Bears Athletics Information

Tryouts

All of our bears athletics teams, except for x-country, have tryouts as we can only select a certain number of players. Selection on a team the previous year does not guarantee a position on a team for future years. There is usually no sign-up process, you just show up for the tryout scheduled on the calendar. If the first tryout has many students present, sometimes, the coaches will ask for selected students to return for another tryout. If a reduced selection is going to be made, it would be explained to the players before the tryout is over and a selection list posted the following day at school. We run a minimum of two tryouts so that someone can make one or both dates. If you miss the first tryout, you are welcome to come to the second tryout even if there is a selection list.

Athletics is an enrichment opportunity for the students and we try to benefit as many students as we can. We do face the physical challenges of space, time, and coaches availability when creating the number of teams for each activity. Many factors go into selection, such as:

Attitude/Representation: Being a student first and positive example to others is the most important. The school, coaches and teammates need to trust that you will be a good example to others when at our school and visiting other schools for the different sports offered.

Commitment: Next, if you are involved with other events, you should speak to the coach about conflicting times and dates to determine if this school team makes sense with whatever else you are involved with. If you know you will miss most of the timeslots it is important to inform the coach so that they can select players who will usually be present and know the plays/strategies/tactics created for the team.

Athletic ability: Finally, students ability to perform the skills required within that sport, potentially at specific positions based on team dynamics. During tryouts, students would be put through a number of activities to assess current ability.

Students are to be mindful of everyone’s emotions as some will be upset that they did not make the team. The selected team will be posted at school the day after the last tryout.

If you do not make one of our bears teams:

Try to potentially continue with the activity in different ways. We cover all the athletic events in PE class at some point. We also have our lunch options with multi-sport choices. There are usually organizations in the community as well that run events at different price points and levels of competition.

YMCA POWER UP program (free): https://fredericton.ymca.ca/global-community/power-up-youth-program/

Different Levels of Teams

Our school has many students looking for an enrichment opportunity and we try to structure the athletics program to meet the needs of as many students as possible. District office offers different levels of play depending on the activity, such as grade level and gendered teams or multi-grade teams like Varsity (Gr. 7-8), JV (Gr. 6-7), and Tier 2 (Gr. 6-8 for rural schools or Gr. 7-8 for larger schools). At GSMS, we are finding we can usually make a team with each grade and gender only, for example, we would likely put a Gr. 8 only team into a Varsity division and a Gr. 7 only team into a JV division. Teams by grade level make it simple to know which team a student has a choice for making and can help with securing volunteers to coach.

If we do multi-grade teams, the Varsity (Gr. 7-8) teams are selected first. Once we know which Gr. 7’s have made Varsity (Gr. 7-8) we would then have JV (Gr. 6-7) team tryouts. Once we know which Gr. 6’s have made the JV (Gr. 6-7) team, we would move onto Gr. 6 only teams. Schools with smaller student populations usually make Tier 2 (Gr. 6-8) teams, where students across all three grades are needed to create a full team, compared to separate Varsity (Gr. 7-8) and JV (Gr. 6-7) or grade level teams. Sometimes we will make a Tier 2 team, based on the number of Gr. 7-8’s who tried out and did not make Varsity (Gr. 7-8) or JV (Gr. 6-7).

Playing Time

ASD-W follows fair play guidelines for most activities, which means everyone should receive approximately the same amount of playing time no matter the positions played.

Playing time could be adjusted/suspended though due to unexcused absences, extended missed time, injury, and poor behaviour or attitude. Everyone is expected to agree on a convenient time to discuss any questions/concerns that may arise throughout the season.

If a player is absent from school (ex. they were sick) then they are not to practice or play that evening. Players absent for medical appointments (ex. dental appointment) can still attend.

Behaviour Expectations and Transportation

NBIAA Code of Conduct to be followed by everyone: https://www.nbiaa-asinb.org/en/publications/fair-play-code  

If waiting to participate ensure you are not interrupting other groups playing. For example, in the GSMS balcony students should be sitting quietly and not interrupting the practice/game on the gym floor. At GSMS, an alarm will go off and the security company alerted if students go outside of the gym area where the doors are marked.

Students need to remember that they are representing the school and to be respectful of their noise, language used, and space around others, such as when passing others on the sidewalk/trail. Keep any area you use clean. Either inside or outside, pick up wrappers, bottles, etc. from your area. Please ensure any gum chewed is placed in the garbage when finished. No one should have outdoor shoes on the gym floor. Spectators should be using the balcony door by the gym entrance.

We need to trust our students to not be going into our or other school equipment rooms and taking something without permission, which would be treated as theft. Please do not go into rooms which are not the gym or spectators section without the coach giving you a set of instructions, otherwise it would treated as trespassing. For example, students should not be just going into a schools change room, as another teams belongings could be present. Always wait for the coach to give the instructions first. Overall, please only go to the location required for your event and correctly use the equipment provided by your coach in the space provided for your team. For example, students should not being trying to play a game of volleyball, badminton or basketball in the gym lobby without permission and/or with equipment taken without permission.

If anyone does not agree with how the other team or referee are conducting themselves, we still need to encourage sportsmanship when faced with adversity. Coaches can bring out the guidelines for that activity if the other team or referee are not following or confused by the expectations. At the end of the event, our team should still be handshaking/fist pumping the other team. Overall, we can control our actions and not allows the actions of others. Any issues can be reported to Athletics Director, Mark Graham (mark.graham@nbed.nb.ca).

All transportation to and from any event location is a family’s responsibility.​ The coaches will meet students at the event location and unless told otherwise, pick-up would also be at that location. If getting a drive is difficult, we suggest you speak with other family members of that team and arrange car-pooling, etc. We encourage students to travel with a buddy or as a small group when leaving the school without a family member, but this is not required and not organized by the school or coaches.

When it is not an event at our school, the event in the calendar will have the location map in the calendar (click on the event for those details). https://georgest.nbed.ca/i/athletics-calendar/

The coaches will give instructions on the time they would like you to arrive to an event, which could change from one event to the next. Please do not arrive earlier or be trying to get into the school without the coach present. Every school is different on facility procedures, at our school the gym doors will always be locked. Families, please arrive before the time slot has ended, as usually games such as basketball, will not take the full 1.5hr time slot. Please respect the time of our volunteer coaches.

Schedules, Cancellations and Social Media (pictures/names)

Athletics calendar on the school website is the most up to date schedule. Weekly schedule usually consists of 1 – 3 practices and/or games. You can click on a calendar event to potentially see additional information (ex. map of the location, parking and entrance instructions, warm-up and game start times, etc). Most events are around Fredericton, but some teams can travel to rural areas or away for weekend tournaments (ex. volleyball tournament in Moncton). 

Practice times listed on the calendar are for when you have access to the playing space. An adult will be present at the start of the time slot to let you into the school as the exterior doors always remain locked. Times are not consistent as we work around other schools for scheduling and coaches availability.

We play within a ASD-W league, usually with schools within Fredericton and surrounding rural areas. Usually we include the local francophone schools (ELE and ESA) and the private northside school (FCA).

We usually run between 1hr to 1.5hr (90min) time slots. In the GSMS gym, based on the school day having a 9:20am start and end time of 3:35pm: 7:30-9am (practice), 3:50-5:20pm (practice), 5:30-7pm (practice or game), 7-8:30pm (practice or game). Our outside door remains locked and not to be propped open. Coaches will have someone monitor the door for the first few minutes (ex. parent, assistant coach, etc.). It is a safety concern to have the door open and no one present to monitor. We have had vandalism and theft within the building so doors remain locked and closed. Spectators arriving later with no door monitor present can contact a member of their group to let them in. If you see the door propped open, please remove the item and close the door.

Balcony door is labelled and directly beside the gym entrance door. Players can either remove outdoor gear and leave in 1st row of the balcony or use the changing rooms located under the stage.  Outdoor footwear to be removed by those going on the gym floor. Public washrooms are available by the balcony entrance.   

Game times at other schools vary. Usually, would not start before 4:30pm or go later than 9:00pm. Outdoor practice and game times vary based on the location for soccer, rugby, track and field and softball. For game times at our GSMS gym, time on the schedule is when GSMS gym exterior door would be monitored by someone from our team to let everyone in, game start time would be 15min from the time listed on the schedule. Some schools the time on the schedule is when they want to start the game, which creates inconsistencies from one school to the next for when to arrive and expect to play, hence it is important to click on an event for further details and follow the coaches direction.

If school is cancelled, so are all after school events, even if the weather clears-up later in the evening. 

If there is a concern about road conditions a decision would be made before school dismissal to cancel afterschool activities. It is always a families choice to determine whether they are comfortable travelling to and from an event. Inform the coaches when you will be absent so that they can adjust their plans for that event. Coaches will inform families of how they can be reached.

If lightening and thunder occurs, there is a 30min wait till where you cannot hear or see thunder or lightening. The game would be rescheduled unless the game is 2/3 finished where than the score at the end would stand as the final score. For example, if we play 60 minute games in soccer it would be 40 minutes played for the score to stand.

We also have GSMS Bears PE & Athletics social media (Facebook, X, Instagram).

Pictures will be taken throughout the season. Coaches have been asked to get a team photo with uniforms on for the yearbook. Families, if you have any media permission concerns speak to the coaches and ensure your child knows to remove themselves before an organized photo is taken.

Uniforms/Jerseys and Sports Gear

Please ensure any uniforms provided are taken care. Please follow any cleaning and drying instructions on the tags. At the end of season, have them returned to Mr. Graham in a bag labelled with the players name and team. Please do not leave them unattended in the gym expecting Mr. Graham to see it, make sure a physical hand off to Mr. Graham takes place. Participation in another activity will be withheld until the uniform is returned. If the uniform is lost, a $100 fee will be applied to the family.

Personal styles/trends change overtime and overall, we want our students showing up at events setting a good image for GSMS. Ex. clothing is not to show inappropriate images or words and underwear is not visible.

Coaches will have sport specific equipment to use. Please ensure what is used is returned. For example, if the coach takes 6 volleyballs to a game, the players are to ensure that the 6 GSMS/BEARS labelled balls make it back in the bag. Overall, the coach is providing the gear to use, but it is the players who need to be responsible to return the gear to the proper spot after using.

Player Fees

A different fee is needed for each sport based on costs to cover items such as scorekeepers, referees, tournament registration, and purchasing team equipment and shared uniforms.

Any transportation costs and accommodations would be at the families expense. For example, driving outside of town and attending a multiday tournament, it would be a family choice to stay in a hotel at their own expense.

If you have any questions about paying a fee please speak with Athletics Director, Mark Graham (mark.graham@nbed.nb.ca). Once a team has been created a new School Cash Online (SCO) event will be made for online payment. You can also use cash or cheque written out to GSMS and given directly to Mark Graham.

After a determined date, students will not play games until either the fee or a payment plan has been made.

We will sort out a financial plan, if selected to play, and payment is a challenge. If you are applying for one of these programs, please let Mr. Graham know, as there will likely be a delay in you completing the payment on SCO. Optional programs for assistance:

https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/pages/individual-child-grants

https://kidsportcanada.ca/new-brunswick/