Canadian Policies & Procedures

Polices and Procedures for Recruiting Canadian Players & Coaches

 

A) Choosing Coaches for the Friendship Hockey Exchange:

  • Every coach of the Friendship Exchange needs to be a coach with KMHA in good standing and have been approved by KMHA.  All coaches are governed by the rules and regulations of the KMHA.  The Committee’s mandate is to have 50% new coaches participate every year. The committee consists of the entire coaching staff as representatives.
  • All disciplinary actions will be taken with the assistance of the KMHA board of Directors and their representatives.

 

Deciding on the coach is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to the Friendship Hockey Exchange.  It is important that the coach shares the same believes and attitudes when it comes to the development of youth in our program and the importance of Fun, Friendship and Teamwork. The coach will be responsible for the execution of the program to the players and parents.  This makes his involvement and commitment very important.  The work that goes into being a member of the Committee is large and all candidates should consider the “extra’ that goes into accepting a position with the Friendship Committee.

Once the Friendship Committee establishes that a position is open within the teams/Committee they are to follow these steps;

  1. Approach the Director in charge of that division/age group.  The committee will then supply the Director with all the necessary paperwork to recruit a coach for the age group. 
  2. The Director will address his group and let them know that there is an opening on the committee of the friendship exchange. He/She will give the coaches and conveners the information needed to make an informed decision.  If the Director feels that there is a good candidate for the role he/she can recommend them to the committee.
  3. If there is more than one coach interested the committee will conduct an interview with the interested parties to determine the perfect fit for the position.  Three members of the committee will perform these interviews.
  4. Once a candidate has been asked to join the committee the committee will inform the Director of the division it effects.

 

Any coach that approaches the committee and expresses interest in the Exchange will be instructed to contact the director /convener of their division so they can be considered.  If no one else is interested and this candidate fits the criteria they will be added to the committee.

On average a coach will stay on the committee for two years.  This allows the coach to develop a good understanding of the program and assist the new coaches coming on board in any particular season.

B) Choosing the Players for the Friendship Exchange:

The players are the most important part of our program.  They are the program.  Every Year we have many players that are interested in going and only a few spots to fill.  We have tried to work with the fairest system to allow as many new players participate.  The mandate of the committee is to always have 75% new players form the teams.  In the younger age levels 100% is not uncommon.  In Midget the percentage is more of a challenge but achievable.

A tryout system cannot be used with this exchange because level of play is not a factor in participating.  The problem lies in what we would grade the player on if not performance, this would be hard.  So the following policy will be put into place.

Once the coach has been approved the following steps will be taken to secure these players;

  1.  Any player/parents interested in particpating in the exchange should contact their divison convenor and express their interest.  These players will be put on a waiting list and will be called once their is space for them.  This information should be passed on to the coach to be used to fill the team if needed.
  2. The players drafted to the team of the participating coach will be presented with the right to participate in the Exchange first.  If there are players not interested in participating he/she will be replaced with a player on another team willing to go from the established waiting list if there is one.  If there is not a list the coach with the assistance of the convenor will approach other teams and coaches form the same divison or older/younger division.  For example if a Peewee team needs players they can approach teams in the Peewee division or the Minor Peewee Division.
  3. The two weekends that Friendship Exchange occurs (February/March)will be deemed Friendship weekends and no games will be scheduled.  Exhibition games, practices and other events will be scheduled for this time.  The players that decide they are not interested will be placed on other teams for those two weekends so they do not loose out on ice time or the other things going on those weekends.

Any questions or concerns regarding this process should be directed to the chairman of the Canadian Committee.