March 23rd, 2004
This document is an attempt to explain the process used to build the schedule. With ice at five different Town rinks plus Ice Sports, and with contracts that start and end on different weekends at Town rinks and Ice Sports, turning the raw hours into workable schedules for all teams is an extremely difficult job. We do not have the number of hours we would like, and the hours that we do have are not, for the most part, at the times we would like to have them.
The fantasy is to design an ideal schedule, and then have that ice available for purchase. The reality is that we have to take what we can get, and then beat it into 50+ schedules for 50+ teams that everybody can live with. Here is a list of things that are considered when putting the schedule together, and a couple of things that aren’t.
Considered
- Are players on the ice at age-appropriate hours? Novice girls (seven and eight year olds) clearly cannot play at 9 and 10 p.m., for example. Pee-Wee girls have had to, in a pinch. The Midget and Intermediate aged girls are therefore pushed to the late hours (Conversely, they are rarely asked to roll out of bed for a 6, 7, or 7:30 a.m. slot, which is only fair).
- Are ‘non-preferred’ hours shared equitably and proportionally? We are desperate for ice, and therefore forced to take ice we’d love to refuse. Few parents or coaches like 5 p.m. and fewer still want the 6 a.m ice. Are those hours shared somehow fairly?
- Are we providing ice to our rep teams that is useful for the purpose of scheduling league games? Rep teams go to scheduling meetings with their hours, and have to be able to accommodate teams coming from out of town, some from as far away as Peterborough.
- Are we building a reasonable degree of consistency into the schedule? Do players and parents know, with some certainty, that for the most part games will be on this night at this rink, and practices on this night at that one? This also promotes an easier (and therefore more reliable) schedule for timekeepers and referees, and everybody is happier when those people show up.
- Are we taking advantage of the natural “chunks” that are embedded in our contracted ice (e.g. – 4 hours Saturday evening at River Oaks versus 5 hours on Monday somewhere else)? It makes sense to use a three hour slot for a six team division, for example. Using chunks effectively also helps keep referee scheduling easier, and referee costs down, as one-off games come at a premium.
Not Considered
- Are teams playing on Town ice or private ice? Building a schedule where teams get a proportional amount of Town ice and private ice would be impossible, and even if it were possible, moving teams around to achieve this goal would defeat a couple of the goals above.
- Are big girls on big ice and small girls on small ice? A sensible idea, and sometimes possible, but too difficult to achieve consistently, and at the end of the day considered less important than the points that are considered above.
Our veteran scheduler has an unbelievably difficult task. Inevitably, he makes very few people really happy, but he works magic considering the materials he has to work with. He’d like to spin straw into gold, but only manages to spin it into silver. I say with 100% sincerity, no sarcasm intended, that anyone who thinks they can do better is welcome to try, but the result has to be better for all and harmful to none – you can’t just build a better schedule for your daughter’s team, and leave the rest to fall where it may.
Best Regards,
Bob Hepburn
Past President, Oakville Hornets
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