Tryouts and evaluations can be stressful for everyone involved. For players, there is pressure to perform well in a short amount of time in your first time back on the ice after the summer. Coaches need to evaluate a large number of players at the same while parents are hoping for a positive experience for their children. Is there any way to make this easier for everyone?
For years, the status quo in minor hockey was to post a list outside the dressing room with the names of those who made the team. Often, there was no feedback given or reasoning behind the final decisions. Now with advanced evaluation tools. Associations are steering away from that and are able to provide more background behind the process. While everyone may not be happy with the final choices, parents can feel like coaches are doing their part to be fairer and more accurate.
“Now you’ve turned that from being the black box of ‘you didn’t make it’ to something where there’s strong characteristics here and a lot of positives,” said TeamGenius CEO Chris Knutson. “Now you’ve created a constructive conversation where that becomes the foundation of development for that player that season.”