YDYH/Cape Cod Waves
Evaluation Skate Procedures
Preface
The Yarmouth-Dennis Youth Hockey/Cape Cod Waves (YDYH/CCW) Evaluation Skate Procedures, have been scrutinized and tested over the years. As with any YDYH/CCW process, in order to seem relevant with the current membership, the Evaluation Skate Procedures must evolve with the present social norms. Therefore, you may see some changes to the process from previous years.
The YDYH/CCW Board of Directors feel these evaluation skate procedures will, as accurately and as fairly as possible, place the individual players into groups of similarly skilled hockey players. The players placement is performed by considering various factors as laid out within this document. We do not advertise or make public the ratings or rankings of individual players.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for tryouts, all players/parents for the next year’s season are required to perform the following tasks and meet the below requirements prior to the tryouts:
- You must register online in advance to the tryouts on the YDYH website (www.ydyouthhockey.com). Registration will be closed prior to the tryouts in order to gather all the information. If a player has not registered online they will not be allowed to tryout.
- All previous season’s tuition, fees, and open balances must be paid in full prior to the tryouts. If a player’s account is not current, they will not be allowed to tryout.
- The non-refundable tryout fee must be made by the first night of tryouts and will be applied to next season’s tuition. If a player has not paid the tryout fee, they will not be allowed to tryout.
- The YDYH bylaws state that if extenuating circumstances arise to a new player or an existing player within the program which will not permit them to attend the evaluation skate, the parents must forwarded a letter to the Board of Directors explaining reason for his or her child's absence during the skate in order to be considered to be placed on an upper level team by the Coaching Review Board.
Evaluation Skate Procedures
The actual hockey drills and scrimmage format during tryouts will be decided by the independent coaches running the tryouts and the board of directors. Players should register based upon their birth year age classification by USA Hockey. A sample of USA Hockey Age Classification is shown below.
USA Hockey Age Classification
"Playing-Up" Policy
Players who are coming into the second year of their USA Hockey age classification (U10/Squirts or older, Mites are not allowed to skate up per USA Hockey and MA Hockey regulations) have the option of trying out for the next level up if they choose. In addition, the player must also tryout for the age classification that they are determined by USA Hockey. To be eligible to play for the above level team, the player must rank in the top 25% of players in the upper age level and the Board of Directors must vote to allow the move, based upon the impact to the number of players in affected and lower teams. The younger player will not be permitted to play up if their inclusion on the team would take the spot of an age-appropriate player, or if their participation would leave the age-appropriate team with insufficient numbers.
Player Rankings
A group of experienced youth coaches, high school coaches and professional coaches will rank players based on performance. Teams will be formed based on like skill and number of participants. In an attempt to make the rating process as unbiased as possible all players will be provided a numbered pinney and will not be allowed to wear team games jerseys showing their team affiliation.
Player Ranking Committee
The Player Ranking Committee is made up of the President, Vice President and Member Elect. These committee members are the only people privy to the rating sheet and player rankings. YDYH does not advertise the ratings or rankings of individual players and they are kept confidential. The Player Ranking Committee will work to make sure players are assigned to the appropriate teams based on like skill and number of participants.
Related Topics
Player Movement After Tryouts
We hope that as parents and coaches, we can encourage our players to strive to excel in the off-season. Cape Cod Hockey will intentionally leave 2-3 spots open on an upper level team to allow for players on the bubble to grow and develop over the next 6 months before the season starts. In fact, there is the potential for players who show improvement to be moved up during the course of the season. This allows the program to move players up if they work hard and exhibit improvement. Mass hockey allows dual rostering if a team is not a National Bound team. YDYH has implemented a policy to allow payers to move up from a lower team to higher team before official rosters are submitted to the league. Please discuss these options with your head coach. Any decisions require board approval.
In conjunction with the above statement once USA Hockey rosters have been submitted to the league, player movement from a lower level team to a higher-level team is restricted by the league. In response YDYH BOD has implemented a rule which requires any player who plays up for any team within YDYH to request board approval above and beyond 3 games. Please contact the YDYH BOD member or the SSC representative with any questions.
Team Sizes (Number of Players on a Team)
The final number of players on any given team will vary as it depends on the overall number of committed players at each age classification. In the past YDYH/CCW have kept team sizes smaller with approximately 10-12 players at all levels. This has caused several issues such team being short players due to illness, injuries and vacations. Over the past few years the lack of player commitment has required YDYH to consolidate teams after the season has begun. This has caused friction within our membership.
YDYH/CCW will attempt to place 12-15 players on each team within the older age classifications. At the Mite level, we will be targeting 11-12 players per team for 4v4 divisions and 7-10 players for 3v3 divisions. Final team numbers hinges on the final player commitment numbers.
YDYH Commitment, Payment and Refund Policy
Once the final team rosters have been published, each player is required to secure their position on their team by committing financially. If the commitment fee (25% of season tuition) is not paid by the published commitment date, your player’s spot on the team will be given to the next eligible player as described by the YDYH/CCW team placement policy. In addition it is crucial that we have financial commitments from all players so we can plan the number of teams for the upcoming season and register the appropriate team levels with the South Shore Conference based on the team's skill level and experience. Please view the full YDYH Commitment, Payment and Refund Policy on the website for more information. This commitment fee is non-refundable.
Conclusion
YDYH/CCW BOD is very proud of their dedication and the amount of consideration that went into the YDYH/CC Waves Tryout and Team Placement Procedures. If you have any questions, concerns or comments please feel free to contact the YDYH Member Elect or any other Board Member. The tryout process at YDYH has taken many years to develop and we continue to try & improve it each year.
