teams will tend to be larger (13 to 15 players). Peewee and Bantam teams may have 2 goalies on the roster. Roster size for the Midget team may vary as the primary goal is to accommodate all eligible Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District players (max roster is 20).

Middleton Youth Hockey Selection Process

Evaluation Sessions:

Evaluations of squirt players and older consist of a series of on-ice sessions. Players are asked to participate in as many of the designated evaluation ice times as possible to fully evaluate each player. It may be necessary to divide large groups for effective evaluations. The groups will be posted on the MYH website no later than 24 hours after the last session in preparation for the next evaluation session.

If you are not able to make an evaluation session, please notify your Age Level Director (ALD) at least 24 hours ahead of the scheduled session. If your skater is injured and cannot participate in any of the scheduled evaluations, please contact your ALD. An evaluation will be conducted when the skater is ready to return to play.

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Our Evaluators:

Volunteer coaches will be used at age levels where they do not have a skater from their family participating. We will also be utilizing veteran coaches from the area with no Middleton Youth Hockey affiliation to evaluate the groups and promote an unbiased selection process.

At the end of every evaluation session, the evaluators submit their assessment scores to statisticians. These statisticians are not evaluators and simply compile rankings for the ACE.

Evaluation Environment:

The evaluation process will be conducted in a ‘closed environment’. During these sessions, parents will not be allowed to remain in the rink to watch (the lobby is fine). Excluding family members provides for better interaction among coaches, players, and evaluators. We believe it minimizes distractions for the players and fosters a more relaxed environment for the players to focus on the process.

For players who require equipment assistance, a family member will certainly be allowed to accompany their skater to the locker room to get hockey gear on. We do ask that family members leave the rink area as soon as practice begins.

Goalie Evaluations:

Goalie evaluations will only be conducted at the PeeWee level and above. Goalies will participate in a ‘goalie only’ skill session and will also participate with skaters sessions at their level.

Squirts that hope to play goalie are evaluated as a skater (not in goalie equipment) and will be evaluated for their non-goalie skills for team placement. Squirts are welcome to attend the goalie session as well. Squirt goalies will be placed on teams primarily by their performance as a skater to allow for the option to skate out. This creates an opportunity for other squirt players to try out the goaltender position during the season, too. This squirt "goaltending by committee" approach helps encourage more goalies within the club.

Peewee & Bantam goalies may also skate in the player skill evaluation session if they desire to do both during the regular hockey season. Please contact the ACE if your Peewee or Bantam goalie wishes to skate out.

Goalie Shortage or Surplus:

If two teams exist and 4 goalies are being evaluated, the top 2 goalies will be placed on the higher-level team. In the situation that an odd number of goalies are being evaluated at a given age level (i.e. 3 goalies trying out for placement onto two teams), the coaching committee has the discretion to divide the three goalies based on player ability levels.

If more than 2 goalies per team are being evaluated at any age level, only the top 2 goalies are ensured placement as full-time goalies. More than 2 goalies per team would only be considered in unique circumstances. In those situations, placement will be at the discretion of the coaching committee.

Evaluation Extension:

If necessary, the club will utilize an extended evaluation period (typically 1 week following the initial evaluation process) to continue to evaluate the players as needed.

Athletes that Move into the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District:

Families occasionally move into the Middleton-Cross Plains district after the season's initial evaluations have been completed. New players joining the club during the season will be provided an opportunity to participate on a team that seems consistent with their skill level as long as it does not create hardship (too many players) for that team.

Posting of Rosters

After the evaluation sessions, preliminary rosters will be communicated within 72 hours of the final session. As previously stated, the ACE may utilize an extended evaluation period if necessary. Rosters will be posted online on the MYH website. There will be a notification email sent to all association members providing the website location of rosters.

Questions or Concerns During Tryouts:

The ACE coordinator is responsible for the running of the evaluation process across the entire club. During the process, the ACE may not have time to directly respond to parent inquiries. If you have any questions about the status or placement of your player during the initial or extended evaluation process, please first contact your applicable Age Level Director (ALD). The ALD is responsible for communication with families during the evaluation process, will be in attendance at the evaluations, and will serve as the liaison between families and the Association Coaching & Education (ACE) Director responsible for conducting player evaluations.

Playing Up a Level

If any player wishes to “play up” at the next age group, the player must be ranked in the top 5 of all skaters at that next age group after evaluations are completed. If the player is not in the top 5, the player will go back to their age appropriate level of play.

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