National League Format 2014-2015 LTAD Competition Review Competition Review Working Group October 2013 Edition From Playground. To Podium The following document is based on the October 2013 editions of LTAD Competition Review and the LTAD Competition Review Implementation Plan. Outline throughout is the National League and National Championship qualification systems for the 14 and under, 18 and under and 19 and under age groups effective the 2014-2015 program year. The formats are based upon the registrations for the 2013 National Club Championships and are subject to change from year-to-year based on registration numbers as well as an assessment by the Competition Review Working Group as the leagues and championships relate to the overall goals and objectives of the Implementation Plan.
Contents 14 and under East/West National Championships... 2 Overview... 2 Provincial League Format... 2 14U Western National Championships... 3 14U Eastern National Championships... 4 Financial Considerations... 5 16 and under National League... 6 Overview... 6 Girls Regular Season... 7 Boys Regular Season... 8 Officials and Coaches... 9 Financial Considerations... 9 19 and under National League... 10 Overview... 10 Women s Regular Season... 11 Men s Regular Season... 12 Officials and Coaches... 13 Financial Considerations... 13 Conference Championships and National Championships... 14 Championship Tournament Formats... 15 1 P a g e
14 and under East/West National Championships Overview Each PSO will be responsible to organize a Provincial League in the fall. The regular season will determine the seeding for the Provincial Championships to be held in December just prior to exams and the school holiday break. The second part of the season will once again be a Provincial League organized by each PSO; however, the second Provincial League will act as a qualifier for the Eastern and Western National Club Championships. Provincial League Format The second Provincial League will consist of a minimum of 10 games for each team, preferably played over a 10-week span between the months of February and May. Each PSO will be responsible to draft their own schedule, provide their own league administrator and will be encouraged to use the same modified rules as outlined by the 14 and under National Championships Handbook. Once an athlete registers and is listed on the scoresheet for a respective team, the athlete will remain with that team until the end of the league season. Out-of-province player transfers will not be permitted and registration of athletes will need to adhere to the Water Polo Canada and respective PSOs transfer policies. 2 P a g e
14U Western National Championships The following zones are identified as part of the Western National Championships circuit with the following qualification allocation: Zones # of Teams BC Provincial League 3 Alberta Provincial League 3 Saskatchewan/Manitoba Regional League 2 Each zone must have at least three teams participating in their league in order to be eligible to qualify two teams from their zone. Qualifying teams will be responsible to travel with their own referee. The referee will need to be approved by Water Polo Canada. The Western National Championships will rotate each year by zone. Bids will be submitted annually and evaluated by the Competition Review Working Group. The host club will receive automatic entry and will occupy one of their zone s qualification spots. The Western National Championships will be played towards the end of May. The host club will work closely with the Water Polo Canada Event Manager. The host club will only be responsible for pool set-up, volunteer recruitment/training (including minor officials) and hospitality room. Zones Hosting Years BC Provincial League 2015, 2018, 2021 Alberta Provincial League 2016, 2019, 2022 Saskatchewan/Manitoba Regional League 2017, 2020, 2023 N.B. The above table is subject to change based on partnerships with municipal and provincial tourism departments. The following schedule will be used for the Western National Championships: Division A BC 1 Alberta 2 BC 3 SK/MB 1 Division B BC 2 Alberta 1 Alberta 3 SK/MB 2 Preliminary Round (round robin) played Friday through Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon semifinal: 1A vs 2B and 1B vs 2A. Placement games played Sunday morning. 3 P a g e
14U Eastern National Championships The following zones are identified as part of the Eastern National Championships circuit with the following qualification allocation: Zones # of Teams Quebec Provincial League 3 Ontario Provincial League 3 Capital Regional League 2 Each zone must have at least three teams participating in their league in order to be eligible to qualify two teams from their zone. Qualifying teams will be responsible to travel with their own referee. The referee will need to be approved by Water Polo Canada. The Eastern National Championships will rotate each year by zone. Bids will be submitted annually and evaluated by the Competition Review Working Group. The host club will receive automatic entry and will occupy one of their zone s qualification spots. The Eastern National Championships will be played towards the end of May. The host club will work closely with the Water Polo Canada Event Manager. The host club will only be responsible for pool set-up, volunteer recruitment/training (including minor officials) and hospitality room. Zones Hosting Years Quebec Provincial League 2015, 2018, 2021 Ontario Provincial League 2016, 2019, 2022 Capital Regional League 2017, 2020, 2023 N.B. The above table is subject to change based on partnerships with municipal and provincial tourism departments. The following schedule will be used for the Eastern Championship: Division A Quebec 1 Ontario 2 Quebec 3 Capital Region 1 Division B Quebec 2 Ontario 1 Ontario 3 Capital Region 2 Preliminary Round (round robin) played Friday through Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon semifinal: 1A vs 2B and 1B vs 2A. Placement games played Sunday morning. 4 P a g e
Financial Considerations Water Polo Canada will draft a budget each year based on thirty-two participating teams eight boys and girls teams in the East and eight boy s and girls teams in the West. Each PSO will be charged a registration fee based on the number of teams qualifying for the Eastern and Western National Championships. The budget will include, but will not be limited to, the following items: Event venue costs WPC staff, delegate and official accommodations, per diem and honoraria Delegate and WPC staff travel Delegate and officials uniforms Awards Communication and translation Event manager salary Referee and coach training and evaluation Overhead and administration Qualifying teams will be responsible to pay for the travel of their referee. Referees will need to be approved by Water Polo Canada. Water Polo Canada will pay for the accommodations, per diem and honoraria for all referees. 5 P a g e
National League Format 2014-2015 October 2013 16 and under National League Overview Athletes and teams in the Excellence stream will participate in the National League. Registration for the league is open to all clubs. Teams will be asked to register for the National League and provide a deposit March/April for the following season beginning in the fall. The league will be divided into a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference each containing divisions. All teams will qualify for their respective Conference Championships to be held the first weekend of May. Two teams from the Eastern Conference Championships and two teams from the Western Conference Championships will qualify for the National Championships to be held the last weekend of May. The 16U boys and 19U men s Conference Championships and the 16U girls and 19U women s Conference Championships will be held at the same venue. The 16U boys and girls and 19U men s and women s National Championships will be held at the same venue. The National League, Conference Championships and National Championships will be used to identify and select Provincial team and National team programs. Water Polo Canada will host a Provincial Team-based National Championships (i.e. Youth Cup) in early July, based on the National Team program that summer. Only one team per PSO will be permitted to register. After the Youth Cup, athletes will be selected to participate with the National Team for an international event in July or August. Further details regarding hosting, bidding, financial considerations and competition format to be determined by the Water Polo Canada High Performance Director. 6 P a g e
Girls Regular Season The following is based on the registration for the 2013 National Club Championships. Western Conference Eastern Conference BC Division AB Division Prairie Division Ontario Division Quebec Division Pacific Storm Fraser Valley Vancouver Island Calgary Renegades Edmonton Team Saskatchewan Team Manitoba Hamilton Mavericks Capital Wave Dollard CAMO St-Lambert Western Conference: Teams will play a 3-game series for a total of 18 regular season games. Each division will host a Conference Weekend where each of the teams will travel to play teams outside of their division. The host of the BC and Alberta conference weekends will be the top ranked team from the previous season. Team Saskatchewan will host the Prairie Conference Weekend in the odd years and Team Manitoba in the even years. Conference weekends will be played Thursday to Sunday. BC teams will play three divisional weekends while the Alberta and Prairie teams will play two Divisional weekends. Divisional games will be played Saturday and Sunday. The highest ranked team from the previous season within the division will host 2-out-of-3 of the divisional games. Teams will be ranked overall (1-7) with the top three seeds reserved for the Division Champions. Eastern Conference: Teams will play two home-and-away series for a total of 20 regular season games. Each team will have two travel weekends (four for the Capital Wave). Teams from Southern Ontario will travel to play the Capital Wave Thursday night and then onto the region of Montreal for games Friday through Sunday. Teams from the Quebec Division will travel Friday to the Capital Wave and then onto Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. The Capital Wave will travel to the region Montreal twice Friday through Sunday and will travel twice to Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. Divisional games will be played Saturday and Sunday. Teams will be ranked overall (1-6) with the top two seed reserved for the Division Champions. N.B. Please see Excel spreadsheet for detailed Eastern and Western Conference National League schedules 7 P a g e
Boys Regular Season The following is based on the registration for the 2013 National Club Championships. Western Conference BC Division AB Division Prairie Division Ontario Division Pacific Storm Calgary Team Hamilton Fraser Valley Renegades Saskatchewan Mavericks Saanich WP Edmonton Team Manitoba Toronto Jets School Tsunami Eastern Conference Capital Region Ottawa Titans Capital Wave Gatineau Quebec Division Dollard CAMO St-Lambert Western Conference: Teams will play a 3-game series for a total of 18 regular season games. Each division will host a Conference Weekend where each of the teams will travel to play teams outside of their division. The host of the BC and Alberta conference weekends will be the top ranked team from the previous season. Team Manitoba will host the Prairie Conference Weekend in odd years and Team Saskatchewan in even years. Conference weekends will be played Thursday to Sunday. BC teams will play three divisional weekends while the Alberta and Prairie teams will play two Divisional weekends. Divisional games will be played Saturday and Sunday. The highest ranked team from the previous season within the division will host two out of three of the divisional games. Teams will be ranked overall (1-7) with the top three seeds reserved for the Division Champions. Eastern Conference: Teams will play a home-and-away series outside of the division and a 4-game series within the division for a total of 20 regular season games. Each team will have two travel weekends. Teams from the Ontario Division will travel once to the Capital Region Friday through Sunday and once to the region of Montreal Friday through Sunday. Teams from the Quebec Division will travel once to the Capital Region Friday through Sunday and once to Southern Ontario Friday through Sunday. Teams from the Capital Region will travel once to Southern Ontario Friday through Sunday and once to the region of Montreal Friday through Sunday. There will be four divisional weekends where teams will play locally two out of three days Friday through Sunday. Teams will be ranked overall (1-9) with the top three seeds reserved for the Division Champions. N.B. Please see Excel spreadsheet for detailed Eastern and Western Conference National League schedules 8 P a g e
Officials and Coaches The Water Polo Canada Event Manager with the assistance of the representatives from each PSO will be responsible to schedule referees for all games. Local officials will be used for regular season games. Each team will be responsible for the travel of a referee to the Conference Championship. Selection of the referee will need approval by Water Polo Canada. Water Polo Canada will be responsible for the accommodations, per diem and honoraria for the Conference Championships. Water Polo Canada will be responsible to select, transport and accommodate all officials for the National Championships. This league will be used as a tool to train and evaluate coaches and officials. Provincial referee workshops will be scheduled to coincide with league games. Evaluations will occur throughout the season and there will be an evaluator scheduled for as many games as possible. The NCCP Advanced Competitive Coach training and evaluation has been developed as a full-year program based on the competition calendar for the 16 and under National League. Financial Considerations Water Polo Canada will draft a budget each year based on the number of team entries. The budget will include, but will not be limited to, the following items: Event venue costs WPC staff, delegate and official accommodations, per diem and honoraria Delegate and WPC staff travel Delegate and officials uniforms Awards Communication and translation Event manager salary Team travel subsidies Referee and coach training and evaluation Overhead and administration All regular season, Conference Championship and National Championship games will be included in the registration fees. Registration fees may vary from year to year based on number of teams as well as venue costs. Qualifying teams travelling across the country for the National Championship will receive a travel subsidy of $3,000. The non-hosting qualifying team from within the conference will receive a travel subsidy of $1,500. Alternatively, all four qualifying teams will receive hotel and meals beginning Friday evening and ending Sunday at lunch throughout the National Championship. 9 P a g e
National League Format 2014-2015 October 2013 19 and under National League Overview Athletes and teams in the Excellence stream will participate in the National League. Registration for the league is open to all clubs. Teams will be asked to register for the National League and provide a deposit March/April for the following season beginning in the fall. The league will be divided into a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference each containing divisions. All teams will qualify for their respective Conference Championships to be held the first weekend of May. Two teams from the Eastern Conference Championships and two teams from the Western Conference Championships will qualify for the National Championships to be held the last weekend of May. The 16U boys and 19U men s Conference Championships and the 16U girls and 19U women s Conference Championships will be held at the same venue. The 16U boys and girls and 19U men s and women s National Championships will be held at the same venue. The National League, Conference Championships and National Championships will be used to identify and select Provincial team and National team programs. Water Polo Canada will host a Provincial Team-based National Championships (i.e. Youth Cup) in early July, based on the National Team program that summer. Only one team per PSO will be permitted to register. After the Youth Cup, athletes will be selected to participate with the National Team for an international event in July or August. Further details regarding hosting, bidding, financial considerations and competition format to be determined by the Water Polo Canada High Performance Director. 10 P a g e
Women s Regular Season The following is based on the registration for the 2013 National Club Championships. Western Conference Pacific Storm Fraser Valley Calgary Renegades Team Saskatchewan Team Manitoba Eastern Conference Hamilton Mavericks Capital Wave Dollard CAMO Western Conference: Each team will play a 3-game series for a total of 12 regular season games. The Vancouver area teams will host one Conference Weekend, Calgary will host a second Conference Weekend and Saskatchewan/Manitoba will host a third Conference Weekend. In the odd years Fraser Valley and Team Saskatchewan will host their respective Conference Weekend while Pacific Storm and Team Manitoba will host their respective Conference Weekend in the event years. Eastern Conference: Teams will play two home-and-away series for a total of 16 regular season games. Each team will have two travel weekends (four for the Capital Wave). Teams from Southern Ontario will travel to play the Capital Wave Friday night and then onto the region of Montreal for games Friday through Sunday. Teams from the region of Montreal will travel Friday to the Capital Wave and then onto Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. The Capital Wave will travel to the region Montreal twice for games Saturday and Sunday and will travel twice to Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. There will be four local weekends where the Southern Ontario teams and the Montreal based teams will play their games (one game per weekend). N.B. Please see Excel spreadsheet for detailed Eastern and Western Conference National League schedules 11 P a g e
Men s Regular Season The following is based on the registration for the 2013 National Club Championships. Western Conference Eastern Conference BC Division Alberta Division Prairie Division Hamilton Pacific Storm Fraser Valley Calgary Renegades Edmonton Tsunami Team Saskatchewan Team Manitoba Mavericks Ottawa Titans Dollard CAMO Western Conference: Each team will play 3-game series outside of the division and two home-and-away series within the division for a total of 16 regular season games. Each division will host a Conference Weekend where each of the teams will travel to play teams outside of their division. The host of the BC and Alberta conference weekends will be the top ranked team from the previous season. Team Manitoba will host the Prairie Conference Weekend in odd years and Team Saskatchewan in even years. Conference weekends will be played Thursday to Sunday. BC teams will play three divisional weekends while the Alberta and Prairie teams will play two Divisional weekends. There will be two divisional weekends with games being played Saturday and Sunday. Teams will be ranked overall (1-6) with the top three seeds reserved for the Division Champions. Eastern Conference: Teams will play two home-and-away series for a total of 16 regular season games. Each team will have two travel weekends (four for the Ottawa Titans). Teams from Southern Ontario will travel to play the Ottawa Titans Friday night and then onto the region of Montreal for games Friday through Sunday. Teams from the region of Montreal will travel Friday to the Ottawa Titans and then onto Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. The Ottawa Titans will travel to the region Montreal twice for games Saturday and Sunday and will travel twice to Southern Ontario for games Saturday and Sunday. There will be four local weekends where the Southern Ontario teams and the Montreal based teams will play their games (one game per weekend). N.B. Please see Excel spreadsheet for detailed Eastern and Western Conference National League schedules 12 P a g e
Officials and Coaches The Water Polo Canada Event Manager with the assistance of the representatives from each PSO will be responsible to schedule referees for all games. Local officials will be used for regular season games. Each team will be responsible for the travel of a referee to the Conference Championship. Selection of the referee will need approval by Water Polo Canada. Water Polo Canada will be responsible for the accommodations, per diem and honoraria for the Conference Championships. Water Polo Canada will be responsible to select, transport and accommodate all officials for the National Championships. This league will be used as a tool to train and evaluate coaches and officials. National referee workshops will be scheduled to coincide with league games. Evaluations will occur throughout the season and there will be an evaluator scheduled for as many games as possible. The NCCP Professional Coach training and evaluation is being developed as a 2-year program based on the competition calendar for the 19 and under National League. Financial Considerations Water Polo Canada will draft a budget each year based on the number of team entries. The budget will include, but will not be limited to, the following items: Event venue costs WPC staff, delegate and official accommodations, per diem and honoraria Delegate and WPC staff travel Delegate and officials uniforms Awards Communication and translation Event manager salary Team travel subsidies Referee and coach training and evaluation Overhead and administration All regular season, Conference Championship and National Championship games will be included in the registration fees. Registration fees may vary from year to year based on number of teams as well as venue costs. Qualifying teams travelling across the country for the National Championship will receive a travel subsidy of $3,000. The non-hosting qualifying team from within the conference will receive a travel subsidy of $1,500. Alternatively, all four qualifying teams will receive hotel and meals beginning Friday evening and ending Sunday at lunch throughout the National Championship. 13 P a g e
Conference Championships and National Championships The Eastern and Western Conference Championships will be hosted the first weekend in May. The 16U boys and 19U men s Conference Championships and the 16U girls and 19U women s Conference Championships will be held at the same venue. The top two ranked teams from the respective Conference Championships will qualify for the National Championships played the last weekend in May. The 16U boys and girls and 19U men s and women s National Championships will be held at the same venue. Bids will be submitted annually and evaluated by the Competition Review Working Group. The host will receive automatic entry to the National Championships and will be allotted one of the Conference qualification entries. The host will be ranked as 1 st or 2 nd seed in the conference based on the results from the Conference Championships. The host club of the Conference Championships and National Championships will work closely with the Water Polo Canada Event Manager. The host club will only be responsible for pool set-up, volunteer recruitment/training (including minor officials) and hospitality room. Female Leagues: 16U and 19U Conference Championship National Championship Male Leagues: 16U and 19U Conference Championship BC Division 2015, 2018, 2021 BC Division 2017, 2020, 2023 AB Division 2016, 2019, 2022 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 AB Division 2015, 2018, 2021 Prairie Division 2017, 2020, 2023 Prairie Division 2016, 2019, 2022 Ontario Division 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021 2016, 2018, 2020, Capital Region Division 2016, 2019, 2022 Quebec Division 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 2022 Ontario Division 2017, 2020, 2023 Quebec Division 2015, 2018, 2021 National Championship 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 N.B. The above table is subject to change based on partnerships with municipal and provincial tourism departments. 14 P a g e
Championship Tournament Formats 4-Team National Championships 1 1st West 2nd East Day 1 2 1st East 2nd West Day 1 3 L1 L2 Day 2 Bronze 4 W1 W2 Day 2 Gold 5-Team Conference Championships 1 4th place 5th pace Friday 2 2nd place 3rd place Saturday 3 1st place W1 Saturday 4 L1 L2 Saturday 3-5 Classification 5 L2 L3 Sunday 3-5 Classification 6 L1 L3 Sunday 3-5 Classification 7 W2 W3 Sunday Gold 6-Team Conference Championships 1 3rd place 6th place Friday 2 4th place 5th place Friday 3 L1 L2 Saturday 5/6 Classification 4 1st place Lowest ranked winner Saturday 5 2nd place Highest ranked winner Saturday 6 L4 L5 Sunday Bronze 7 W4 W5 Sunday Gold 7-Team Conference Championships 1 2nd place 7th place Friday 2 3rd place 6th place Friday 3 4th place 5th place Friday 4 L1 L3 Saturday 5-7 Classification 5 Highest ranked winner 2nd highest ranked winner Saturday 6 1st place Lowest ranked winner Saturday 7 L2 L3 Saturday 5-7 Classification 8 L1 L2 Sunday 5-7 Classification 9 L5 L6 Sunday Bronze 10 W5 W6 Sunday Gold 15 P a g e
8-Team Conference Championships 1 1st place 8th place Friday 2 2nd place 7th place Friday 3 3rd place 6th place Friday 4 4th place 5th place Friday 5 L1 L4 Saturday 6 L2 L3 Saturday 7 2nd highest ranked winner 3rd highest ranked winner Saturday 8 Highest ranked winner Lowest ranked winner Saturday 9 L5 L6 Sunday 7/8 Classification 10 W5 W6 Sunday 5/6 Classification 11 L7 L8 Sunday Bronze 12 W7 W8 Sunday Gold 9-Team Conference Championships 1 8th place 9th place Thursday 2 1st place W1 Friday 3 2nd place 7th place Friday 4 3rd place 6th place Friday 5 4th place 5th place Friday 6 2nd highest ranked loser L1 Saturday 7 3rd highest ranked loser 4th highest ranked loser Saturday Winner = 5th place 8 2nd highest ranked winner 3rd highest ranked winner Saturday 9 Highest ranked winner Lowest ranked winner Saturday 10 L6 L7 Sunday 8/9 Classification 11 Highest ranked loser W6 Sunday 6/7 Classification 12 L8 L9 Sunday Bronze 13 W8 W9 Sunday Gold N.B. Please see Excel spreadsheet for detailed Conference and National Championships schedules 16 P a g e