Hockey Tryouts - Stressful, and Not That Fun.
These hockey tryout tips will save some hair from either turning grey, or falling out. Hockey Tryouts can be a challenging time for young players, parents, coaches, and the associations. So I’ve compiled a quick, basic, and to the point process to help evaluators new in their challenging role. Quite frankly it’s the toughest time of the year for everyone involved. Minor Hockey Associations enlist the help of a wide range of people to act as independent evaluators. Many of us enjoy this experience until we have to cut a player who is a great kid, hard worker, and his their dreams set on making the team!
Looking for other resources for coaches? We have a ton here, from Season Plans, to Drill Downloads, and our online course teaching tactics and concepts for coaches, How to Play Hockey.
Quick Tips for Evaluators
- How many teams are you picking?
- How many does that mean you need to shuffle?
- Identify Top, Bottom, and Bubble Players
- Short written note to identify a player
- Make quick assessments early (Lump & Rank A,B,C)
- Reassess priorities now that you have 3 groups.
- Focus on B
- How many can make A?
- Does that shuffle any C out of 2nd team?
- Rank and justify with anecdotes
