Thank you to everyone who registered with us to tryout for the 2021/2022 Season.

Tryout results will be posted below!

Tryout Process Mission Statement

The purpose of the BJHL travel team tryout process is to evaluate a player's skating ability, hockey skills, hockey aggression and commitment to teamwork, in order to place him or her within a team that will provide the best environment for improving their self-confidence and enjoyment of the sport of ice hockey. Special emphasis on competing at the highest possible  level will be given to the A teams at each age level.

The tryouts for BJHL Squirt, Pee Wee and Bantam travel teams will be held in March or early April prior to the start of the following season. Spring Tryouts are conducted at this time for the Burrillville Junior Hockey League due to having to buy our ice time in the spring for the upcoming year. Mite and Midget level tryouts may occur in the Spring or in late August or early September.

Tryout dates and times will be posted on the BJHL website (www.BJHL.org). In order to tryout, a player must be paid in full for the prior season and an initial non-refundable tryout fee is due upon registering for tryouts. The number of tryout sessions per level will vary with each level. We want to provide the skaters with every opportunity to show their skills, while at the same time trying to obtain thorough and consistent evaluations at the tryouts.

All skaters and goaltenders that wish to be considered for a BJHL travel team must attend tryouts.  Depending on the number of children trying out, it is possible that some children who attend tryouts will not make a travel team. BJHL will also be putting the most competitive team possible on the ice at all levels so some children who attend tryouts may not make a team based on their skill level.

The following guidelines have been established and there are no exceptions to these guidelines without approval of the BJHL Board of Directors.

Evaluations

The Parent at Large and the Coaches Representative will create a committee of evaluators that have the appropriate hockey knowledge for the level they are evalutating. Evaluators will use a standardized scoring system that will assess skating ability, appropriate hockey agressiveness and hockey skills at each level during scheduled tryout sessions. The Parent at Large and Coaches Representative will attempt to select evaluators for a given level who do not have children trying out at that level. Evaluators cannot have a relative in the level they are evaluating. All skaters are given colored pinnies with numbers. Evaluation sheets are issued to the evaluators with pinnie colors and numbers only.

Evaluation Guidelines

Independent Evaluators

Tryout sessions will consist of drills that allow players to display their individual skating abilities as well as their shooting and passing abilities with an emphasis on situational play in scrimmages. There will also be a scrimmage session to evaluate skills and game awareness.

Evaluators will be in the stands and are instructed not to share comments with each other on any players being evaluated.

Evaluators are instructed to rate players using a standardized evaluation system, with an overall score taking into consideration the following:

• Skating Skills
• Hockey skills
• Appropriate Hockey Aggression
• Team work
• Situational/Decision making

Goalies will be evaluated on their balance and movement, agility and quickness, angles and positions, save selection, anticipation, aggressiveness, concentration and athleticism.

A player must declare at the beginning of tryouts if they are trying out for a forward or a goalie. Once it is declared the player has to tryout for their chosen position. A player cannot tryout for both in the same tryout.

Generally, the weighting of each of these categories will change at each level (Mites, Squirts, Peewees, Bantams) with the change in the style of play. At the Mite level, skating and basic hockey skills will be weighted more than at the upper levels where teamwork and situational play become more important as a skill.

No player is guaranteed a position on a team because he/she played on a BJHL team during a prior season. Prior participation on a BJHL team may be considered when other evaluative factors are equal. Player or parental conduct inconsistent with BJHL policies and procedures during a past season may be taken into consideration in making player selections.

Coach Evaluations from prior season

All coaches are to evaluate each of their players from the prior season. Coaches will evaluate each player on skating and puck skills, game sense and character. The Coaches evaluation form provides a similar scoring system, (1 to 5) in the range of skills and characteristics. Coach evaluations also provide space for comments on individual players, as additional information available for the selection process. These coach’s evaluations are not used to rank the individual players for team selection, but are used as a tool to assist in making team selections.

Team Composition

Team selection will be based a combination of the player ratings obtained in the tryouts and player evaluations from the coaches from the prior season. The combination of both tryout scores and coach evaluations from coaches are important to provide as complete an evaluation as possible for each player. Second year players will be given priority over first year players in the event scores and evaluations are similar. At least 2 roster positions will be left open on the A team after Spring Tryouts.  The lower team rosters shall be filled at Spring Tryouts.   Final selections for open slots on the A team occur at the start of the upcoming season. These slots will be determined by the Head Coach, but must be approved by the Board of Directors. Selection for these open spots will be determined by practice sessions. Team rosters are not finalized until the start of the upcoming season. This leaves room for final adjustments as some players will attend summer camps and may make considerable improvements over the summer. This also leaves room for families moving to the area to have the opportunity to have their skaters evaluated in the fall.  

Coach Selection

After the evaluation process the applicants for coaching are reviewed and Head Coaches are then selected. The Head Coaches for all BJHL travel teams must be approved by the Board of Directors.

Coaches will utilize the evaluation results when selecting their team. Rosters must be approved by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will reassess the selection of coaches in the fall for the upcoming season and make any adjustments that may be appropriate.

Notification

Once the spring evaluation process is completed, and the initial rosters are created and approved by the Board of Directors, the players and parents will be notified. Notification will generally take place within a week or two from the date of the last tryout date.

If any roster changes are made at the start of the upcoming season, once they are approved by the Board of Directors, affected players and parents will be notified.

Discipline

It should be noted that inappropriate behavior by a skater or parent on or off ice during the tryouts will not be tolerated and could eliminate a player for consideration on a BJHL Travel Team. Inappropriate behavior includes, but is not limited to penalty situations such as illegal checking, elbowing, tripping, and harassment of other skaters on or off the ice and use of foul language. All players must read and sign Players Code of Conduct found on the BJHL web site and will be available at tryouts. This will be submitted as part of the registration process at tryouts for the upcoming season.

Exceptions

The BJHL Board of Directors can place players who miss tryouts, due to a SERIOUS illness or injury, school activities or family vacation at an appropriate level. Advanced notice is needed and must be approved by the Board of Directors. The BJHL Board of Directors will reserve the right to use its discretion to place players at the lowest level if there is an unexcused absence at the tryouts. The BJHL Board of Directors will do its best to give ample advance notice to parents regarding the timing of tryouts.

Grievances

Any parent who has a concern with the selection process and/or a player’s placement should contact the Parent at Large. The Grievance Committee (www.BJHL.org) may then be contacted. 

We hope that this summary of the tryout and team selection process has been informative. We understand the frustrations that come up every year, as this process unfolds - it is not an exact science, and different people have different opinions about the relative talent of a group of players. Please keep in mind that we are doing our best to evaluate your children and place them on the correct team that will allow them to improve as hockey players but more importantly to have fun. Experience has shown that an individual player will achieve the most success and make the most developmental progress over the course of the season if that player is competing at the proper level for his or her ability.

If you have any questions about this process please contact the BJHL Board of Directors.