Coach Selection Policy (Cambridge Minor Baseball)

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COACH SELECTION POLICY- Revised June 2025


COACH SELECTION POLICY STATEMENT


The Coach Selection Policy aims to provide fair, transparent, and consistent selection of coaches from a pool of candidates to identify those who best exemplify the association's goals.


The CMBA coach selection process evaluates coach candidates against established qualification criteria based on training, knowledge, and experience. Coaches are scored according to standardized metrics, and the candidate with the highest score relative to the criteria is selected for the coaching position, considering the needs of the specific tier and division.


The CMBA Coach Selection Committee will begin conducting interviews in June with interviews and selection process taking place in July.


If CMBA does not find any suitable applicants for a coaching position, it is not required to appoint a coach. The position will remain vacant until a qualified candidate is identified.

COACH SELECTION COMMITTEE


The Coach Selection Committee is responsible for making all final coach selections. This is done in conjunction with the appropriate board members who participate as part of the Coach Selection Committee.

COMMITTEE COMPOSITION


The CMBA Coach Selection Committee is composed of members from the current CMBA board of directors. At least 4 board members, two of which will be executive members (Vice President of Travel and one other executive) are required to interview each coaching candidate. Wherever possible, at least one member of the coach selection committee will have NCCP qualifications equal or greater to the requirements of the division being interviewed. Committee members must always behave professionally and respectfully. The same set of committee members must interview all candidates in any given age group. Where possible, the President should not be on the Coach Selection Committee so they are able to resolve any complaints. 

If a conflict of interest arises, the conflicted committee member will recuse themselves and be replaced by another unconflicted board member, as determined by the committee. A conflict of interest will be declared when a selection committee member has applied to be the head coach of a team, will likely be on a team staff, or has a dependent that plays in that age division. 


COACH SELECTION QUALIFICATIONS


Coaches are chosen based on the selection criteria outlined below. Certain qualifications are mandatory, minimum requirements for a coach at a given level and division. Other criteria simply factor into each candidate's overall rating.


SELECTION CRITERIA


Coach Selection shall be based on the following criteria:


Training

All prospective head coaches in the CMBA program must have the minimum NCCP designation required by the Ontario Baseball Association or commit to obtaining it before April 1st of the baseball season.

Coach candidates may provide registration details for the appropriate training session instead of the designation. Minimum qualification requirements for each division and level are detailed in the Minimum Qualification Requirements section.

Any coach selected without the minimum qualifications must commit to completing the necessary training before the season starts or by any applicable deadlines from ICBA, OBA, or CMBA. If they do not meet the minimum requirements by the deadline provided, the coach may be removed or replaced at the discretion of the CMBA board. 

Preference will be given to coach candidates with higher levels of NCCP training. Applicants who do not meet the minimum training requirements may still be selected over candidates who do meet them. 

Experience

Experience qualification is based on:

  • years as head coach
  • years as assistant coach
  • the Division and level of the teams coached
  • the association or organization of the teams coached

Consideration will be given to coaching experience outside of baseball. 

Preference will be given to coach candidates that have demonstrated positive coaching experience and abilities for the CMBA teams they have coached.


Background

Background qualification is based on:

  • playing baseball experience
  • the division and level of the teams played on
  • the association or organization of the teams played on


Preference in this category will be given to coach candidates that can demonstrate playing at a higher division and level and more years of playing.


Evaluations

Evaluation qualification is based on the results of the yearly CMBA Coach Evaluation Program. A coaches prior parental and performance reviews and such other additional evaluation related material provided to the association shall be reviewed and considered.


Preference in this category will be given to coach candidates that have positive CMBA coaching history and evaluations. This criterion will form a substantial portion of the coach selection criteria.

Feedback

Parent feedback will be solicited in conjunction with the coach application process.

Feedback forms will be distributed to current parents and collected by the secretary. Anonymous feedback will not be accepted and will be removed from consideration.

Preference in this category will be given to coaching candidates who have overall positive feedback.

References

Coach candidates that do not have CMBA evaluations must provide references that can verify their background and experience. References should include:


  • coaching philosophy and style
  • adherence to fair play
  • conduct with officials
  • character evaluation


Interviews

Prior to the scheduling of interviews, the board will be provided a list of applicants to identify any potential conflict of interest and allow for the opportunity for any objective information from the season to be identified, if necessary.

The Coach Selection Committee may choose to conduct interviews with candidate coaches to establish a better sense of candidate qualifications and suitability in the following areas:


  • coaching philosophy and style
  • adherence to fair play
  • conduct with officials
  • character evaluation


Interview questions will be drawn from a pool of predetermined questions. Questions will remain the same across the entire pool of candidates from any given division.

Following the initial set of questions, the Coach Selection Committee will be permitted to ask additional questions in follow-up to the preliminary question responses, the coach's season, and any parent feedback received.

The need for an interview with the Coach Selection Committee typically will take place from July 1 to July 15 of the current season.  Dates may vary dependent on the committee schedule.  


Other Commitments

Preference will be given to coach candidates that are relatively free of other commitments (for example, coaching another team, extensive job-related travel or volunteer time in non-hockey organizations).


The Coach Selection Committee will evaluate the level of other commitments and MAY include that as a factor in the selection process.


COACH SELECTION PROCESS


The coach selection process is outlined in the below four distinct steps:


1.      Identifying Coach Candidates


Every coaching volunteer must submit a completed CMBA Volunteer Application Form indicating the volunteer position they wish to hold and/or a Coaching Resume. This should clearly identify the position and division the coach is applying to.


Coach applications will be advertised on our social media channels and communicated to our current season’s email database.


2.      Review of Application & Interview Process


As outlined above, each coach’s application will be reviewed based on the above selection criteria. 

The necessity of an interview process will be determined by the Coach Selection Committee based on the following circumstances: 

  • Multiple coach candidates have applied for the same team and the qualifications are too closely matched to make a straightforward decision
  • A coaching candidate at a particular division is new to CMBA, in which case, all prospective candidates of that particular division will be provided an opportunity to interview
  • There have been concerns raised in relation to a coach candidate within the Association warranting an interview

3.      Security and Reference Checks

Criminal record and reference checks are mandatory and shall be performed as follows:

  • New Coach: the Coach Selection Committee, by appropriate representative, shall ensure that all references are checked for applicants who have not coached for CMBA before. All information supplied by references shall be recorded on the back of the CMBA Volunteer Application Form.


  • Coach candidates must complete their criminal records check in accordance with CMBA policies.


Failure to pass the security or reference check will automatically result in disqualification of the coach candidate.


4.      Selection from the Candidate Pool

Coaches are selected from the available volunteer pool and assigned to a team before player evaluation and tiering has completed.  If the current team has made the OBA finals, results will be held until the end of the tournament.  The selection process is:


  • Assign coach candidates to each team based on their child’s placement. In the case where they do not have a child in the division they wish to coach, then the Coach Selection Committee will assign to a team for which they are qualified to coach.
  • Determine which teams have no coach candidates assigned to them and recruit coach candidates to fill the position.
  • Select the most qualified coach for the division and level requiring a coach from the set of candidates assigned to each team as head coach. Qualification is based on the criteria defined in the Coach Selection Qualification
  • CMBA reserves the right to select a coach in subsequent seasons based on their review of the Coach's application and other criteria as outlined above.

SELECTION OF ASSISTANT COACHES

Typically head coaches will select their coaching staff. However, the Coach Selection Committee reserves the right to recommend and/or refuse an individual’s inclusion on team sheets based on previous coaching, evaluations, or transgressions related to fair play or behavior issues.


APPEALS

There shall be no appeals of the selections of the coach selection committee.


EBLO

EBLO coach selection will take place in late June/early July.

Coaches will be named no later than July 15th to align with the opening of singing for OBA (July 1st annually).