Rockets Basketball Assessments Process Overview
At Rockets Basketball, from U10 through U18, athletes participate in a structured assessment process designed to place them on teams that match their skill level and experience — giving them the best chance for a successful season.
Each player will take part in 3-5 sessions over 2-3 weeks, depending on registration numbers in their age group.
After each week, groups are reshuffled so that athletes of similar skill levels are assessed together.
This ensures every player gets a fair opportunity to be placed on a team where they can thrive.
Once registration closes, players are assigned to initial groups.
Returning players are placed based on last season’s division to ensure balanced starting groups and meaningful drills.
This approach prevents brand-new players from being overwhelmed and supports assessors in tailoring sessions from day one.
Important: Past division placement is only used for initial grouping — not for player evaluations or final placements. Also there is still a chance an athlete can be in a group with peers at a different level of expereince and skill, typically they will be identified quickly and moved to a new group for the next session.
Players wear a numbered pinnie throughout all sessions to help assessors track progress.
If they have a reversible numbered jersey from spring/summer basketball, they are encouraged to wear it.
Sessions are typically 1-1.5 hours, combining skill drills (dribbling, passing, shooting) and scrimmages.
Assessors also evaluate attitude, effort, and teamwork.
We aim to have a consistent assessment team for each age group so every assessor is familiar with all players.
After each week, assessors review notes, regroup players, and post schedules for the following week.
Once assessments are complete, assessors meet to finalize team placements based on performance.
In some cases, a pool of 20-30 players may be balanced across multiple teams to ensure Rockets teams are competitive within the Metro Basketball Association.
Each team is assigned a head coach and ideally two assistant coaches to support practices and games.
Coaches have access to practice plans, drills, and mentoring resources, with additional support provided for new coaches.
With over 700 athletes in our program, we are unable to accommodate most placement requests.
Critical accommodation requests must be submitted by the end of the first week of assessments.
We will attempt to meet these requests where they do not interfere with the goal of grouping players by skill level.
? For a detailed look at our balancing process: www.rocketsbasketball.ca/content/Detailed-Balancing-Placement-Process