Welcome to the 2024-25 Hockey Season Evaluations!

Hello players & families of Whitemud West. I hope this letter finds you well and growing with excitement for the upcoming hockey season. As the VP of Evaluations for Whitemud West Hockey Association, I am thrilled to extend a warm welcome to all players and families as we gear up for another great year of minor hockey!

The goal of the Whitemud West Player Evaluation Process in the U9, U11, and U13 categories is to be the best hockey association for player development and placement. This starts by fairly and consistently evaluating players for the purpose of ensuring that they are placed appropriately to enjoy all aspects of the game. The intent is to maximize the player’s ability to develop, compete, contribute, and succeed by playing with peers of equal strength and ability. This will be achieved through a consistent evaluation process that is open, transparent, fair, and objective.

We understand the significance of these evaluations to players and their families, and we are committed to ensuring a fair and transparent evaluation process. Our goal is to create an environment that allows players to showcase their skills, sportsmanship, and teamwork. To provide you with a clear understanding of the evaluation process, allow me to outline what you can expect:

Independent Third-Party Evaluators:

To assess players and goalies, Whitemud West has engaged third-party evaluators. For the 2024-25 season, we will be leveraging an electronic evaluation platform. Third-party evaluators will utilize electronic devices such as mobile phones or tablets to record player evaluation scores. Goalies will be evaluated by a dedicated third-party goalie evaluator. For an overview of the evaluation scoring, please see our Evaluation Scoring & Goalie Evaluation pages for further detail. Every player is assessed by at least four evaluators each game, and their score reflects the average of the scores provided by these evaluators.

Timed Seeding Skates:

The evaluation process begins with a seeding skate, which consists of two timed drills that will evaluate the players forward and backward skating abilities. Should a player fall during the drills, it will be at the discretion of the on-ice evaluator to determine whether a retry is warranted. All times are then entered into a spreadsheet and players are ranked from highest to lowest. From these timed drills, the skate groups will be formed, and the players will move into groupings for the first scrimmage. This step ensures that players of similar skating abilities compete against each other in the subsequent scrimmages, allowing for fair and meaningful assessments.

Scrimmages:

Following the seeding skate, players will be grouped based on their results and will participate in two scrimmage games. After the first scrimmage is played, players will be adjusted into new groups for their second scrimmage based on their evaluation results. These scrimmages provide an excellent opportunity for players to showcase their skills, teamwork, and understanding of the game. It’s important to approach these scrimmages with a positive and sportsmanlike attitude, as they play a pivotal role in determining team compositions. In the U9 age group, positions will not be assigned to players. For U11, players will be assigned a position for each shift by the bench-lead. The player is expected to play the position they are assigned for that respective shift. The shift rotation process ensures players have equal amount of playing time and shifts at each position. For U13, players were asked to specify their preferred position during registration. They will be asked to confirm their preferred position (Forward or Defence) at the check-in desk prior to their first scrimmage. The position selected will be used to group the players in our electronic evaluation platform. Players will still be required to rotate through both forward and defence during the scrimmages, however evaluators will be assessing players based on their preferred position and will take this into account while performing their evaluations.

Team Formation:

Upon the completion of the scrimmages, our evaluation team made up of 5 members including the category director, will carefully analyze each player’s evaluation results. Teams will be formed based on the evaluation results from the seeding skate and scrimmages. Our goal is to create balanced and competitive teams across all tiers and age groups that will enhance each player’s development and enjoyment of the sport. This is aligned with the Hockey Alberta Standardized Tiering Model which requires associations with multiple teams in the same tier to ensure they are equally balanced. For example, if Whitemud West has two Tier 2 teams in an age category, players will be placed on the teams via a snake draft format based on their evaluation scores. This ensures the two teams are kept balanced and one team is not "stacked" over the other.

Coaches are not involved in the team formation process (with the exception of U11 AA) and are selected once a team has been formed. Players are placed on teams solely based on their evaluation results. Returning players in the same age category may have their team placement determined by prior tier and evaluation results in addition to their evaluation scoring from these tryouts, if necessary. As players advance to a different age group, there is an understanding that they might not achieve the same tier due to the considerable difference in skill/size that often accompanies a change in category.

Evaluation Schedule

Evaluation dates & times have now been posted. Specific skate groups and assigned date/times will be posted to the website at the end of August. Please ensure all registration requirements are completed by September 1^st or players will not be allowed on the ice for evaluations.

We recognize the anticipation and excitement that this process brings, as well as the potential challenges that it may pose. Whitemud West is committed to supporting both players and their families throughout this journey. We believe that the experience gained during the evaluation process is invaluable and contributes to each player’s growth on and off the ice.

Thank you for being part of our hockey community, and for your commitment to fostering a positive environment for our players. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. We wish each player the best of luck during the evaluations and hope you all have a fantastic hockey season!

 

Claudio Virga
VP of Evaluations
Whitemud West Hockey Association