May I congratulate you on being selected for
South West Conference team trials.
For those of you who don’t know I will attempt
to explain what it’s all about.Great Britain, excluding Ireland
and Scotland is split into four conference area’s, North, Midlands,
South East and us the South West, each year invites to all the clubs
within their particular conference area are sent a mail requesting
them to send their best players for trial with the sole purpose of
formulating a select team to compete in one inter conference tournament
held in Hull at the beginning of May, this tournament has been organised
to concentrate English ice hockey talent in one arena, one competition
so that the scouts for England and GB national sides can view potential
players.
Ice hockey is not a cheap sport, you’ll not
be surprised to learn that if you opt to get involved in the South
West Conference team selection process it will not be cheap and there
are NO guarantees of selection you may get cut after any session along
the way, so participation in any pre tournament games is again NO
guarantee of team selection for Conference weekend.
I am writing this letter to warn you now before you
spend too much money of the expected outlay, please read carefully
and calculate the costs to you, if you feel that it is not for you
please drop out early! It will make the selection process much easier
for the team if we know the players trialling are fully committed.
Costs.
Expect every Conference training session to cost
you £10 per player, we will try to get at least one training
session per month if we can get two or more we will.
Expect at least one foreign trip with an estimated
cost of £400. (not every player will be selected to attend a
foreign tournament if it takes place, attending a foreign tournament
is NO guarantee of team selection for the Conference weekend).
You will be required to purchase conference team
shirt and socks estimate £45 (Not optional!!)
You will be required to purchase conference team
tracksuit estimate £45 (Not optional!!)
Conference weekend itself will cost an estimated
£300 for hotel entrance and food.
How does it work?
There are NO hidden agenda’s in South West
Ice Hockey, the coaches remit is to formulate a team consisting of
the best players registered with club’s in the South West Conference
region, players that will gel and play as a team that will out perform
the opposing conference’s. Their goal is to show off and champion
players from the South West with the objective of getting our players
recognised by the national team selectors; and yes of course there
is also a desire to win the Hull Conference Tournament.
At the start of trials there are NO restrictions
on the number of players clubs can put forward for trial, merely a
request to all club head coaches that they only put forward players
that are of conference standard.
There are NO politics in choosing players, if a club
cannot produce a player of conference standard they will not be represented!
If a clubs head coach feels that his club has 15 of the best players
in the country then they could all trial; further if they all prove
to be the best in trials they will all be selected! No bias. A club
shirt has NO influence on selection
It is a fact that every player put forward is the
cream of their respective clubs and it is the South West coaches job
to assess and evaluate each and every player for skating ability,
puck handling, game sense, coach ability, teamwork and more.
Player selection: known elite player’s may
be pre-selected into the squads without trials, this could include,
players within professional leagues, England and GB teams, Non resident
players. This is a way to simplify and speed up team selections process
and to enable earlier squad selection and team training in preparation
for tournaments.
(All 'selected' non UK based players will be informed
that they have been selected to play in the conference tournament
Hull, in accepting their place in the team they also accept they must
meet the training costs incurred by the rest of the team, (i.e. all
training sessions costs November onwards). This fee must be settled
before team selection is finalised, players not willing to pay or
who do not pay will not be eligible to ice for the South West ).
All other players: There will be a maximum of four
trial sessions where all players nominated will be assessed, following
assessment cuts will be made to establish a training squad, the training
squad will then form the nucleolus of the team. Once selected into
the training squad all players are restricted to a maximum of 3 missed
sessions, “extenuating circumstances will be taken into consideration
as a reason for your absence.” (Members of the U17s team may
apply for special consideration and dispensation as it is recognised
that players may have professional and international commitments however
they must still pay for missed sessions and provide valid reasons).
Team manager and coaches will decide if the reason is valid or should
be classed as a ‘MISSED SESSION’, if it is decided that
the reason is not valid the player will be informed ASAP that they
have been recorded a ‘MISS’. Players are asked to inform
the team manager of their reason for not attending a training session
with as much notice as possible please.
When disputes occur there is an appeal process where
parents can submit their reason for absence to be reviewed by the
South West Committee.
Late inclusions into the training squads after trial
selection - To clarify the ruling. It has been agreed that beyond
trials If a clubs head coach considers a player ‘exceptional’
he may ask to have that player assessed for South West inclusion;
the conference coach will asses the player concerned by an invite
to trial within the relevant squads next training session. note: Players
transferring from other conferences are restricted by the transfer
deadline 31st January.
When players join under these circumstances will
they be asked for £10 for their initial trial then if selected
players will be informed that they have been selected into the training
squad, this does not mean they have been selected for the team and
must understand that they are still eligible to be cut when the ‘tournament
team’ is selected, in accepting their place in the squad they
also accept they must meet the training costs incurred by the rest
of the team up to the time of inclusion and continue thereafter. (all
training sessions November onwards) they will be asked to align their
team contribution with the rest of the squad. All back fees must be
settled before team selection is confirmed, players not willing to
pay or who do not pay by 28th Feb will not be selected to represent
the South West.
Final team selection must be made by the 1st March;
at this time reserves will be nominated and those players nominated
as reserves will be informed that as reserves they WILL NOT go to
Hull and will not be substituted into the team unless a player pulls
out or is cut because of discipline, they will be invited to continue
to train and will be eligible to buy conference team shirt, tracksuit
and merchandise and could be invited to participate in any pre Hull
game or tournament.
Pre Hull tournament - All players selected MUST attend,
All non attendee's that do not have extenuating circumstances will
be CUT from the squad. There shall be NO EXCEPTIONS to this rule.
Teams will back fill from reserves,
Conference teams for Hull tournament WILL consist of 15 players +
2 NM.
Remember if you child is cut he/she has still done very well to be
considered as one of the best at his/her age in the country, maintain
you support and encouragement for next year; use rejection as a springboard
to work harder and be determined to prove us all wrong. Players that
have not made conference team selections have gone on to represent
their country and play ice hockey at the highest level so don’t
be disheartened , work harder to gain your place in next seasons squad.
This team will generally have two coaches from different
originating clubs to aid unbiased selection, the teams manager may
offer an opinion but cannot make a decision on team selection, unlike
in football.
Thanks for reading this letter, I hope I’ve
not put you off but just set your expectations, please feel free to
ask any questions you may have.
South West Ice Hockey Club
Webmaster email: clubsouthwest.org
