Hi U11, U13, U15 and U18 Parents,
For some of you, this email may be old news but every year we have new parents and we did have some changes this year so I thought an update may be warranted. I was a new parent once and knew NONE of this.
Tiering
What is tiering? Tiering is new to most levels this year. What it means is that we will tentatively have a Rep team (RMHA’s top competitive team) for each age group and then instead of several house teams at the same level playing each other, we will have a House B and a House C team (no House A).
This will depend on the numbers of players and the talent level of those players. For Example, lets say U13 has 28 total kids. We would probably make a 14 player Rep team and a 14 player House B team. If we had 42 kids we may make 3 teams (1 Rep, 1 House B and 1 House C). The team sizes MAY not be consistently sized but we will make that decision based on the evaluations, total number of kids etc… Clear? Kinda?
Evaluations
Next week we start evaluations. The objective of this process is to assess what tier every player should be placed in.
I have gotten volunteers for each age group that have no kids in that age group. All evaluators have either played hockey, been on a team benches for multiple years and/or refereed. I have made sure there are no conflicts of interest. That said, everyone in Renfrew knows each other BUT knowing someone does not make them biased.
The evaluators will score each player during evaluations and at the end of every session they hand me back the form. They will not know names and only player jersey colours and numbers.
I will tabulate the scores and total them up once evaluations are completed. The ONLY people that see the final scores are myself and the convenor of that age group.
ALL players must attend evaluations…. Period. Even if you are only trying out for rep or only House League the players must attend.
Rep Tryouts and Selections
After evaluations are completed, the players who want to try out for Rep attend Rep tryouts.
Once the tryouts are completed the Rep coach then brings me his list of players he wants. At that point, the coach, convenor and VP (me) discuss the selections to make sure the best possible players are selected.
The convenor and I will be able to see the evaluations and make sure the selections are not far off the actual selected team. If there is a player selected that is a bit lower on the evaluation score, the Rep coach must justify the selection.
If the Convenor and I (VP) cannot agree on the team selection it may go to an RMHA Executive vote, but I have full confidence in our Rep coaches to make a great team.
House League (The Backbone of RMHA)
Once the Rep team is selected, then House league will have to get sorted. Some age groups may have 4 house teams and some only 1 depending on the number of players in that age group.
The house teams will be divided into House B and House C teams that will play other House B and C teams respectively in the district. (Renfrew House B will play Pembroke House B and Renfrew House C will play only the House C team from Pembroke)
These teams will overwhelmingly be selected based on the evaluations. The Convenor and I have to agree to the final numbers and players on each team to make sure everything is fair and transparent. If we disagree, it can go to the RMHA Executive for a final decision.
Conclusion
Wow… I do a lot of talking.... Anyway, this is somewhat of a change from the way things have been done before in RMHA and the intention is to have as fair of a system as possible. Won’t be perfect, but we really are trying to get better. Here is the official team selection policy if you want to read it over
RMHA_Team_Selection_-_Updated_August_2025.pdf
I am not putting up with any shenanigans and I am focused on putting kids in the best situation for them. Let’s have a good season, have a hoot at the rink and develop our kids to be the best they can be.
If you have any questions, you can reach me by emailing me at
[email protected] or feel free to ask me any questions when you see me at the rink.
Patrick Leclerc
Vice President, RMHA
613-898-1044