Player Evaluation and Team Formation

Player Evaluation and Team Formation Process

Introduction

This document outlines the principles and procedures used during annual player evaluations and team formation. The primary goal of evaluations is to fairly and consistently assess athletes and place them on teams with players of similar ability. The evaluation process also assists FMRA in creating competitively balanced teams when multiple teams exist within the same division.

Evaluations will ideally begin during the second week of September, with the goal of forming teams as early as possible. Athletes are encouraged to attend evaluations physically prepared and ready to participate.

Athletes at the U10-U14 level will participate in:

One ice session for the Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA).
One or more ice sessions for gameplay evaluation using either a 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 scrimmage format.

Athletes at the U16/U19 level will participate in:

One or more ice sessions for gameplay evaluation using either a 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 scrimmage format.

Team rosters will be released once all evaluations have been completed and evaluation data have been reviewed and analyzed.

Athletes are expected to attend all scheduled evaluation sessions, as absences may significantly impact team placement. If an athlete is unable to attend, a written explanation from the athlete and/or parent must be submitted to the Technical Director before the evaluation sessions begin. The Evaluation Committee will review each circumstance individually and determine the most appropriate placement. Previous-season coach feedback may be considered when necessary.

This document will be reviewed annually and updated as needed as part of FMRA's commitment to continuous improvement.

Roles and Responsibilities

Evaluation Committee

The Evaluation Committee is responsible for reviewing evaluation results and determining final player placement and team formation.

Committee Membership

Technical Director
President
Vice President

UAA Evaluators

UAA Evaluators are responsible for:

Drill setup and execution
Timing athletes
Recording results
Submitting raw data to the Technical Director

Gameplay Evaluators (including shooting and passing)

Gameplay Evaluators are responsible for assessing athletes during scrimmages.

Evaluators will ideally be former ringette players with significant experience and/or coaches and parents with multiple years of ringette experience.

Evaluators will:

Be assigned to a specific age division whenever possible to ensure consistency and fairness.
Work alongside the Technical Director during evaluation sessions.
Provide ratings in all assigned evaluation categories.
Assign an overall tier ranking relative to the athlete's peer group.
Submit raw evaluation data to the Technical Director for compilation.

To avoid conflict of interest:

Parents and coaches may not evaluate sessions involving their own child or athletes they may coach.
FMRA will strive to use independent evaluators whenever possible.

If association members are required due to evaluator shortages:

Evaluators should be assigned at least two divisions removed from their child's division whenever possible (e.g., a U12 parent evaluates U16/U19).
If necessary, the Evaluation Committee may approve evaluation assignments one division removed from their child's division.

All gameplay evaluators will submit raw data to the Technical Director.

Player Evaluation Process

Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA)

Developed by Ringette Alberta, the UAA consists of objective, repeatable, timed skill assessments. All U10, U12, and U14 athletes must participate in a UAA session.

Players and parents are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the drills through Ringette Alberta’s instructional videos. For more information, visit: Ringette Alberta: Website by RAMP InterActive

The UAA assessment team will consist of association volunteers. If a volunteer's child is participating in a station, that volunteer must switch stations with another volunteer to avoid conflicts of interest.

UAA Drills U10-U14

Forward Skate
Backward Skate
Ring Agility Weave
Start and Stop
Butterfly (not done by U10)

Each drill is designed to objectively measure skating and ring-handling skills specific to ringette.

No U10 or U12 athlete may declare as a goaltender. Athletes at U14 may declare themselves as a full-time goaltender, which may exempt those athletes from the UAA components.

Shooting and Passing Criteria

All U10, U12, and U14 athletes must participate in the shooting and passing evaluations, which will be done with the gameplay evaluations as their warm-up.

Gameplay Evaluation Criteria

All U10 - U19 athletes will participate in Gameplay evaluations. Players will be scored from 1-4 in each of the following categories. Scores are assigned relative to other athletes within the same division:

Skating (U16/U19)
Ring Control (U10 -U19)
Shooting/scoring (U10-U19)
Defensive Play (U10-U19)
Game Sense (U10-U19)

Gameplay sessions should not exceed 30 skaters to ensure adequate observation opportunities.

Approximately every 90 seconds:

Play will stop at an appropriate break in action.
Players will leave the ice.
The next group will enter according to assigned pinny numbers.

Player groupings will be adjusted periodically to ensure athletes play with a variety of teammates.

All U10, U12, and U14 players will rotate through Centre, Forward, and Defense.

All U16 and U19 players may remain in their preferred position throughout evaluations, provided positional balance exists across teams.

Evaluation scores will be compiled by the Technical Director and independently reviewed for accuracy.

General Information

U10 Division

The U10 Division is considered Children’s Ringette by Ringette Alberta and is divided into steps. They are:

Active Start
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3

The U10 division is not a tiered division. The “steps” within the U10 division have been created so that athletes of varying skill, experience, and readiness can be successful. It recognizes the importance of the athlete, not just an athlete’s chronological age or skill set. This holistic approach is optimal for long-term athlete development.

Five considerations when grouping players are:

Fine and gross motor skills
Skating
Ringette IQ
Social-emotional readiness
Chronological age

A tiered program would only look at an athlete’s ringette skills. The Active Start/Step model recognizes that children do not develop on the same linear curve, nor do they develop on one curve in all four areas. Every child is an individual and therefore will not necessarily progress from one step to the next in a linear fashion.

Children who are seven years old and under and have never played ringette before register in Active Start. For Active Start, there is no formal evaluation process.

For U10 Steps 1 through 3, the evaluation weighting:

Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA): 50%
Passing and Shooting: 20%
Gameplay Scrimmage: 30%

Potential team levels may include:

Step 1, Step 2, Step 3

Following the completion of evaluations, Head Coaches will be given a formed team for their season. Players will be placed based on their overall evaluation results.

U12 Division

The U12 division is still considered Children’s Ringette by Ringette Alberta. This will be an athlete's first experience of playing within tiered divisions. To determine player placement, a consistent evaluation process will be utilized to allow for an impartial assessment of a player’s total ringette skillset.

Evaluation Weighting:

Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA): 10%
Passing and Shooting: 20%
Gameplay Scrimmage: 70%

Potential team tiers may include:

A, B, C

Players will be placed based on their overall evaluation results.

If there is more than one team in a tier, balanced teams will be the primary goal. The ranked list of players will go through a snake draft to determine the teams. Final teams within the same tier should have comparable cumulative team scores.

Team 1	Team 2
1 (Stronger goalie)	2
4	3
6	5
8 and so on…	7

Where it has been determined that there will be a higher-level team, the following team selection process shall be used. 70% of the team roster will be filled by the top-ranked athletes as per the player evaluation. For example, if a team is of 11 players, the top 8 players in the evaluation ranking will be placed on the higher team. The remainder of the higher-level team’s roster will be chosen from the remaining players by the Evaluation Committee; however, unless there are extenuating circumstances, there should be no players selected from the bottom 40% of evaluations.

U14 Division

Evaluation Weighting:

Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA): 10%
Passing and Shooting: 20%
Gameplay Scrimmage: 70%

Potential team tiers may include:

A, B, C

Players will be placed based on their overall evaluation results.

Team 1	Team 2
1 (Stronger goalie)	2
4	3
6	5
8 and so on…	7

U16/U19 Division

Player placement will follow Ringette Alberta tiering policies.

Evaluation Weighting:

Passing and Shooting: 20%
Gameplay Scrimmage: 80%

Potential team tiers may include:

A, B, C (no C for U19)

Team 1	Team 2
1 (Stronger goalie)	2
4	3
6	5
8 and so on…	7

Team Tier Determination

For U10, U12, and U14 divisions:

The minimum team tier will be determined by the relative UAA team score in accordance with Ringette Alberta Tiering Policy.

For U16 and U19 divisions:

Team tiers will follow Ringette Alberta requirements.

Roster sizes will depend on registration numbers within each division but will not be more than 18 players per team.

Goalie Evaluations

U10 goalies will not be formally evaluated. The U10 program encourages all interested athletes to try the goalie position throughout the season.

U12 and above Goalies will be evaluated separately by designated goaltending evaluators.

Evaluation categories include:

Skating & Movement
Positioning
Save & Rebounds
Distribution
Game Sense

The number of goalies assigned to each team will be determined by the Evaluation Committee.

Dispute Resolution

Parents or players of age may submit a written dispute regarding team placement.

Disputes must be submitted within 48 hours of roster release and should clearly identify the concern and the basis for the review request. The Evaluation Committee will review all submissions and provide a written response.

To maintain the integrity of the evaluation process and protect evaluator confidentiality, individual gameplay evaluation scores and evaluator comments will not be released. Gameplay evaluations are based on multiple independent observations and comparative assessments within a player's division and are intended solely for team placement purposes.

Final Universal Athlete Assessment (UAA) results may be requested by a parent or player of age for an administrative fee of $50. This fee is intended to offset the administrative time required to retrieve, review, and prepare the evaluation records for release.

Contacts

Technical Director

technicaldirector@fortmcmurrayringette.com

Sean Peterson

President

president@fortmcmurrayringette.com

Trinidy Wiesner

Vice President

vicepresident@fortmcmurrayringette.com

Rachel Ridenour