Welcome to the 2023-24 U13 Season!
Introduction
My name is Bill Clark and I am the U13 Director for this season. This is my first season on the SPMHA Board and my first as U13 Director. Please feel free to reach out to me should you have any questions or concerns at u13.director@spmha.ab.ca and I will do my best to provide you with an answer or guidance.
Teams
This season we are expecting to have 12 SPMHA teams in U13. This is dependent upon final numbers registered. There are planned to be two teams in each tier. The number of teams per tier is set by the Alberta One Standardized Tiering Model and the number of teams is subject to change pending late registrations.
Volunteers
This season is just like past seasons in that we will require a village of volunteers to get through Evaluations and the season. Please consider helping out whenever and wherever possible!
We are still looking for Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Goalie Coaches. Please follow the link to put your name forward.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5Lud3qpSYIDsuw9vmY7Jvo82Vr4dcWsni5yc3Wa9Xp25kMg/viewform
We are also still looking for Evaluators for our Evaluation games. Please follow the link to put your name forward.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSftNw0S3bEa9tLnFSa4Ei9zVkB3pixulAq_1NOkizp7q2krpQ/viewform
If anybody is interested in managing their players’ team or would like any information on managing, please reach out to Allison Watson at manager.director@spmha.ab.ca
I am also looking for a few volunteers to run the Registration table for our Time Trials. If you are interested or would like any information on what this task may entail, please let me know!
All other volunteer positions will be communicated throughout the Evaluation process as required.
U13 Competitive (Formerly Tier 1)
Tryouts for U13 Competitive will be a separate evaluation process will be occurring prior to the U13 Community program evaluations. Registered participants will be placed into balanced tryout teams based on a defined playing level matrix and will play a three-game evaluated round robin series, followed by two rounds of player releases. Players would have indicated their position (forward, defense, or goalie) at the time of registration and will be evaluated at that position.
The competitive goalie evaluations will be on August 31st. The Competitive evaluation games will be from September 5th through September 8th.
Evaluation Timeline Community Program
Pre-skates, Time Trials, Evaluations Games and Parity games will run from August 27th to September 21st, with the goal of having teams created by September 25th. Please keep in mind this is subject to change.
Pre-Skates
Each participant will have the opportunity for approximately 3 Pre-skates prior to the Time Trials this year. Unfortunately, some of these times are over the September long weekend. These skates are not mandatory to attend, but strongly encouraged as there will be review of the Time Trial drills, and they are also a great way for players to get their skating legs back after the summer!
Pre-skate groups will be posted soon via TeamSnap. These groups were created using similar skill levels among all players and each group number was randomly selected. The first skate will already be uploaded into the schedule. Please note that these groups will be shuffled around after the first pre-skate as players are released from SPKAC AA Tryouts. The groups for skate two and three will remain the same.
Goalie Evaluations
Goalie Evaluations will take place on Sunday, September 10th from 5:00pm to 6:45pm at Millenium Place. The group and time will also be communicated via TeamSnap.
Goalies will be moving between ice surfaces during the evaluation and skate guards are recommended.
If anyone has any goalie related questions please reach out to Jordan Wagg at hi.goalie@spmha.ab.ca and if any goalies need equipment please contact Reachel Williams or Megan Culbert at equipment.director@spmha.ab.ca.
Time Trials
Time Trials will take place on Sunday, September 10th. More information regarding groups and times will be communicated via TeamSnap after the pre-skates.
As a general reminder, the Time Trials are just one portion of the Evaluation process. The weighted results from the Time Trials will determine the teams for the Evaluation Games and is only a starting point for players. Once Evaluation Games start, all Time Trial data will no longer be used in determining the final teams for this season.
Evaluation Games
Evaluation Games will run from September 12th to September 27th. Players will play in 2 to 4 evaluated games or small area game sessions.
Our focus is to provide a positive experience for all players and to create as much upward movement as possible, however, it is still possible for players to move down a group.
Players are required to wear SPMHA socks (black, white, or green is acceptable) at all Evaluation Games. Game socks are available now at Sin Bin.
Parity Games
Parity Games will run from September 19th to September 21st. Parity Teams are not the Final Teams and movement between teams may still occur. Players will not move from Tier to Tier at this stage of Evaluations.
Communication
To avoid having too many different places where communications have to be watched for, after this initial email has gone out, almost all communication will be through the website (U13 – Sherwood Park Minor Hockey (spmha.ab.ca)). Once evaluations are underway, it will be important for everyone to watch the website for evaluation game updates and which players will play on which dates.
Evaluation Guide & Evaluation Town Hall
Please take some time to read through the 2023 Evaluation Guide as there have been some changes made for the upcoming season.
SPMHA-Evaluation-Policies-Procedures_rev2023.08.pdf
There will also be an Evaluation Town Hall tentatively scheduled for Scheduled for 8pm on September 6th.
I look forward to seeing everybody around the rink!
Bill Clark
SPMHA U13 Director