Texas Affiliate Camp (TAC) 2006  

Sunday, March 5, 2006     TAC Info & Schedules Released...

The Texas Affiliate Camp (TAC) will be hosted this year by TAHA and will be held at the Dr Pepper StarCenter-Farmers Branch in Dallas, Texas, on March 17 - 19, 2006.  Any questions pertaining to the goals and objectives (i.e., nominations, evaluations, etc.) of the Texas Affiliate Camp should be directed to T.C. Lewis at tlewis@aerodromes.com.  Questions regarding TAC logistics/planning (e.g. registration, schedule, hotels, etc.) should be sent to Ted Skinner, Coordinator at tskinner@junioraeros.com.

For more information, or information about TAC for Girls, click HERE...

TAC Objectives

The objective of TAC is to evaluate those players who, in the judgment of their coaches, are the best players at their respective position and age group (Boys: 1989, 1990, 1991 or 1992).

Based upon each player’s performance in a series of structured drills and scrimmages, TAC evaluators will select a limited number of players at each age group and position to represent TAHA at the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) Player Development Camp, which is scheduled for May 3-7 at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Similar to last year, this year’s TAC evaluators will be experienced hockey coaches from outside the state of Texas and Oklahoma.  Our goal is to improve the integrity and consistency of the player evaluation process by eliminating the natural biases that can occur when coaches are evaluating groups of players that include those from their own team and/or association.

The high number of Texas and Oklahoma players who were selected for the Festival teams and camps last year validated our approach of using out-of-state evaluators.

Player Nominations

As has been the case in the past, any player may be cut as early as 15 minutes into the evaluations.  Each nominating coach and association should set the expectations with their players of the extremely competitive nature of TAC.  The best players from Texas and Oklahoma will be competing for relatively few spots at the RMD camp in Salt Lake City.

In addition, because of the number of overall participants at the RMD Camp in Salt Lake City this year, players selected at TAC to move on to the RMD Camp will be very limited.  Therefore, each respective association is encouraged to make absolutely certain that each nominated player belongs at TAC and is committed and available to participate, both at TAC as well as the RMD Camp in Salt Lake City on May 3-7.

Since the competition is always extremely intense, each coach must adhere to the following ground rules when considering which of their players to nominate for TAC: 

• TAHA wants to send “the best of the best” to Salt Lake City.  As such, coaches should nominate their most highly skilled players at each position (i.e. first-line forwards, defensemen, and starting  goaltender), and should take time to set each nominated player’s expectations as to the extremely competitive nature of TAC.

• Players nominated to attend TAC must be members in good financial standing of their respective association and with USA Hockey.

• Players must be citizens of the United States. NO EXCEPTIONS!

• Nominations can only come from a player’s coach or association – not from parents.

• Evaluators will be given the discretion to make “cuts” as early as 15 minutes into the first session. Coaches are therefore asked to keep this in mind prior to nominating a player for TAC, so as to prevent the inevitable disappointment and embarrassment that a player experiences when asked to make an early exit from any tryout or evaluation of this type.

• TAHA reserves the right to limit the size of the camp to approximately 200 players by utilizing the association player rankings by age and position as a screening tool. TAHA would like to avoid rejecting player nominees, so all coaches and associations are strongly encouraged to be objective in their assessments.

Schedule

A detailed schedule is shown below, but please keep in mind that schedule modifications may be necessary.  If needed, these schedule changes will be published by March 10.   It is the responsibility of each association to communicate any schedule changes to all nominated players.

Evaluations of all players will start on Friday, March 17 with session(s) devoted to each birth year.  Upon arriving at the Dr Pepper StarCenter-Farmers Branch, players are to check in at the TAC registration desk.

All players must provide definitive proof of U.S. citizenship (passport or birth certificate) at this time.  Pre-numbered jerseys will be issued to each player, and locker room assignments will be posted.

A goalie-only session will be held Saturday morning to enhance the evaluation process.  When each session is concluded, a list will be posted of players who are invited to attend the next session.  The final cut for each age group will be made after each evaluation session on Sunday.

Rocky Mountain District Camp

At the conclusion of each age group session on Sunday, a list of those players who have been selected to advance to the Rocky Mountain District Camp will be posted.

Each player selected must complete a registration form and pay the $225.00 RMD Camp fee prior to leaving the Dr Pepper StarCenter, or their spot will be awarded to another player.  NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE WILL BE ALLOWED.

The Rocky Mountain District Camp will be held May 3-7 at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah.

*Note: The sessions noted above in bold font and with an asterisk for Friday night and Saturday morning have been modified due to the number of pre-registered 1989 and 1991 players.  Players with last name starting with “A-L” will be in the first 1991 session, whereas 1991 players with last name starting with “M-Z” will be in the second session.

The schedule for the 1989 age division has also been altered to add a session on Friday night (last name starting with A-Mc in first 1989 session, while last names Mi-Z will be in second session).  No changes were made to any other age division schedules or the schedules for later Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

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