Presidents Letter
SYHA Families,
Here we go! Tryouts for the Mite through Bantam travel divisions are right around the corner! On behalf of the entire board, I would like to welcome back all our returning families and extend a warm welcome to our new players, families, and coaches. Below I have listed some information to help prepare your child for tryouts and proactively answer some questions you might have. We look forward to a very successful 2023-24 season.
Preseason
A great way to “get the rust” off your players’ skates prior to tryouts is at our free Preseason Clinics and Skating Sessions. Players are not evaluated at any preseason event. I hope you can attend the following:
· Robby Glantz Power Skating Clinics – Open to all house and travel team players.
· IPH Hockey Clinics – Open to the PeeWee U12 and Bantam U14 players only.
· Preseason Skating Sessions – Open to travel team players only.
The upcoming schedule is posted on the SYHA site:
https://www.simsburyhockey.com/parent-resources/2023-2024-preseason-tryouts/6944
Tryouts
Tryouts tend to be one of the most stressful times during the hockey season – especially for parents! The purpose of this email is to walk through the philosophy, goals, and procedures associated with the SYHA tryout process.
Our tryouts are designed to ensure that each player is placed on the team that will allow them to best develop their hockey skills at an appropriate pace while having a positive playing experience.
While there is no such thing as a “perfect” tryout, Simsbury Youth Hockey is confident that our time-tested process is well structured, objective, and fair. Our Coaches – Mites to Midget, travel and house – possess the finest qualities of sportsmanship and player development. Our Head Coaches are selected by a committee comprised of the Director of Coaches, the Vice President of On-Ice Operations, and the appropriate Division Director.
Team Placement
The Evaluation Team consists of the A Team Coach and 2 – 4 evaluators who have no association to the division. The President, Vice President of Operations, Director of Coaching, and Division Director provide organization and oversight throughout the entire team placement process.
To further ensure objectivity, evaluators are provided with a scoresheet including the pinny colors and numbers that are assigned to players each night. On the first night of tryouts, skaters will be evaluated against other players in their birth year, with goalies participating in both sessions. On nights two and three, skaters and goalies will be assigned to sessions based on their evaluation scores. Session assignments will be posted on the website.
Players who are not assigned to a travel team will be placed in the house program. We make every effort to communicate final team placements as quickly as possible after tryouts are over, however, we’ll take the time needed to ensure we achieve that goal and that process may take several days.
We wish you and your player a rewarding and fun filled season! I hope this information helps to prepare your family for tryouts and proactively answers some questions you might have.
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or any Board Member for more information.
Sincerely,
Paul Melanson, SYHA President