TEAM SELECTION POLICY
Objectives and Responsibilities
- To ensure the enjoyment of all players within the club – through equal participation.
- To place players in teams appropriate to their current or future skill level and development.
- To develop all players to the maximum of their ability.
- To field competitive teams in all grades in each age group.
Guiding Principles
- To play children of the same age group together. Where possible, teams will be made up of players of the same birth year.
- The club will only allocate players to teams above their correct age group in exceptional circumstances, and only upon application to the Age Group Coordinator and review and subsequent approval of the club committee.
- Friendship groups are important (particularly in the youngest age group where they are maintained whenever possible) but these must be a secondary consideration – particularly when players move up an age group.
- Once a team is selected, the club attempts to maintain continuity of the core of the group.
- If players are required to be moved between teams, where possible they are moved with an existing friend or teammate.
- Players that play both summer and winter seasons are always given preference in team assignments.
- The club will only field two teams in the same age group grade if both teams will be competitive and/or if no other grade is available. In such situations, the team makeup may be selected and/or changed to ensure team balance.
Selection Process
The Lakers basketball club appoints Age Group Coordinators for both boys and girls competitions across several age groups (details on each Age Group Coordinator are available on the ‘Contact Us’ section of the website). Each of the Coordinators are volunteers and have a range of duties they perform. Included in their duties is the responsibility for forming the team lists for each season.
The allocation of teams each season is a complex and time consuming process and every new season brings many factors that must be taken into account:
- New players coming to the club
- Player assessment evaluations performed at the player tryout sessions
- Players returning from previous seasons
- Players moving up an age group and/or changing grading
- Player evaluations at the end of the season from every team coach
- Feedback from past season coaches, senior club coaches, and selection committee members
- Requests received indicating a preference for previous and/or newly formed friendships.
Additionally, the Coordinator is often also forced to adjust teams as players leave teams for various reasons outside the club’s control – friends move and/or change schools, players take a season off to play football/cricket etc. or teammates simply stop playing basketball.
The primary focus on team allocation, however, is on the individual player. The club, whilst considering all factors including previous or newly formed friendship groups, will attempt to place each player in the most appropriate team for the ongoing development of their fundamental skills and team play.
Finally, the club is directed by the MBA to field competitive teams in all grades. This responsibility includes not only ensuring that domestic teams are graded accordingly, it also means ensuring that (a) if two teams from the club are playing in the same grade, that they are not unbalanced (e.g. one of the teams is full of rep players and the other has none); and (b) each player in every team is playing in their most appropriate grade (e.g. that a player of obvious skill is not playing in a lower grade).
Requests
Please note that, where a parent, player or coach makes a request regarding team allocations to an age-group coordinator, that request must be in writing and must be submitted prior to the end of the current season.
Summary
The team selection process is a challenging one and is often one of trying to find a balance between placing children in the best team for their ongoing basketball development and other considerations.
Given that some Age Group Coordinators are responsible for more than 100 children, requests and preferences are noted and taken into account where circumstances allow. Whilst the club attempts to satisfy all such requests, it may not always be able to do so. Particularly, requests relating to friendship groups are considered, however they are considered secondary to issues of player development, skill, team composition and full participation for all players. As a result, whilst the club makes every attempt to do so, there is no guarantee that all requests can be met.
The Age Group Coordinators, and the members of the Selection Committee have all been very involved with the club and the sport, and most will have been through team selections and changes in previous season as a parent, coach or team manager. As a result, they understand the many situations that can arise at the change of each season, and most times, the Coordinators will work with parents so that their requirements can be accommodated. If not, there will be a legitimate reason for not be able to do so.
Finally, whilst recognising that friendships are important, the central focus of the club must be on promoting equal player participation and basketball development. In fact, the Bentleigh Lakers believe that friendships and associations naturally develop through sport, and that many new friendships will be formed amongst both players and parents through playing in new teams.
The club asks all parents that they be understanding and respectful when the club makes a decision for change relating to issues of basketball development and full participation for all players.
TEAM AND PLAYER GRADING SELECTION PRINCIPLES
(for selecting players for each MBA Junior Competition Grade)
Div1
- Better older age group players.
- Rep players & talented individuals (not playing rep ball) targeted for development.
- Exceptional younger age group player that will more than hold their own.
Div2
The club aims to field at least 2 x Div2 teams:
(1) A younger age group “development squad”.
The better of our younger age players are identified and groomed to become the Div1 side the following year.
(The club would consider playing the “development squad” as a Div1 team – but only if they would be competitive in all games and not get easily beaten every week (i.e. may lose most games, but not by 20+ points…)
(2) Second tier of older age players.
The assumption is that the relative size of the older players will create a reasonably even competition against the skill of the younger players.
Potentially there may be mixed age group teams at this level, although it is not ideal & should be avoided to ensure continuity through age groups.
All rep players not in Div1 grade must play in one of the Div2 teams as per MBA rep team placement requirements.
Div3 and below
All other players.
Where there are grades below a division (e.g. Div3 and there is a Div4 grade) then the Div2 principles should apply to that grade.
The club aims to maintain age group differentiation, and would expect that the lowest grade (e.g. Div5) is primarily lower age group players, or a team of all new players would be introduced at this grade to ensure a satisfactory and enjoyable introduction to the game.
