Peewee – Convenor’s Message
2017-2018 Peewee Convenor Message
Welcome to the 2017-2018 KMHA Hockey Season!
I am the Peewee convenor for this season. I am a big fan of player development, player enjoyment, consistency, and fairness. I am not a big fan of un-safe play, poor sportsmanship, and negative experiences.
My plan, such that it is at this point in time, is to try to give parents and players as much information as possible, making the different phases of the hockey season predictable, effective, and enjoyable.
As a starting point, below are some key points for the upcoming season –
Sort Outs
The final plan for sort outs for House Peewee is still in development, but sort outs are expected to begin the weekend of September 9th (the weekend after labour day), and include four sessions over two weekends. The sort outs ratings will be a based on combination of the previous years coach’s rating / level of play, the sort outs drills, and the scrimmages.
Any player can achieve any level based on his/her performance. The limits are only a player’s ability and effort.
That said, progression in Peewee is far more difficult than in Atom. In Atom, roughly seventeen (17) competitive spots appear each year, reducing the barriers to making ‘House A’ level. Over the course of Peewee, the number of available competitive slots actually goes down, further increasing the headwinds to make Peewee A.
For example, on average only half of the Peewee B minors make A the following year. And roughly only half of the Peewee C minors make B or higher the following season. For players in Atom A, normally less than half a dozen make Peewee A the following year. Atom B is primarily divided over Peewee B and C. And Atom C is generally slotted for Peewee C. However, as stated above, anyone can make any level, and in 2016-2017, three Atom C players made the three level jump to Peewee B. Anything is possible, but parents and players should be aware of the headwinds in Peewee sort outs.
I expect to have the sort out drills and initial schedule to the parents in advance of the sort outs. I am sure we will make mistakes during sort outs (and likely some doozies), but not for lack of trying.
Coaches and Volunteers
The KMHA depends on volunteers before and during the season. We cannot function without your help. And don’t worry about having a hockey background or not, we have a wide variety of areas that need support. And the more support we have, the better the experience for the kids.
Volunteers – Sort Outs
You do not have to be a ‘hockey expert’ to help in sorts outs. Only half of the volunteers are needed on ice. We also need lots of support people for check-in, evaluation entry, and working the benches / scoreboard. For the 2017-2018 sort outs, we need:
- on-ice and in-stands evaluators
- check-in staff to greet the players, provide jerseys, and record numbers
- data entry support for entering evaluation data into spreadsheets
- on-ice and off-ice generals to help coordinate all the moving parts during sort outs
If you would like to volunteer, please feel free to contact me or the KMHA. We very much need the help and support to make all of this work.
Volunteers – Coaches and Staff
And of course, we need coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, and managers during the season. The kids need the support and time that you all bring. If you are interested in coaching or helping in season this year, please contact myself or the KMHA.
I look forward to meeting you all in person, and feel free to contact me with any questions.
Bruce Calder
