Evaluations and Player Placement (new player evaluation and selection website)
See our technical section for details of why we have divisions as well as player profiles for each age group.
Commencing with the 2011-12 Indoor season, the Club has implemented several changes to the Evaluation and Placement process. HUSA Consulting(and its director Bryce Chapman) will be serving as the technical support for all player and coach development programs. HUSA will be selecting and training a group of evaluators, and will be responsible for player evaluation and placement.
U12 Jamborees
Returning U12 players and all new players seeking to move up from Community soccer will be required to attend both of the U12 jamborees, to be held on August 29 and 30 at the SaskTel Sports Centre. The purpose of these jamborees is to permit us some additional contact with our newest players to better evaluate their skill sets and to allow us to do a better job of pre-placing those players in the divisional evaluation process.
Preplacement
U12 players will be preplaced on the basis of any available coaching evaluations and the results of the U12 jamboree. U14 and U16 player will be preplaced on the basis of coaching evaluations for previous seasons, and the player's previous playing history with the Club. Where a player joins the club for the first time, the player will be placed at the lowest level of evaluation, unless the preplacement committee is familiar with the player's ability level.
Registration
Upon registration, each player will be given notice of his or her first evaluation session(s). In addition, times and locations will be posted on the Aurora website and at the SaskTel Sports Centre.
Evaluation Sessions
Each player will be evaluated during his or her first evaluation session (in some cases, players will be asked to attend two initial evaluations). Evaluation scores are then tabulated and the Placement Committee will meet to review scores and to determine which players will be evaluated for the next highest division. Results will be posted on the Aurora website and at the SaskTel Sports Centre.
Commencing with this indoor season, an accelerated evaluation schedule has been implemented with a view to completing team selection as early as possible. This will allow a complete bottom up evaluation for all divisions, meaning that all players will be given a chance to be selected for all divisions. The accelerated schedule means that players and parents must be prepared to move quickly to check postings and to attend the next evaluation session. Phone calls will not be made.
Preliminary Placements
Commencing for the 2011-12 indoor season, a preliminary placement and a final placement will be made during the process. All preliminary placements will be made before or at the end of the evaluation process for each age group. Two lists will be posted for each division (and age group) on the Aurora website and at the SaskTel Sports Centre. Part A of each list will be the players who are guaranteed a placement in that division. Part B will be the list of those players who continue to be under consideration for that division. This means that a player may, for example, be listed on Part A of the Division 3 list and Part B of the Division 2 list. That means that the player will be evaluated one more time for Division 2, before a final decision is made. Preliminary and final placements will be made on the basis of the player profiles set forth below.
Viewings and Final Placements
Once the Preliminary Placement is made, all players (whether they be on Part A or Part B of the placement list) are required to attend a divisional viewing, for the purposes of making a final placement, and to permit prospective coaches to view the players for the purposes of team selection. Where a player is listed on Part A for a division and Part B for another, he or she is expected to attend both sessions.
Once all viewings are complete, final placements will be made. These will be posted on the Aurora website and at the SaskTel Sports Centre. Players placed in Divisions 2-4 will be placed on a team on the basis of a draft conducted by the team coaches. Team selections will be posted in the same manner as evaluations and viewings.
Conduct of Evaluation Sessions
Many of the evaluators employed by the Club will have no children currently playing U12-U16 soccer. In some cases, they will have children in the Club, but no evaluator will conduct an evaluation or participate in deliberations where that evaluator has a son or daughter playing the age/gender group in question.
Coaches and other volunteers will be called upon to assist with organizing and running evaluation sessions, and in some cases those volunteers will have a son or daughter in the age/gender group being evaluated. They will not, however, participate in the evaluation. Where a parent is a candidate to coach a Premier Division team (or a Division 2 team where only one team will be formed), the coach will be permitted to participate in team selection only where their son or daughter has been evaluated and placed in the division by the placement committee prior to their selection as coach.
Injured or Ill Players
If a player is injured or ill at the time of evaluation, but is able to proceed, he or she should inform person taking registration at the commencement of an evaluation or viewing session. Details should be provided, to permit the evaluators to take the difficulty into account.
Missing Evaluations
The Club has made every effort to avoid conflicts with other commitments when assigning evaluation and viewing times. Where a player must miss a scheduled time by reason of a conflict , injury or illness, advance notice should be emailed to the club at attendance@auroraselection.ca, along with details. Where a player is unable to attend an evaluation session, he or she will be given a preliminary placement on the basis of playing history and prior evaluations. Players and parents should understand that missing an evaluation session may result in the player missing an opportunity to remain in a higher division. Missing an evaluation may be a distinct disadvantage where a player seeks to advance a division.
Late Registrants
Where a player misses evaluations due to late registration, a returning player will be placed as if they were a player who missed their evaluation session. New players will be evaluated at the discretion of HUSA and will be placed on that basis.
Evaluation Results
Commencing October 15, any player wishing to receive the results of his or her evaluation and placement process may request the information by emailing a request to reports@auroraselection.ca no later than October 31. Upon receipt, a report detailing the players preplacement and evaluation scores, together with a general report on the score ranges for each division will provided as time permits.
Appeals
Following the preliminary placement, a player may appeal his or her placement, provide that: 1) notice of the appeal is provided to the Club by way of email addressed to appeals@auroraselection.ca, and an appeal deposit in the sum of $100.00 (cash) is made prior to the applicable appeal deadline. Where these requirements are met, the Club will consider the appeal.
In determining whether to file an appeal, the player and parents should carefully consider the player's playing history, whatever success he or she found at that level, their preplacement, how the player performed at each evaluation session and the player profiles listed below. Comments made by other parents or spectators are not a reliable gauge of the prospect of success. Evaluations by former coaches have already been taken into account in making the preliminary placement. Parents and players should not pose questions to or seek guidance from those engaged in the evaluation and placement process, as they are required to retain an open mind and to evaluate on an objective basis.
In the case of the Premier division, appeals will be determined on the basis of the evaluation record. In the case of all other divisions, the player will be added to Part B of the higher divisional viewing and the placement reviewed after the viewing has taken place. Accordingly, players seeking to appeal in those divisions must be available for both viewings, and an appeal will not be considered if they do not attend.
Where an appeal is allowed, the deposit will be refunded. Where the appeal is not allowed, the deposit will be forfeited. Appeal deadlines are as follows:
U14-16 Premier - 7:00 p.m. Wednesday September 14 (short deadline due to early roster deadline imposed by SYSI)
U14-16 All other divisions - 7:00 p.m. Wednesday September 21.
U12 All Divisions - 7:00 p.m. Friday September 30.
Late appeals will not be considered. Final placements, once posted, are final (subject to correction for error in making the posting), and will not be reviewed. Please respect the enormous time commitment of our evaluators and placement personnel and refrain from questioning them or the process once it is complete.