GSWP Trails policy

GSWP TRAILS POLICY

A) PREAMBLE

1) Please note that the "trial" is not the date on which the practice squad is selected but rather a decision made by his provincial coaches over a period of 8 - 12 practices with the players who have been collectively identified as showing potential at the trial date.

2) Players may be added to the practice group at any time with the proviso that their entry into the provincial practice group is justified by the provincial coach to the vice chair person. This is normally due to players that are away on school tour, attended a family funeral, sick, injured or doing another provincial sport on the day of practice squad selection. Family social functions are not considered a valid excuse. (Players who were at the trial and not included in the practice squad may also gain reentry into the provincial trial by special written request from their schools water polo MIC to the provincial vice-chairperson)

3) Players may be added to the team at any time should it meet a specific need of the team such as quota requirements, due to injury of specialist players or non commitment of selected players.

4) Obviously coaches should ideally try to avoid including new players, who have not gone through the full process, into the provincial squad once the final squad has been selected and such inclusion must be sanctioned and approved by the chairperson beforehand.

5) Coaches may freely move players between the two selected teams but should try to avoid such movement within two months of the start of the tournament.

6) Staff will, as of 2009, not be appointed from the same school to one particular age group.


B) PRE-TRAIL ACTIVITIES:

1) The vice chairpersons do the collection of early entry forms and posts the names on the internet for confirmation.

2) The pool in which the trail is held should be covered to minimize the effect of inclement weather.

3) The provincial coaching staff for the age group act as referees and the manager pre organises each team before they play in terms of caps.

4) Total time in the pool for each age group is allocated according to the amount of entries received and divided into two 10 minute periods for each player ( in other words each player will be observed and rated for two matches lasting 10 minutes each)

5) The coaches and managers have to hold a pre-selection meeting 30 minutes before their trial to standardize what they would like selectors to look for.

C) TRAIL FEES:

1) Trial entry for players is by early entry and bank deposit of the trial fee of R50

2) Players may enter on the day of the trial but will pay R150 to enter (R50 entry and R100 penalty) and a receipt must be issued by the bookkeeper, who will be at the pool and check to see that the penalty fee has been paid in addition. The receipt from the bookkeeper must be stapled to the application form.

3) ALL PAYMENTS ON THE DAY OF TRIAL MAY ONLY BE RECEIVED BY THE OFFICIAL BOOKKEEPER.

4)The trial date is set in stone and may not be moved by the coaches or managers.

5) The appointed Age groups provincial coaches and manager sets up and runs the actual matches on the day of the trial.

6) The Vice- Chairperson provide balls & neutral caps, selection lists (as required by the chairperson) and pre-drawn up team lists.

D) SELECTORS:

1) They select with other co-selectors, normally the teachers and part time coaches of players taking part in the trial.

2) Any reasonably knowledgeable person (including a parent) may be a selector and does not need to be invited to select.

3) Normally only one selector per school is allowed and the vice chair will ask the least experienced selector of the two persons in question to recuse themself from the selection panel.

E) THE TRAIL (TO SELECT THE PROVINCIAL PRACTICE GROUP):

1) All players in the trial are subjected to an elementary a) swim and b) treading test and all players have to have a letter from their MIC that they are able to do the pre-trial criteria as determined by the elected panel.

2) Players then play in teams that are put together before the selection date in either their first or second choice position.

3) The players are only known by their trial number which is written in triathlon style on their upper arm and back.

4) Players play in neutral caps and swimwear and may not wear caps or swimwear that link them to a particular school.

5) All players MUST be observed by the selectors and play a minimum of 20 minutes of active game time in the water.

6) Each player is rated twice by every selector.

F) THE SELECTION PROCESS:

1) The selectors are provided with a list and has to indicate a players rating from
1 – unacceptable, 2 – acceptable, 3 – good.

2) Selectors do not try to rate every player but only the weak (1) and good ones (3), the rest get a (2).

3) After every match the scores from each selector is recorded by the manager on a master list.

4) Only the top scoring boys may be discussed for the practice squad.

5) The selectors choose a practice squad of players who will then practice with the provincial coaches for between 6 - 10 practices who will select a final squad.

6) The A team coach has to explain to the co-selectors what he is looking for before the trial starts.

7) The B-side or Colts side must attempt to select a minimum of 9 players who will be one year younger than the required age group.

8) The vice chairperson hands in the selection lists to the chairperson which will be kept by the secretary in the case of disputes.

9) The manager receives photocopies of the players trial forms from the secretary and keeps them for his own administration purposes.

10) The manager also checks to see that the selected squad is of the correct age, quota, area, not post matric and SSA registered.)

11) When the final squad is selected after a number of practices the players must pay a deposit of R2000 into the Provincial account.

12) 2 Non traveling reserves are announced per team which continue practicing with the final team.

13) The A and The B team coach then select the final teams from the final squad.

14) There may be player movement between the A and B team depending on the players form or the teams needs and/or the players commitment and form.

15) It is important to note that the coach carries the responsibility of making his team perform and that his choice should reflect the type of water polo he prefers to coach.

16) A built in safeguard is that after selection the squad is examined by a select panel which includes at least 1 person that are knowledgeable about the age group, the team's coach and the chairperson.

17) Here is specifically looked at players that have been overlooked at selection. Another factor that is looked at is the percentage of players from a specific school vs the results of that schools age group against tier 1 water polo schools in general.

18) The rule of thumb is that the majority of the players should come from the top 6 tier one water polo schools.

19) All coaches are required to run one 2 hour water polo clinic at a development school.

G) PROMOTION / RELEGATION

1) As of 2009 player may move up or down within squads and teams through the promotion/relegation process.

2) The entire squad is rated in terms of; 1st 7 (A team starting 7), 2nd 7 (A team second seven), 3rd 7 (Colts/B side starting 7) , 4th 7 (Colts/B side second 7) , 5th 7 (Players from whom the non traveling reserves will be drawn), 6th 7, 7th 7 (etc.)

3) The provincial practice squad is handed to the coach in sets of rated groups of 7.

4) A large part of the provincial practice (at least 40%) will be in the form of mini promotion relegation matches where the lowest rated 7 will play the next 7 above them for the chance to be positionally moved if the lower side beats the side above them.

5) The idea is for each and every player to almost be able to predict where he/she is rated in the provincial sides before the final teams are announced.

6) Any new players that are introduced to the provincial side must play themselves up through the lowest ranked 7.

Yours in polo
Marius Buys
Chairperson