by Nate Leslie, Leslie Global Sports - www.lgsports.ca

Hockey Tryouts can be a challenging time for young players, parents, coaches, and the associations. So I've compiled a quick, basic, and to the point process to help evaluators new in their challenging role. Quite frankly it's the toughest time of the year for everyone involved. Minor Hockey Associations enlist the help of a wide range of people to act as independent evaluators. Many of us enjoy this experience until we have to cut a player who is a great kid, hard worker, and his their dreams set on making the team!

Quick Tips for Hockey Tryout Evaluators:
How many teams? How many to shuffle?
Identify Top, Bottom, and Bubble Players
Short written note to identify a player
Make quick assessments early (Lump & Rank A,B,C)
Reassess priorities now that you have 3 groups.
Focus on B
How many can make A?
Does that shuffle any C out of 2nd team?
Rank and justify with anecdotes