Travel Division Team Formation Thoughts

This page is a supplement/addendum to the policy expressed in Travel Division section of the FYSA rules.

All travel team formation meetings are expected to follow the same process for creating teams. The purpose is to drive consistency across all groups. This process is defined below and simplified by the use of this spreadsheet.

Travel Team Formation Spreadsheet

Basic Guidelines

  • When an age group has enough players to support more than one team, teams will be ranked.
  • Siblings are placed on teams independently based on the results of skill sessions and coach evaluations. The Travel Division Director (or AGF) should reach out to parents of siblings to determine if they are ok with siblings being on different teams. If they want siblings kept together, the higher rated sibling will move down. If siblings are placed on non-adjacent ranked teams (i.e., A vs C), then a sibling accommodation cannot be made.
  • Players willing to play goalkeeper should not be given special consideration except at the 7th/8th grade level. At the 7th/8th grade level it is important to make sure all teams have at least one goalkeeper.

Travel team formation is driven by the previous season's coach evaluations, and supplemented by the most recent skill session data available. This process requires a few steps:

  • Coach evaluations must be normalized across the age/gender group. This process aligns the top players of a team with the player third from the bottom of the team above their team in ranking order (i.e., the top player of the B team will have their coach evaluation score matched to the player that is third from the bottom on the A team. The multiplier that is needed to make those numbers equal will then be applied to the rest of the players on the B team). This process is to be completed for all teams below the A team, resulting in a normalized set of coach evaluations across the age/gender group. This team formation spreadsheet will provide a means of simplifying this process for Age Group Facilitators, removing the complexity.
    • Players that are missing coach evaluations - The AGF should work with coaches to determine where in the list the player without an evaluation belongs by figuring out which players most similarly align. We can then assign a value to said player. If Joey is comparable to Bobby, then we can assign Bobby’s value to Joey. For players that have no soccer background with Franklin coaches we will have to rely on Skill Session data.
  • All players will be scored with a weighted average between coach evaluations and Skill Session data, with an emphasis on coach evaluations. Default weighted balances are as follows:
    • 4th grade: 60% coach evals, 40% Skill Sessions
    • 5th/6th grade: 80% coach evals, 20% Skill Sessions
    • 7th/8th grade: 60% coach evals, 40% Skill Sessions
  • For players that do not attend Skill Sessions:
    • A player that does not show up to any session cannot be considered for a top team for the following season in which they participate. Exceptions may be granted by the Travel Division Director for new residents and/or injury related concerns.
    • The player’s weighted average score will be 100% coach evaluation.
  • For players that have no soccer background with Franklin coaches the player's weighted average score will be 100% Skill Session data.
  • Initial teams are based on the results of the weighted scores. Players are placed into teams in the order in which they appear in this list of weighted scores. These initial team lists are what is expected to be used as the starting point for discussions in the team formation meeting.
    • The initial team lists will include players that are obvious choices to be on the team and others that warrant discussion. The purpose of the team formation meeting is to determine placement for the players whose placements fall between two teams. This spreadsheet will provide a "Team Formation" tab which will provide these lists, highlighting the players to be discussed.
    • At the start of the meeting, AGFs and coaches are encouraged to identify any players that seem misplaced as a result of the aforementioned process. This process should be completed in the team formation meeting to ensure maximum input/participation.
      • If a player is identified as misplaced, the first step would be to review the player's coach evaluation and Skill Session data for any discrepancies.
      • If the group agrees, players that are misplaced should be moved to a more appropriate spot in the list.
    • Once players have been appropriately aligned, the discussion of the A/B bubble players should occur. Once the A team roster has been filled, the remaining players in the discussion that did not make the cut will be placed at the top of the B team. This process is then repeated for all remaining teams.
    • In the case where the AGF and coaches feel that balanced teams make the most sense for the development of a given age/gender group, the teams should still be created as ranked. Once that is completed the teams which are to be balanced can be merged by snaking through a list of the two teams from top to bottom (i.e., the first player in the list goes on the first team, the next two on the second team, the next two on the first team, and so on).
  • 7th/8th Grade Differences
    • 7th and 8th grade groups will have separate normalized coach evaluation scores.
    • For Skill Session data:
      • On the first night of Skill Sessions the grades are separated. The purpose of this night is to identify the top and bottom halves of each group so that all players can be appropriately placed on the second night when the grades are combined.
      • The second night of the Skill Session data is what should be used in the weighted average with the coach evaluations. If a player attends only the first night of skill sessions, coach evaluations will be used.
    • The rest of the process is the same as the younger age groups.
  • Spring Guidelines
    • Spring-only players are expected to attend Skill Sessions and should be placed on the team where they would have been rostered had they played in the Fall.
    • Players can be moved between teams in the Spring season.
    • New players cannot be placed on the "A" team in the spring unless an exception is granted by the Travel Division Director.