Guelph Minor Hockey Association
Player Evaluation Policy 2025-26
Eligibility
There shall be an evaluation fee set annually by the Board of Directors. The mandatory evaluation fee is to be paid in full to the Guelph Minor Hockey Association prior to the beginning of the first evaluation. Each player must pay an evaluation fee for each level of hockey they are trying out for. Purchasing a AAA evaluation pass does not permit you to be evaluated at another level. Separate evaluation passes need to be purchased for each level.
No refunds for evaluation passes will be issued.
There will be a single evaluation pass for the A level and BB level as those evaluations are run together.
Evaluations are open to all registered Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF) players.
Player residency and eligibility rules will apply as set forth by the OHF guidelines, policies, and rules.
All players whose Home Centre is not the GMHA will require a release from their Home Centre prior to registering and participating in evaluations.
ADP Evaluations, Advanced League (AL), Select and Rep evaluation Process
For the 2025-2026 season, Guelph Minor Hockey Association (GMHA) Team evaluations are split between Spring and Fall as follows:
REP EVALUATIONS:
U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U18 AAA - April/May 2025
U8 & U9 ADP EVALUATIONS:
April 2025
U18 AA, A, & BB EVALUATIONS:
September 2025
U7 ADP EVALUATIONS:
September 2025
AL / SELECT EVALUATIONS:
AL / Select U10 through U16 - September 2025
The evaluation schedule will be posted to the GMHA website prior to the beginning of evaluations. Players are required to register for evaluations through the GMHA website. For the evaluations to run successfully it is highly recommended that all players are registered one week prior to the start of AAA evaluations.
All evaluations will be held sequentially over a three week period, beginning with AAA for the first week, AA during the second week, and finishing with A and any other lower divisions for the last week (as applicable). On or before the last date of each level of evaluation, the players selected will be offered a letter of commitment.
All AAA-BB/MD teams in the age groups of U10 – U16 will only be given 7 days to complete their evaluations and make Offers of Commitment to their players.
The U7, U8 and U9 age groups (ADP Programs) follow a separate player evaluation and placement process in keeping with the Hockey Canada U9 Player Pathway. The U7/U8/U9/U10/U11 age groups also participate in pre-evaluation "preparation skates" in alignment with Hockey Canada's U9 and U11 Player Pathways.
Player Evaluation and Selection
GMHA shall provide evaluations to allow Head Coaches to evaluate and select players. All players wishing to participate in the Rep Hockey program must register and be evaluated.
Objectives of Player Evaluation
· To provide a fair and impartial assessment of a player’s total hockey skills.
· To ensure that players have a reasonable opportunity of being selected to a team appropriate to their skill level as determined during the on-ice evaluations of the current year.
· To provide coaches with the opportunity and flexibility to build a team based in part on their coaching philosophy and knowledge of player skills and attitude.
· To provide uniformity and consistency in the evaluation process such that player and parent expectations are consistent from year to year as players move through the various levels of the association’s program.
· To form teams to maintain balanced and competitive play where the athletes can develop and participate equitably and have fun playing hockey during the season.
· To provide feedback in support of player development.
Declarations
All registered players are able to start the evaluation process at any level (AAA-BB/MD) they choose.
Communication
Communication with parents and players is a priority throughout the evaluation process, and should include:
Initial GMHA Contact – An introductory email sent to all registered players in an age group that confirms their registrations, outlines the general evaluation process, and describes what families should expect.
Initial Coach Contact – An email from the Head Coach in advance of their team’s evaluations getting underway. This will include the evaluation schedule and structure, the coach’s expectations, and how the coach will communicate throughout the process.
Player releases - Coaches will post information regarding player releases on to the GMHA website.
Inability to be Evaluated
Players unable to be evaluated must present to the Head Coach and Director of Rep Hockey a doctor’s note specifying that the player is physically unable to participate during evaluations. Under these conditions, the player may be evaluated for selection to a team without attending evaluations based on what may already be known about the players’ abilities.
Trying Out for Older Age Groups
The age groups of U9 and below are developmental and use a player evaluation process to organize groups and select teams. Players in these age groups may be placed on a team at an older age group (e.g., U8 playing at U9) in situations where it is deemed that staying at their proper age would be detrimental to their development, or to the development of other players.
In the large majority of cases, players in developmental programs should be participating within their own age group. Players in the age groups of U9 and below are subject to the OHF’s “Playing Up for Players 8 and Under” policy. Specifically, any request for a player or players who are 8 years or under (U9 and below) to register for programming for players 9 years of age (U10) must be submitted by GMHA to the OMHA for approval. Submissions will be reviewed by the OMHA based on a number of criteria and will only be approved in the most exceptional cases.
Beginning with the 2025-2026 season, players in the age groups of U9 and below are not eligible to try out for U10 rep hockey.
Starting with players in the U10 age group, any player wishing to try out for a team in an age group older than his/her own age group is eligible to try out only for the highest-level team in that older age group. If he/she fails to make that team, he/she must return to his/her proper age group. Where a player is seeking to play in a division above his/her age group, the player must
be evaluated by independent evaluators and the Director of Rep Hockey (AAA) to be in the top three (3) players for the older team, based on skill and ability (not on player game statistics).
Conflict of Interest
Efforts should be made to ensure that players are evaluated and selected in a fair and objective manner. This includes but is not limited to:
· Ensuring that players are not organized based on levels or teams from previous years.
· Ensuring that there are no Conflicts of Interest on the part of those who are involved in player evaluation and selection.
· Ensuring that no parents from within the age group are participating in the evaluation process.
· Working to avoid the perception of Conflict of Interest on the part of anyone involved in player evaluation and selection. This includes sign-in staff, on-ice staff, evaluators, etc.
Independent Evaluators
The Head Coach is required to provide at least one (1) impartial evaluator. That evaluator must attest to having no conflict of interest in the age group of players at which they are evaluating, must be presented to the Director of Hockey Operations in advance of evaluations, and must be approved by the Director of Hockey Operations as an evaluator.
Additional evaluators, to be presented and approved in the same manner, may be provided by the Head Coach and/or GMHA to support the player selection process.
A GMHA Skills Coach or alternative coach will be assigned to each age group to offer additional input, and to support coaches in their player evaluations.
Non-parent Assistant Coaches who do not have a conflict of interest with any player in the evaluation process can work in conjunction with the Head Coach during the evaluation process.
All of these impartial evaluators will work to support the Head Coach in the selection of players who will be offered positions on the team.
NOTE – An impartial evaluator is defined as an individual (non-parent and not related to a player in the evaluation process) who has adequate hockey knowledge, experience, and expertise.
Offers of Positions
Players will be offered positions on the team via an OMHA Offer of Commitment through the Hockey Canada Registration system.
A GMHA player that is offered a position on a GMHA Representative Team is required to sign an OMHA Offer of Commitment to accept the offer. If the Offer of Commitment is not signed after 48 hours of it being offered, the Head Coach, at his/her discretion, may rescind the Offer of Commitment and offer it to another player.
Releases
In this context, the term "release" refers to the process of players not being offered a roster spot on a particular team. All player releases are to be handled via the team page on the GMHA website. Families will receive a login password as well as instructions on how to access the evaluation list after each evaluation session.
Head Coaches should make themselves available to players after evaluations for anyone to discuss areas of opportunities and any other information on why they were not selected. The 24-hour rule applies. If a meeting between the Head Coach and players/parents is in person, there must always be two (2) Team Officials in the room.
NOTE – Head Coaches should not recruit players from other associations to play in Guelph where rules prevent them from doing so. If you are contacted by a player or parent about trying out for your team, please refer them to their own association so that they can determine eligibility.
Selection of Bench Staff
The Head Coach shall select his/her bench staff (assistant coaches, trainer, and manager) only after the final roster has been determined.
Code of Conduct
During the evaluation process, all players, parents, and Head Coaches are expected to adhere to the OMHA and GMHA Codes of Conduct, as well as the City of Guelph R-Zone Policy.
Any behaviour contrary to the codes could result in immediate expulsion from the evaluation process.
GMHA Process for Selection of Non-Guelph Zone Players
It is the intent of the Guelph Minor Hockey Association to have the majority of its representative players be from the Guelph area. As a result, the following roster restrictions for non Guelph players will be applied for the 2025-26 season.
AAA - Each Head Coach is permitted to roster up to ten (10) non-Guelph Zone players at the AAA level.
AA- Each Head Coach is permitted to roster up to six (6) non-Guelph Home Centre players at the AA level.
A - Each Head Coach is permitted to roster up to three (3) non-Guelph Home Centre players at the A level.
These restrictions allow for the majority of the representative players to reside within Guelph and the Guelph zone. There will be no requests to increase the number of roster spots for non-Guelph zone / Home Centre by any Head Coach.
1. Coaches will be provided with clear expectations as to how any additional non-Guelph Zone / resident players are to be used. The following criteria is provided for all non-Guelph Zone players:
· Non-Guelph Zone players must make a demonstrable improvement to the roster compared to the Guelph Zone players available.
· In the case of players with similar skill sets, GMHA's priority is to promote Guelph Zone / resident players over non-Guelph Zone/resident players.
2. GMHA has communicated that prioritizing developing players from the Guelph Zone in the selection process is paramount when the ability level of our players is at the appropriate level. However, GMHA will not encourage or promote the promotion of players who are not at the developmental ability suitable to play at a higher level solely because they are from the Guelph zone. The priority is for players to participate at the level where they will continue to develop at the appropriate rate, and push for spots when the player is ready, not solely because there are spots available.
Offers of Commitment, and releases are based solely on the merit of the players ability and determined by the Head Coach in conjunction with independent evaluators, and with the support of the GMHA Development team.
It is the expectation of GMHA that our Representative Coaches select the most competitive team amongst the players available to them at evaluations.