HMMS PREMIER AND TRAVEL PROGRAM POLICIES AND GUIDELINES:
HMMS Soccer provides a full range of soccer resources for the Cumberland Valley community, including a full service, self-contained intramural league, competitive travel team opportunities, and, if it can be supported in a given age group, premier level play through the Eagle FC program. In all respects, the competitive travel and premier programs are part of HMMS and operate consistent with the HMMS Code of Conduct, Bylaws, and Master Program Structure, Practices & Procedures. The competitive travel and premier programs will at all times strive "to maximize the opportunity for each registered player to enjoy the game of soccer, learn and display sportsmanship, and develop individual and team skills." In that regard, travel and premier team player evaluation, team selection, and coach selection are critical components of ensuring that the HMMS travel and premier programs are operated and conducted fairly and efficiently, while recognizing the values of HMMS. In furtherance of that effort, the policies and guidelines set forth below are to apply, as appropriate, to the travel and premier programs within HMMS.
Player Evaluation and Team Selection
As a general policy, it should be understood that all players will be evaluated in areas of individual soccer skill such as quality of first touch, physical speed, technical speed, tactical awareness, fitness, individual and group defending and attacking, and more; however, HMMS recognizes that player evaluations provide merely an objective guideline as to an individual player’s ability and potential and do not necessarily form the sole basis for subjective player evaluation and team selection. Past performance, commitment to team, player development, player skill sets, and other factors may be given consideration in evaluating the player and in examining both the best interest of the player and the best interest of the team. Player evaluation and team selection, therefore, will reflect consideration of all relevant factors.
Administration of Travel and Premier Program Player Tryouts
All aspects of administering tryouts, including tallying evaluation scores and establishing player rankings based on those scores, are the responsibility of the HMMS Director of Player Development ("the Director"). The Director, with the input and supervision of the HMMS Vice President of Travel ("VP of Travel") and the Eagle FC Coordinator ("FC Coordinator"), and with the assistance of Age Group Coordinators ("AGCs"), will, among other things, design the tryout format, administer the tryout, and conscript neutral and objective evaluators.
The Director will be provided annually with a budget for purposes of conducting the tryouts and conscripting evaluators, and the Director shall not exceed this budget without express approval of the Board. The budget shall be based on the assessment of tryout fees that are paid by the prospective travel and premier team players.
Parent-coaches are not permitted to be evaluators, except to the extent that they are asked by the Director to evaluate players in an age group in which the parent-coach does not have a child participating, and even in those circumstances, the use of parent-coaches is discouraged. Professional coaches and paid trainers serving HMMS may be permitted to participate as evaluators at the discretion of the Director.
The Director shall provide to the HMMS Board a general outline of the tryout format by March 1 of each year, which at the discretion of the Board may be posted on the HMMS website.
Input of Current Coaches
Prior to the conduct of annual travel and premier program player tryouts, all current travel and premier team head coaches will be provided with a standardized evaluation form to provide their input, in writing, with respect to their current players. This form will be created, and modified as deemed necessary, by the VP of Travel and the FC Coordinator, in consultation with the Director. The form shall be drafted in a manner that allows the coaches to rate their current players based on their past performance, both with respect to basic soccer skills and with respect to intangibles, including attitude and commitment.
Completed forms should be forwarded to the Director for consideration in the team selection process. The information may be used, among other things, to verify the credibility of the tryout results and to assess claimed anomalies. It may also be utilized as a basis for assessing other factors, including player commitment.
Player Absence From Tryouts
If a player misses a tryout, the player may be required to provide to the VP of Travel or the FC Coordinator, as appropriate, evidence substantiating the absence, such as physician verification of injury or illness, or other indicia to substantiate absences for other reasons, such as being out of the area at the time of the tryout. At the discretion of the Director, a make-up tryout may be scheduled for purposes of player assessment and team selection. The Director has the discretion, however, to assign the player to the player’s existing team based on other relevant factors available to the Director for consideration, including past performance, the current coach’s evaluation, and the Director’s overall assessment of the player in relation to other candidates who participated in the tryout.
Player Eligibility For Tryouts
A player generally is permitted to try-out for a travel or premier team if the player is qualified to participate at the level of play on either an age-appropriate or a grade-appropriate basis. If a player attends a tryout for a premier team and is not selected, the player is not guaranteed selection for a travel team. Accordingly, the player must attend the travel team tryout.
For U-12 players and above, players are permitted to try-out for a team that would result in the player, if selected for the team, playing up one age level from the level at which the player is otherwise entitled to play on an age- or grade-appropriate basis. For example, a player that is otherwise moving up to the U-12 level of play on an age- or grade-appropriate basis may try out for a U-13 team. The player that is trying out for a team in such circumstances will only be eligible for selection to that team if the player is ranked in the top 50% of the players selected for the team. If the player is not ranked, based on the tryout evaluation process, in the top 50%, the player must play at an age-/grade-appropriate level, and it is strongly recommended that the player attend the applicable age-/grade-appropriate team tryout to maximize the possibility for selection.
Team Selection
The Director, the AGC for the team being selected (if the AGC is new to the position or age group, then the outgoing AGC should be in attendance, as well), the anticipated coach for the team being selected, and the VP of Travel or FC Coordinator, as appropriate, will convene a "team selection meeting" to review and discuss the proposed player selections based on the tryouts and any other information the Director in his discretion determines to be relevant, which may appropriately include such things as input on past performance from coach evaluation forms, or the Director’s personal knowledge of a player that the Director has personally trained. This team selection meeting is subject to confidentiality as to the proposed selections and the relevant rankings. Subject to this confidentiality requirement, a paid trainer with knowledge of players being reviewed may participate at the discretion of the Director. The coach (and trainer, if attending) may provide input to the Director and AGC, including input regarding potential tryout anomalies (for example, a team superstar and ODP Regional player has a tryout ranking that would indicate that the player would not otherwise make the team). The Director shall make the final decisions with respect to team selection.
If, subsequent to the team selection meeting, a player declines an invitation to join a travel or premier team, the Director, in coordination with the VP of Travel and the FC Coordinator, as appropriate, and the affected travel and premier team coaches, shall identify an appropriate player to be selected for the purposes of filling the open roster position. The general protocol as set forth in Section C.4., below, shall be followed.
Immediate Notification of Results
Premier team selections will be posted on the HMMS website within two weeks of the tryout date or three days prior to the companion travel team tryouts, whichever is sooner, in order to insure that players not selected for the premier team will be aware of the need to attend the travel team tryout. Travel team selections will be posted on the HMMS website within two weeks of the tryout date. Premier and travel team selections will be posted on the HMMS website anonymously based on the player’s vest color and number assigned at the tryout. Coaches (or other appropriate representatives of HMMS) will confirm team selection and assignment via telephone calls and/or letters.
Confidentiality of Tryout Rankings/Team Selection And Parent Complaints
Coaches and trainers who are provided with access to any tryout scores or other team selection information are required as a condition of training/coaching for HMMS to maintain confidentiality of player rankings and any other relevant details.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to discuss the selection process with the Director if they have questions or concerns, but parents/guardians will not be provided with raw scores from the tryouts. The Director, at his discretion, may share individual information that he deems is appropriate to share; however, under no circumstances will the Director disclose or discuss any information regarding other players.
Travel and Premier Team Coaches and Trainers
As a general policy, HMMS Soccer recognizes that a premier level soccer program must provide a continuous regimen of professional level training and that competitive travel soccer likewise requires some level of professional training. Accordingly, it is the expectation of HMMS that each of its premier teams (in the Eagle FC program of play) will conscript a professional, paid coach to be the head coach of the team. It is likewise the expectation of HMMS that each competitive travel team (not in the Eagle FC program of play), if the team does not utilize a professional coach, will utilize a professional trainer. In the extraordinary circumstance where a parent of a player for a premier team is a former professional player or an experienced coach, that parent may be selected as a head coach; however, in that circumstance, it is the expectation of HMMS that the premier team would utilize a professional trainer. All head coaches and trainers for HMMS teams must be approved by the HMMS Board.
Coach and Trainer Recruitment and Selection
The Director (in consultation and coordination with the FC Coordinator, VP of Travel, AGCs, and/or other resources) will be responsible for identifying and selecting head coaches and trainers for each premier and travel team. Ultimately, selection of head coaches and trainers is subject to approval of the team families; as necessary, the VP of Travel, FC Coordinator, AGC, or Director shall poll and consult with team parents/guardians to insure that they understand the expectations of HMMS as it relates to paid coaches and trainers for premier and travel teams.
Approval of Coaches and Trainers
All head coaches and trainers shall be approved by the HMMS Board. The Director, therefore, will make timely recommendations to the Board regarding head coach selections prior to the travel and premier team selection process being completed. The Director will, as necessary from time to time, make recommendations to the Board regarding trainers selected for travel and premier teams.
Dismissal of Coaches and Trainers
The Board reserves the right to dismiss any coach or trainer if the Board determines that doing so is in the best interests of the affected team and/or the club. The HMMS Board expects that if the majority of parents/guardians of players on a team express dissatisfaction with a coach or trainer, then the relevant AGC, the VP of Travel, or the FC Coordinator, as appropriate (in coordination with the Director), will promptly inform the Board with a recommendation for what action should be taken by the Board, at its discretion. To be clear, however, the Board may determine that dismissal of a coach or trainer is necessary based on conduct and performance that is inconsistent with our Code of Conduct and the best interests of the club, even if families of a particular team are otherwise satisfied with the coach or trainer.
Conflict of Interest Safeguards
HMMS prohibits any referral fees or commissions to be paid to the Director or any Board member in connection with the selection of a trainer or coach.
Reasonableness of Professional Fees
The Director, in consultation with the VP of Travel and FC Coordinator, will in the course of his recruitment and selection of coaches and trainers review the rates to be charged by those professional coaches and trainers to insure that they are reasonable based on his experience and knowledge. As requested by the Board, the Director shall provide to the Board a schedule of rates or range of rates for trainers and coaches in a uniform format (e.g., monthly team rate) for review and approval by the Board. The Director shall insure that all approved coaches and trainers are operating in compliance with rates approved by the Board.
Player and Program Development
Expectations for Premier and Travel Team Players and Parents/Guardians
Competitive play requires a commitment that extends far beyond the commitment to team that a player makes at the intramural level. And, for those players interested in participating at the premier level (in the Eagle FC program of play), that commitment is even greater. In that regard, HMMS maintains an expectation regarding player commitment that includes regularly attending and participating in practices, training, all regular season games, state cup play, and tournaments, with the understanding that the commitment of the player entails the commitment of the parent/guardian for purposes of traveling, as necessary, and with respect to financial support (HMMS offers support in this latter regard for those in need). The Director, the FC Coordinator, and the VP of Travel shall convene a meeting annually, prior to tryouts, for interested parents/guardians and players for the purpose of discussing the expectations of HMMS for participation in the competitive travel and premier programs, including a discussion of anticipated financial commitments for each player; advance notice of the meeting shall be provided to all players and parents/guardians of players who have signed up for the tryouts. The expectations of HMMS for participation in the competitive travel and premier programs shall also be communicated via a handout at annual registration and on the HMMS website.
Transition from Developmental Soccer
In order to address the potential disparity in training between teams at the U-9 and U-10 competitive travel level, and in anticipation of the transition from developmental, small-sided soccer (U-10 and below) to U-11 soccer at the premier and travel level, the Director shall design a program of training for the entirety of U-9 and U-10 competitive travel players to be conducted during the fall soccer season. This training shall be supplemental to typical team training, should be designed not to conflict with team training, and should be conducted for each relevant age group (U-9 boys, U-9 girls, U-10 boys, U-10 girls) approximately twice per month in the fall. A professional trainer may be used at the discretion of the Director in formulating the program. The Director shall submit the proposed program, as designed (including any recommendation regarding training fees and other costs), to the Board for approval prior to implementation of the program.
Monitoring of Player Development, Team Development, Coaching, and Training
The Director, with the support of the VP of Travel and FC Coordinator, shall monitor individual player development, and team training and development. The Director shall likewise supervise and monitor, as time permits, all travel and premier coaches and trainers. The Director shall periodically update the Board with respect to his observations and proposals for further program development, including his assessment of specific coaches and trainers.
Mid-season Roster Changes
From time to time during the course of the season, roster openings may arise on premier and competitive travel teams. To the extent that a premier team has an opening in its roster, the FC Coordinator, with the agreement of the Director and in consultation with the VP of Travel, would be permitted to approve a premier team coach’s request to move a player up (subject to parent approval) from a competitive travel team for purposes of filling that roster opening, so long as the player move would not result in the competitive travel team’s roster being reduced to less than 14 players. First consideration will be given to players who initially tried out for the team in question but were not selected. In rare circumstances, if no player within the HMMS competitive travel program meets the premier team’s need, the addition of a player from outside the club may be permitted without the need for a special tryout. The same protocol shall apply for a higher-level travel team seeking to fill a roster opening from a lower-level travel team or from a recreational team; however, it is the expectation of HMMS that travel team roster needs will be filled from within the HMMS travel and intramural player pool. In all instances, the best interests of the player, the affected teams, and HMMS shall be assessed and balanced in making final determinations.
The 50% Play Rule & Must Play Rule
The "50% Play Rule" applies to all competitive travel team players and requires that all players on a travel team are entitled to play at least 50% of every game, including tournament games, except in limited circumstances as a result of persistent player absence, league disciplinary action, injury, and other extraordinary circumstances (extraordinary circumstances may include the exercise of coach’s discretion in the best interests of the team in tournament play; e.g., a coach may rest a star player in a blow-out tournament semi-final game or not give a player precisely 50% playing time in a hotly contested championship tournament game provided that the player otherwise will have received a minimum of 50% playing time collectively in all tournament games and plays in each game).
The "Must Play Rule" applies to all premier (Eagle FC) team players and requires that all players on a premier team who regularly attend practices, training, and games, and are otherwise eligible to play, must play a portion of every game, including tournament games, but no minimum time requirement (e.g., 50% of the game) applies.
