More on Tier III A

A reliable source just placed this in my inbox: July 16, 2007 To: Junior Council From: Daniel Esdale Re: T-III A Certification application summary The following USAH T-III B Leagues have submitted documentations of the required organizational and operational requirements of T-III A as required during the junior council session of June 2007. T-III A status is herby granted with a two (2) year probationary period to Central States Hockey League (CSHL), Minnesota Junior Hockey League (MNJHL), Northern Pacific Junior Hockey League (NORPAC), and the Western States League (WSHL) with the following provisions; a. Following the probationary period the leagues must meet the forthcoming performance criteria. b. Leagues are not permitted expansion at any time in any form during the probationary period. c. Re certification process will occur for each season. It does not mention the EJHL and AJHL, but before anyone reads too much into this, remember that they were already on probationary T3A status. My guess is they aren't listed because they are on their own status/timeline and have their own notification coming soon. So let's examine the above provisions in the most optimistic fashion possible: "Following the probationary period the leagues must meet the forthcoming performance criteria." Could it be that some form of performance measurement metrics are on the horizon? Be still my beating heart! I started talking about performance metrics over a year ago, and proposed the Junior Council re-think their certification standards some 18 months before that. "Leagues are not permitted expansion at any time in any form during the probationary period." Given Part a, this seems reasonable, as an expansion team could have a detrimental impact to some measurements. This also forces leagues to do something seemingly foreign to them - plan. The thought process can no longer be "how do we get new teams into our league?", but instead "What are we going to do to 1) insure quality programs are brought into our league and 2) ensure their success relative to our performance measures?" "Re certification process will occur for each season." Seems reasonable enough, considering this is already standard fare for all leagues/levels, be it a rubber stamp or something more robust. However, I'm not sure teams can be fairly evaluated on any metrics this coming season unless those metrics are set very soon. Expectations must be communicated and understood at the beginning. It's like setting/changing the playoff format *coughWcoughScoughHcoughLcough* in the middle of the season. Anyway, I'm optimistic. The Council still has some work to do to salvage the public perception of their T3A decision... but the forest they tread through may not be as dense and dark as it appears.