BYSA utilizes its Age Directors to facilitate and lead the process of forming teams, subject to review and approval of the Board. At the end of each season, coaches are required to fill out detailed evaluations of each player and recommend the best placement that best matches the players skills for the upcoming season. When forming teams, the Age Directors rely heavily on these past coach evaluations. A collaborative process involving the Age Director and coaches will be used to create teams. The process may require that all coaches and the Age Director meet to discuss what is in the best interest of all the children. The decision to have a meeting or not will be at the discretion of the Age Director, taking into account the time elapsed since the last meeting, the size of the age group, the number of new vs. returning coaches and time restrictions resulting from coaches' availability and league deadlines. As a minimum, however, team and player placements will be discussed with coaches via phone or email for each season.
Player placement on teams is based primarily on coach evaluations from the most recent season with consideration to prior evaluations, additional coach input and other factors. Based on the coach evaluation process, players are selected to Division 1, 2 and 3 for the Travel Teams. Within each division, teams are equally weighted as best as possible. Since age groups span two years (i.e., 3rd and 4th graders in U10) Age Directors will attempt to create teams of similar ability regardless of school grade.
Requests for certain coaches and keeping teams together will not be honored. As a natural outcome of the player and team player placement process, however, it is likely that a core group of players will end up on the same team for several seasons because of similar skill level. It is equally as likely, however, that players may be switched up or down in divisions from season to season based on the coach evaluations and individual players development. Teams may also be re-configured fall to spring since the number of players and coaches vary from season to season.
Parental requests will be considered, but they may not be acted upon due to the team and player placement complexities and objectives.
Click HERE to learn more about NVYSL Divisions for Travel Soccer.