Handbook for Selecting Coaches for the GCRA Competitive Ringette Program - Amended by a motion of the GCRA Executive June 18, 2005





A HANDBOOK
FOR SELECTING COACHES



FOR THE GLOUCESTER-CUMBERLAND

 


COMPETITIVE RINGETTE PROGRAM











  APPROVED BY GRA: APRIL 2, 1997
  AMENDED by GRA: MAY 6, 1998
  AMENDED by GCRA: JUNE 18, 2005







INDEX

  1.0 DEFINITIONS
       
    1.1 Coach's Historical File
3
       
    1.2 Year 200X Coaching Selection File
3
       
    1.3 Applicant
3
       
    1.4 Senior AA Ringette team
4
       
  2.0 MANDATE OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE
4
       
  3.0 SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS
4
         
  4.0 THE SELECTION PROCESS
5
         
    4.1 Overview of the Process
5
         
    4.2 Factors assessed by GCRA
6
         
    4.3 Factors assessed by the Coaching Selection Committee
7
         
    4.4 Weight of Information Sources
8
         
  5.0 GENERAL GUIDELINES
8
         
         
 

This handbook was prepared with input from various sources: Gloucester-Cumberland Ringette coaches, Gloucester-Cumberland Ringette parents, coaches from other sports and Ringette coaches from another association. The Gloucester-Cumberland Ringette Association subsequently revised the handbook. The handbook should be reviewed on an annual basis to provide the best guideline possible to the Coaches Selection Committee.

         
         
1.0 DEFINITIONS  
         
  1.1 COACH'S HISTORICAL FILE  
         
  To ensure historical information is available for use by the Selection Committee and GCRA during the coaching selection process, a "COACH'S HISTORICAL FILE" is created for each competitive coach/assistant coach in Gloucester-Cumberland. This file should contain the following:
         
  Ø Prior years coach's evaluations,  
  Ø Prior years interview responses,  
  Ø Correspondence generated by or on behalf of the coach,  
  Ø Minutes of GCRA/Special meetings when issues regarding this coach were addressed,
  Ø Any other relevant data.  
       
  To ensure confidentiality and that information is made available on a need to know basis:
   
  Ø The Secretary or VP Competitive of GCRA holds responsibility for extracting and filing documentation in the Coach's Historical File.
  Ø The Selection Committee, via the VP Competitive, will receive prior years evaluations (if available) for use during the selection process.
  Ø GCRA reviews all information available to determine whether the coach meets GCRA's criteria.
         
  Once the process is complete, all information/documents are returned to the Coach's Historical File. Documentation is retained for 3 years. However, if the candidate's relationship with GCRA has previously been deemed to be unacceptable according to 4.2(a) then all information and documentation will be maintained in the Historical File until instructed otherwise by the GCRA Executive.
         
  1.2 YEAR 200X COACHING SELECTION FILE  
         
  To ensure consistency as well as a certain degree of variation (i.e. questions) from year to year, documentation generated during the selection process is filed in a file called "200X COACHING SELECTION FILE "(i.e.: 2003/04 Coaching Selection File). A new file is created yearly and it contains:
         
  Ø Questions and answers used,
  Ø Grids / Factors and their weight,
  Ø Ranking,
  Ø Individual Committee member notes.
         
  The Secretary or VP Competitive of GCRA holds responsibility for creating and extracting the yearly file. The information is confidential.
         
  1.3 APPLICANT  
         
  An applicant is an individual who wishes to assume the role of head coach, is prepared to complete his/her responsibilities in the best interest of the players, the association and the sport of ringette and submits a completed coaching application to the GCRA.
         
  1.4 SENIOR AA RINGETTE TEAM  
         
  Any team that could potentially progress to the National level (i.e. Junior AA, Belle AA, Open AA) or to the Eastern Canadian Championships (Tween AA).
         
2.0 MANDATE OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE
         
  To recommend to the GCRA Executive the selection of next season's coaches for the Gloucester-Cumberland Ringette Competitive teams as outlined in the handbook for selecting coaches by reviewing all applications received, weighting all information sources, conducting candidate interviews and conveying results to the GCRA Executive.
         
3.0 SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS
         
  The Selection Committee consists of 4 members and the current VP Competitive. The VP Competitive acts as Chairperson and votes in the event of tie situations. The Coaching Selection Committee should consist of:
         
  1. An experienced ringette head/assistant coach,
  2. A knowledgeable ringette parent,
  3. Someone from outside (another sport, another association, etc.),
  4. A 4th person not related and who is 1 or 2 or 3 above.
         
  All members selected to be a part of the Selection Committee have an equal voice in the process.
         
  The members of the Coaching Selection Committee are subject to the approval of the GCRA Executive.
         
  Members of the Coaching Selection Committee should:
         
  1. Not have a direct relationship with the applicants;
  2. Declare themselves in conflict of interest if they hold opinions or have had past experiences with the applicant that makes it impossible for them to maintain objectivity regarding that applicant, or would give the obvious appearance of bias in their consideration of that applicant.
         
  On most occasions at least some Committee members will have an acquaintance with the applicant. From time to time Committee members may be uncertain whether a previous relationship or knowledge of an applicant constitutes a conflict of interest. Members are therefore obliged to discuss such situations with their peer Committee members, the VP Competitive, or GCRA Executive when attempting to decide whether a conflict or the perception of conflict of interest exists.
         
4.0 THE SELECTION PROCESS¹  
         
  4.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PROCESS  
         
  
 TASK
Complete By
     
 1. Coach forwards his/her application to the current VP Competitive.
May 31
 2. The VP Competitive prepares a list of proposed Coaching Selection Committee members with references and submits it to the GCRA Executive for approval.
Mid May
 3. The VP Competitive prepares a list of coaching applicants and submits it to the GCRA Executive for approval.
May 31
 4. The current VP Competitive, in conjunction with the past VP Competitive (in years of transition), reviews the prior years Coaching Selection Files and develops new interview questions and answers.
May 31
 5. The current VP Competitive and the Selection Committee Members review and finalize the questions and establish the rating mechanism for each of the evaluation criteria. Refer to 4.3 and 4.4 for selection criteria, the weight assigned to each and the evaluation tool.
May 31
 6. GCRA Executive reviews the lists. Using the Coach's Historical File, applicants not meeting GCRA's mandatory criteria (see 4.2 a) or the basic screening criteria for senior AA coaches (see 4.2 b) are rejected. VP Competitive advises the coaching applicant. For those applicants meeting GCRA criteria, the coach's prior years evaluations and interview responses are provided to the VP Competitive for use during the selection process. Prior years Coaching Selection Files are also provided to the VP Competitive. Refer to 1.1 and 1.2 for details of these files.
1st Week of June
 7. The VP Competitive sets up the interviews.
1st Week of June
 8. Candidates are interviewed and scored using the rating mechanisms. For the purposes of coach accountability and in the interests of fairness in rating applicants, only one person can be considered for the position of head coach for a competitive team. Consequently, only the attributes, experience and interview responses from one person will be used in the rating. Applicants are ranked based on the results of applying the factors and weighting as established. Teams are first recommended to the coach with the highest ranking (i.e.: the top coach gets the level requested). When not getting the level requested, a coach is recommended for a team based on his/her second or third choices and other evaluation factors. Refer to 4.3 for guidelines on evaluation factors.
Early to Mid-June
 9. The VP Competitive submits the list of recommended candidates and respective levels to the GCRA Executive for approval. Once approval is received, the VP Competitive will advise the coaches.
Late June
 10. Documentation is retained by the VP Competitive pending GCRA's approval and then is filed as indicated in 1.1 and 1.2.
At end of the process

 

 

 

 

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________                         
          ¹To ensure availability of the Committee members and the coaches, it is recommended that the process take place before July 1st, when the vacation season begins.

 

 

  

  4.2   FACTORS ASSESSED BY GCRA
     
  (a) Mandatory Criteria
       
  Normally all applications are accepted by the GCRA Executive for consideration by the Selection Committee. However, there are situations when the GCRA Executive may decide to reject an application. The following are guidelines on the factors evaluated by the GCRA Executive for refusal of an applicant
       
  Ø The candidate's relationship with GCRA:
       
    1. An absence of mutual respect between the coach and GCRA,
    2. Situations where no remedial action to GCRA's recommendation is undertaken,
    3. Unresolved or continuing problem where issues remain unresolved.
       
  Ø Player and/or parent correspondence or feedback (outside of evaluations) received directly by the GCRA Executive deemed to be of a nature as to warrant refusal of an applicant.
       
  Ø Unable to meet the coaching requirements by the imposed deadline (ORA).
       
  To ensure impartiality and just cause for rejecting a coach, the following do not enter into the evaluation:
       
  1.   Personal opinions regarding a coach's coaching techniques,
  2.   Personal conflict with a coach,
  3.   Correspondence and interaction by the coach with the Executive to address legitimate requests.
       
    GCRA will communicate the rejection of an application to the coaching applicant at the time of decision.
       
  (b) Basic Screening Criteria For Senior AA Coaches
       
  The candidate must meet the following:
       
  1.   The applicant should possess two years acceptable experience on the coaching staff of a sports team, including the requirement at 2 below.
       
  2.   The applicant should possess a minimum of one year's acceptable experience as the head coach of an A or B level ringette team, or of Petite AA ringette team²
       
_________________________
  ²At the discretion of GCRA Executive an exception to this criterion may be granted if
   
  •  
    		• the non-ringette experience of a particular applicant is so extensive and compelling to warrant such an exception or
       
  •  
    		• the applicant has extensive competitive ringette playing experience combined with some experience as a bench staff member as to warrant an exception to this criterion.
           
           
    4.3 FACTORS ASSESSED BY THE COACHING SELECTION COMMITTEE
           
    Guideline on factors assessed by the Selection Committee and the weight assigned to each.
     
    FACTOR
    EVALUATED
    WEIGHT
    ASSIGNED
    TIE
    BREAKER
    INFORMATION
    SOURCES
    (SECTION OF
    THIS POLICY)
     Coaching Credentials - Ringette
    YES
    High
    4
    Parent/Player Feedback
    YES
    High
    1,2
    Communication Skills - Verbal
    YES
    High
    3
    Experience as a Competitive Ringette Player
    YES
    High
    4
     
    Number of Years at Level
    YES
    YES
    Medium
    Past Successes in Ringette
    YES
    Medium
    4
    Communications Skills - Written
    YES
    Medium
    4
    Knowledge of the Sport
    YES
    Medium
    1,2,3,4
    Age of Coach versus Age of Players
    YES
    Medium
    4
     
    Coaching Credentials - Other
    YES
    Low
    4
    Experience as a Player (Sports in General)
    YES
    Low
    1,3,4
     
    Number of Years with same Players
    YES
    High Negative
     
    Gloucester - Cumberland Resident
    NO
    N/A
    YES
    5
    Daughter on Team
    NO
    N/A
    YES
    5
    Gender
    NO
    N/A
    YES
    5

    4.4 WEIGHT OF INFORMATION SOURCES


    INFORMATION SOURCE
    Weight Range Assigned in %
     1. Historical File (Prior evaluations/interview responses)
    20 - 30
     2. Last coach's evaluation (most recent)
    30 - 35
     3. Performance during interview
    25 - 30
     4. Information on coaching application
    10 - 20

     

     

     

     

    5.0 GENERAL GUIDELINES
         
      To ensure that the selection process is fair to all parties involved, and to maintain a level of professionalism and integrity during the process, the following guidelines are recommended.
           
      1. Documentation will be retained for verification, justification and reference purposes.
           
        A) Coach's Historical File
        B) 200X/XX Coaching Selection File
           
      2. Confidentiality is maintained.
         
      3. GCRA reviews and rejects those candidates based on criteria and information available to the GCRA Executive. Notification to the applicant is at the time of decision. Refer to 4.2 for suggested GCRA evaluation criteria.
         
      4. The Selection Committee establishes the weighting to be used for each element in the process prior to the start of the selection process and based on the weighting and ranges outlined in 4.3 and 4.4
         
      5. The relative weighting of H / M / L to each factor assessed by the Committee and how it is applied, is determined by the Selection Committee (i.e.: H=5, M=3, L=1).
         
      6. Recommended answers to the interview questions are formulated prior to the interviews. This is to ensure the Committee members know what they are looking for and the mandatory elements of an answer are marked accordingly.
         
      7. Members of the Selection Committee have access to the coach's evaluations after the interview to ensure no bias in marking the candidate's responses. These are weighted as per the pre-established rating structure.
         
      8. Tie breaking factors (4.3) are taken into account when two coaches are tied after all factors have been assessed. Some tie breaking factors are discretionary and are applied on a common sense basis. The Selection Committee should consider the tiebreakers in the following priority.
           
        1) Gender: Female sport - Ontario's representatives at the Nationals in the Junior and Belle divisions, and Eastern Canada Championships in the Tween AA division must have a fully certified Level 2 female head or assistant coach on the bench.
           
        2) Daughter potentially on team - non issue based on the caliber of the daughter.
           
        3) Gloucester-Cumberland resident - promotion of our Association.
         
      9. The recommendations of the Selection Committee are based on a majority position of the members of the Committee. Every member has an equal voice
         
      10. All applications accepted by the GCRA Executive must be considered by the Selection Committee. However, the Selection Committee may not require each applicant to undergo an interview.
         
      11. All members of the Selection Committee must be in attendance for all interviews where possible. If not available, the interview is rescheduled.
         
      12. The VP Competitive will apprise candidates of the results only after the GCRA Executive approval is received.
         

    This Page Last revised on the website: 13 October, 2005