It is vital to understand how registration and evaluation impact team balance within a league. At some point, a parent may use the phrase “stacked teams” while sharing feedback about their league experience. As League Directors, we all know that our intent isn’t stacked teams where one team dominates the entire league. Let’s look at how the registration and the evaluation process impact the balance of teams so that a league director can make the best choices for their sports ministry.

To better understand how registration and evaluation impact a league, a league director must first outline the desired league experience. For most league directors, the goals for a league include building as equal of teams as possible.

If that is the case, it may mean being more firm with parents by not allowing carpool links or practice night exclusions. We all understand, of course, there are always very rare exceptions, but don’t feel as though every request must be accommodated.

Or on the other hand, if the goals include a league that is more flexible for a parent, you will need to sacrifice a little bit on balancing teams. The thought may have even crossed your mind that the league will allow players or even full teams to stay together year after year. None of these options are wrong and what is right, is setting up your league to provide the best sports ministry that fits your community and your goals.

Evaluating Registration, Evaluations & Team Balance

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Balanced Teams based on skill level

Play with friends

A recent Upward survey of current Upward parents asked which is more important when placing players on teams: Playing with friends or Balancing teams based upon skill level.

85.5%Balanced Teams

based on skill level

14.5%Playing with

Friends

OVER 2,800 COACHES SAID:

OVER 10,000 PARENTS SAID:

Market Research

If both parents and coaches favor balanced teams, what is the best way to achieve a satisfying outcome for both of those constituencies? Especially remembering that parents like to make additional requests for carpooling and practice night exclusions? These requests work against balancing teams. Let’s also consider the information gathered during registration and evaluations and its importance in building teams.

Outside of allowing coach links to keep parents and their player together, allowing any of the other options will risk having teams that are not as balanced as you might like.

It is essential to be consistent in evaluating skills at evaluations.

» If operating multiple versions of the same station, make sure stations are all set up the same way. Mark the shooting distances on the floor with painters tape. Put tape under the cones so that if a cone gets knocked over, it is easy to put the cone back into an accurate location.

» Let volunteers know that accuracy helps coaches to teach and improve players.

» Spend some time days before your evaluations training the gym coordinator to oversee the evaluation area and direct parents and participants to stations and serve those who are volunteering at the stations.

A league director once shared that a volunteer for a station noticed that line was long for their dribbling station. The station volunteer quickly came up with a solution. Rather than using the outlined 30 seconds for each player, they used 10 seconds for each player. The reasoning was that by only using 10 seconds, each player was able to get through their line faster than other similar dribbling stations. While that statement is true and players would make it through THEIR line faster, one-third of the players who went through the evaluation that night had information that was not consistent with the other two similar stations. CONSISTENCY IS KEY.

Even if your league modifies the evaluation stations to what works best for you, make sure that specific evaluation station is the same for everyone. Be sure to let us know when you invent something new, as it might improve the evaluation process for everyone.

If the ideal league for your community is to have as close as possible teams that are balanced, use the accurate information collected from the skills stations at evaluations, put it through the draft algorithm and include Coach Links. Once other factors are allowed to enter the equation, they erode the idea of balanced teams.

Categories that impact team building and balancing process. These adjustments to the draft happen automatically within the system once you allow them to take place.

» Allow Coach Links? Coach links allow you to link up to two players with one coach for a team. Ideally, this is only used to link a player to their parent who is coaching.

» Allow Carpool Links? Carpool links allow you to link requests made by parents to link with another participant of the same age, grade, and gender. Remember, however; this will begin to override the balance of teams in your league. For carpool links to work, players are traded with the next closest possible skilled player between teams who don’t have a request of their own, within the draft system.

» Allow practice night exclusions for participants? Practice night exclusions for participants allow you to let parents pick a night that their participant can not practice. Parents may select this if you check to enable it during league setup in MyUpward. You may decide not to allow these.

» What days will your league practice – This is an interesting question that needs further consideration before checking the boxes for the nights you will practice. You may have more flexibility here by allowing any night to be selected by parents as a night they can not practice. For example, if Friday is left as an available practice night within league setup, even though there are no Friday practices, you may have parents select Friday night as a night in which they can not practice. This selection is a night you didn’t intend to have for practice during the week anyway, and now you have more flexibility in placing players.