November 4, 2016
Dear U12 Grade 5 Hockey Team Candidates and Parents,
Welcome to the Winter 2016-2017 U12 Hockey Programme. This letter outlines the philosophy, expectations and logistical details of this season.
Philosophy
Upper Canada College Preparatory School believes in encouraging a love of sport through the development of athletic character and skills. The athletic program values and develops sportsmanship through respect, compassion, integrity and discipline, as well as developing teamwork and a team commitment. Students will learn a strong work ethic through commitment to team ideals and perseverance to team goals. The school facilitates the growth of its students by encouraging students’, coaches’, and families’ involvement in athletic education, leading to an increased sense of athletic purpose and self-confidence.
Tryouts
Players will be selected not just on the basis of ability, but also on their attitude, their listening skills, their willingness to learn and try new things and their overall contribution to the team. For these reasons, we will focus on each candidate’s:
· Demonstrated skill;
· Work ethic;
· Ability to listen and follow direction;
· Willingness to work with others;
· Punctuality and uniform;
· Level of commitment
* The level of hockey that a player plays outside of school is not a selection factor.
It is always a difficult experience not to be included on a team roster. Parents can help their son learn from the experience by praising his best effort and encouraging him to understand the reasons why he was not selected. By improving in these areas, it is not uncommon for these same players to challenge incumbents next year.
The first team selection will be posted on the basement notice board. Players who are not selected for the team are encouraged to report to tryouts for other school teams (Basketball, Swimming). Final team selection will be made no later than Tuesday, November 22. By that time, all players will be informed in person of whether they are on the team and if not, what their athletic options are.
Team Commitments
A strong commitment is needed for a player to be a member of any school representative team. We understand that many boys have outside commitments. We have discussed the following Prep policy regarding absences from games with your son: We expect each player on the team to participate in every scheduled game. A player may miss only two non-tournament games due to an outside commitment, but he must notify his coach at least one week in advance of the game date. Where teams have three “must play” commitments (typically on a weekend) that include a home tournament, an away tournament, and the CISAA Championship, we will ask the boys to commit to the CISAA Championships and one of the other tournaments. You may not change the invitational tournament choice during the season. This commitment level is potentially problematic for the team at the two invitational tournaments, so it is for this reason that we will be asking families to state their level of commitment during the tryout process. The level of commitment that a student can make will be considered during team selection. We will need to know which events the boys can commit to before the team is selected for the following reasons:
1) If there are a number of boys that are unable to commit to one tournament, then alternative means may be made to ensure a reasonable number of players for each tournament.
2) Level of commitment will be one of many factors considered in the team selection process. If two players are even in criteria for team selection, we may defer to level of commitment to determine which player is selected.
No player may miss the CISAA championship tournament for any reason other than illness/injury. Note: this championship tournament is on a Friday during the school day.
To commit to a tournament a player needs to be at all of the scheduled games for that tournament.
If your son becomes ill or injured and is unable to attend a game, please notify the coach as soon as possible via phone and/or email. We recognize that absences due to illness or injury are not related to team commitment.
Major Dates:
· UCC Invitational Tournament: Thursday, January 12, 2017 (4-5pm), Friday, January 13, 2017 (8:30am – 7:30pm) and Saturday, January 14, 2017 (8:00am – 5:30pm)
· Selwyn House Invitational Tournament (Montreal): Thursday, February 9, 2017 (Depart at 7:30am) to Saturday, February 11, 2017 (Return in the evening)
· CISAA Championship Tournament: Friday, March 3, 2017 (9:00am – 5:00pm)
Billeting
On Thursday, January 12, Friday, January 13th and Saturday, January 14th, 2017, the Prep will be hosting the Boyd Caldwell Tournament. The Grade 5 hockey team members have the additional responsibility of billeting a visiting team from Selwyn House School in Montreal. We have been asked to billet boys for the evenings of Thursday, January 12th and Friday, January 13th. It is expected that each team member be able to accommodate a maximum of two billets.
In regard to our Montreal tournament, for the 13th year in a row Selwyn House School has invited us to play in their own invitational tournament (February 9th – 11th, 2017).
The team will leave on Thursday, February 9th at 7:30am and will return on Saturday, February 11th in the evening. A more exact time of return cannot be given because we are travelling with the Grade 7 Hockey team (they have a tournament at Lower Canada College), and road conditions.
UCC boys will be billeted with boys from the Selwyn House hockey team. We try to match the UCC boys with one of the Selwyn House boys that they billeted in January. Selwyn House is a private school in Montreal, which has a very solid reputation and is a comparable school to Upper Canada College.
We will be billeting with the same team that we billet at our tournament. The friendships that are formed through billeting at our own invitational tournament will enhance the Montreal billeting experience.
Parents will be informed the week of departure about the details of the billeting. This will include the name of the billeting family and their contact information. All efforts will be made to match our boys with appropriate families in regards to allergies and other concerns.
Transportation will be organized by the school. We will share a highway coach with the Gr. 7 Hockey team, which will be with us the whole time in Montreal.
The boys will take a tour of Montreal sites such as Old Montreal, the Bio-dome, and other attractions. This will prove to be a great opportunity for the boys to visit another city, play hockey against new opponents, and be exposed to some French culture through the wonderful experience of billeting.
The costs associated with each team are typically around $200.00 depending on the amount of travel. This includes a uniform rental fee, bus travel to away games and a team photo. The Montreal Tournament cost is usually around $325.00.
The best way to access information about our team and schedule is through the UCC website. Click on this link to access the Grade 5 Hockey schedule. Click on this link to fill in our online form to confirm your son’s commitment (must be completed by November 14th). It is possible that this schedule may change as the season progresses due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. Any change will be announced to your son as soon as possible and updated on the website.
The enthusiasm of our parent community, our partnership with the Positive Coaching Alliance and a push to create that “small school” feel as part of our Strategic plan, have all been driving forces to enhance the support of our UCC athletic teams. Our goal is to consolidate this support in order to align the efforts of our boys, parents and coaches to build character and success into all our athletic programs. Specifically, the parent-based Blues Booster Club, in collaboration with the school, will be seeking parent volunteers to get involved in a way that will be outlined when team selections have been completed.
Uniform
The team uniform includes:
· Team jerseys (provided by UCC)
· UCC hockey socks (provided by UCC)
· Full hockey equipment (provided by player)
· Mouth guard (provided by player)
· Water bottle (provided by player)
Students who do not wear their full uniform will be ineligible to play that day, but will be expected to travel with the team.
Sincerely,
John Hustler (ext 4008) David Girard (ext 4088)