Review this athletics resource prior to each sport as it is updated frequently.

Mark Graham
Physical Education (PE) Teacher & BEARS Athletics Director

Athletics Director (AD)

Mark Graham: [email protected]

I help organize our schools participation in district led sports.

If you OR you know of someone who would be a great volunteer for our school, please share APPLICATION FORM.

Middle School Sports

Athletics is an enrichment opportunity and ASD-W decides the events and when they will be offered. This resource explains our participation in district led sports. Bottom of this resource describes details to the sports offered.

Team Selection and Tryouts

  • It is assumed that students attending tryouts have their parents/guardians permission and have reviewed this athletics page for expectations.
  • If a student misses the 1st tryout (ex. sick or away), you are to come to the next tryout, even if a tryout selection list has been made.
  • If you attend the 1st tryout and know you will be absent for the 2nd tryout, tell the coaches so they are aware.
  • Selection on a team the previous school year does not guarantee a position on a team in future years.
  • We try to make teams by grade and gender. Running a minimum of 2 tryouts per team. *Cross country running has no tryouts.*
  • The coaches might ask for only selected students to return for another tryout. If so, the list of students asked to return for another tryout will be posted at school.
  • The selected team will be posted at school.
  • Commitment: Families should speak to the coaches about conflicting times and dates to determine if the school team can work based on other commitments such as different teams, clubs, trips planned, etc. Coaches want to select players who will usually be present (ex. 75% or more of the time). Our teams usually have 2-3 events per week. Review our athletics calendar for potential conflicts.
  • Behaviour/Attitude/Representation: The school, coaches and teammates need to trust you. Any form of aggressive or inappropriate behaviour will not be accepted. Students should play hard but under the rules provided. The school will review if participation on a team is acceptable.

If your not selected:

  • We cover a version of each enrichment activity in our PE classes.
  • We have lunch options in the gym with multi-sport choices for students to engage with others outside of their academic class.
  • There are usually organizations in the community that also run events at different price points and different levels of competition, such as competitive tryout teams or community teams without tryouts.
  • Known organizations are explained in the sports offered section.
  • YMCA POWER UP program (free): https://fredericton.ymca.ca/global-community/power-up-youth-program/

Communication and Social Media (pictures/names)

If your child makes a team the families phone number and email will be shared with the coaches.

  • Allows coaches to update families when needed and for emergencies (ex. your child gets hurt).
  • If you do not want your contact information shared with the coaches, please inform the school office.
  • Coaches will choose to send emails and/or use an app like TeamLinkt.
  • Students are to inform their coaches when they will be absent so plans can be adjusted.

Pictures will be taken throughout the season.

  • Coaches have been asked to get a team photo with uniforms on for the school yearbook.
  • If a student has any media permission concerns speak to the coaches and ensure the student knows to remove themselves before any photos.
  • Beyond a organized team photo, pictures are usually taken at events like a game and your child could be in one that at some point does end up on a social media platform.
  • If you are not comfortable with pictures then you need to decide whether your child participates or not.

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

Expectations for Everyone

Representing the school:

  • Be aware of your noise level and language used (ex. no swearing or inappropriate jokes).
  • Behaviour around others such as sharing the path when passing others on the sidewalk/trail.
  • Either inside or outside, keep any area you use clean (ex. pick up wrappers, bottles, etc.).
  • At the end of the event, no matter the result, our team should still be handshaking/fist pumping the other team.
  • Overall, we can control our actions and any issues can be reported to the school.

Waiting to participate:

  • At GSMS, spectators should be using the balcony door by the gym entrance; the door is labelled and directly beside the gym entrance door.
  • If waiting in our gym balcony, you should be seated and QUIET (ex. the coach on the gym floor should not have to address behaviour/noise level from those waiting in the balcony).
  • Overall, ensure you are not interrupting or distracting those playing.

TRUST:

  • We need to trust people to not be going into our or other schools equipment rooms and taking equipment without permission, which would be treated as theft.
  • 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 be treated as trespassing.
  • Overall, 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 and/or with equipment taken without permission from the coaches.

Washrooms: 

  • At GSMS, they are available by the balcony entrance in the gym lobby.
  • Players can use either the lobby washrooms or the ones located in the changing rooms under the stage.
  • Please report any issues with any of the facilities.

FOOTWEAR and Changing:

  • Students can either remove outdoor gear and leave in 1st row of the balcony or use the changing rooms located under the stage.
  • Outdoor footwear is to be removed by anyone going on the gym floor.   
  • If needed, ensure the soles of sneakers are dry and not dirty before coming onto any gym floor.
  • Some sneakers leave coloured marks on the gym floor, in this case we look to switch the sneakers for a pair where the sole does not leave marks.
  • At GSMS, there are extra shoes on the stage that can be used when needed.
  • Overall, we are looking to keep our playing area as clean and safe as possible.

MUSIC: Ensure any music played (ex. speaker in the gym) is appropriate (ex. no swear words ).

Transportation and Supervision

  • All transportation to and from any afterschool event location is a family’s responsibility.​ 
  • Coaches will meet students at the event location and pick-up would also be at that location unless told otherwise.
  • Coaches will give families instructions on the time they would like students to arrive to an event. This time could change from one event to the next.
  • Please do not arrive earlier or be trying to get into the school or playing area without the coach present.
  • We encourage families to stay and watch games. Please sit separate from the players and let the coaches manage the team.
  • Practices: Students are dropped off at the start of the timeslot and families come back for pick-up. Do not leave your child without the coach being present.
  • Please respect the time of our volunteer coaches: Arrive before the time slot has ended. Usually games such as soccer and basketball, will not take the full 1.5hr (90min) time slot.
  • We would like transportation home to be ready if the event ends earlier than the time on the calendar.
  • If you are having challenges with transportation: We suggest you speak with other members of the team and make arrangements amongst yourselves. We encourage students to travel as a group when leaving the school without a family member, but this is not required and not organized by the school or coaches.

Schedules and Cancellations

Athletics calendar on the school website will be the up to date schedule.

  • Teams usually have 2 – 3 practices and/or games per week.
  • 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).
  • Practice times: This is when you have access to the playing space.
  • We play and practice on professional learning days when students do not have school, but staff do.
  • We typically do not book events on holidays, such as Thanksgiving, but if an event was booked on a holiday, such as a practice, it would be optional for attendance.
  • GSMS GYM DOORS:
    • Teams will have someone monitor the exterior gym door (circled in green) for the first few minutes of the time slot (ex. parent, assistant coach, etc.).
    • Exterior gym doors always remain locked and never to be propped open.
    • Exterior gym door is the only door to use for afterschool sports. Do not go to the front doors and try to use the intercom.
    • Spectators arriving late with no door monitor present can contact a member of their group to let them in. 
    • If you see the exterior gym door propped open, please remove the propped item and close the exterior door.

GSMS plays within a ASD-W Fredericton Education Centre (FEC) created league:

  • Compete against schools within Fredericton and surrounding rural areas.
  • We include the local francophone schools (ELE and ESA) and the private northside school (FCA).
  • Most events are around Fredericton, but some teams can travel to rural areas or away for weekend tournaments (ex. volleyball tournament in Moncton). 

We usually run between 1hr (60min) to 1.5hr (90min) time slots.

  • In the GSMS gym, based on the school day having a 8:25am start and end time of 2:55pm these are our usual timeslots:
    • 6:30-8:05am (practice no earlier than 6:30am but could start later and supervised until 8:05am am for when school starts)
    • 3-4:30pm (practice)
    • 4:30-6pm (practice or game)
    • 6-7:30pm (practice or game)
    • 7:30-9pm (practice or game)

Game times:

  • Games would not start before 4pm or go later than 9pm.
  • Outdoor practice and game times vary based on the location for soccer, rugby, track and field and softball.
  • Time on the schedule is when GSMS gym exterior doors would be monitored to let everyone in, warm-up and then game start time would be 15min from the time listed on the schedule.
  • Follow the coaches directions on arrival time. For example, with soccer the time listed is kick-off.

ASD-W playoffs “DISTRICTS”

Every team makes playoffs:

  • Who plays who is typically based on league game results, usually a semi-final of 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 and then a final.
  • Leagues with more than 4 teams would usually have 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 to determine who plays 1 vs (winner of 4 vs 5) and 2 vs (winner of 3 vs 6) in the semi-finals.
  • We try to distribute between the schools who will host each division and gender playoffs for the different sports.
  • If our school wins the championship then kids can sign their name on the banner provided, which at some point gets put on the gym wall.

Each school district in New Brunswick at the middle school level designs their own athletics enrichment options. High school athletics is run by School Sport NB and has regional winners play for an overall provincial championship, but NOT at the middle school level.

Our middle school season concludes with the ASD-W Playoffs/Districts. Some sport organizations, like Basketball New Brunswick (BNB) and Volleyball NB (VNB) host tournaments labelled as “Middle School Provincials”, but this is not a representation for selecting a provincial champions as they are tournaments with a registration fee in which any school can attend and do not have to qualify based on any league records or district championship standings. These tournaments therefore are not provincials, rather tournaments filled with teams from throughout the province who signed-up to play on that specific weekend.

Weather Concerns:

  • 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.
  • If events are not cancelled, it is always a families choice to determine whether they are comfortable travelling to and from an event.
  • If you decide to not attend, please inform the coaches.
  • City of Fredericton determines when outdoor fields will be closed. You can follow “Community Alerts” https://www.fredericton.ca/resident-services/community-alerts. Information is usually also posted at https://www.facebook.com/FrederictonRecreation/. A post is suppose to be made by 3pm if a closure is to occur.
  • Once school is dismissed, monitor communication from the city and/or your coaches for any updates on cancellations.

Playing Time

ASD-W follows FAIR PLAY guidelines:

  • Everyone should receive approximately the same amount of playing time no matter the positions played per ASD-W event.
  • Coaches try their best to get everyone playing approximately the same number of minutes, but depending on stoppages in a game, some shifts could be shorter or longer than others (ex. waiting for a referees whistle to call for substitutions).
  • ASD-W basketball has an exception for league and playoff games where in the 4th quarter everyone is to play a meaningful shift but does not have to be equal.

If any teams attend events that are not part of our ASD-W league or playoffs:

  • Exhibition game or tournament, the team follows the playing guidelines for that event.
  • For example, if a school organizes a basketball tournament that is not connected to the ASD-W league or playoffs, if the tournament rules do not state that fair play has to be followed, then the coaches will decide how playing minutes are distributed and/or required to follow the tournament rules (such as no substitutions in set 1 or 2 of a volleyball match).
  • Coaches will update the team on any playing time guidelines.

Playing time could be adjusted/suspended due to many factors:

  • Injury, attendance, or poor behaviour on the team (ex. deliberately doing something that is harmful).
  • Everyone is expected to agree on a convenient time to discuss any questions/concerns that may arise throughout the season.
  • We use a waiting time of 24hrs from a situation to reflect and gather your thoughts before discussing.
  • School administration and/or staff members will directly inform coaches if a student is not to participate for a specific reason.
  • Students and families are to understand that being a student comes first on a school team.

If a student is absent during the school day: They are not to attend practice or play in a game that evening, unless the absence was for a medical appointment, such as going to the dentist.

Jerseys and Sports Gear

Please follow any cleaning and drying instructions on the tags of jersey. We do not provide shorts, please try to wear solid black to match as a team and go with our school colours of purple, gold and black.

Below is an example of what can happen when you do not follow jersey instructions, someone used an iron on this jersey and melted the material.

At the end of season, the coach collects the jerseys:

  • If you miss the last event, return your jersey to Mr. Graham in a bag labelled with your name and team.
  • 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.

Coaches will have sport specific equipment to use:

  • Please ensure what is used is returned.
  • For example, if 6 volleyballs go to a game then ensure that the 6 GSMS/BEARS labelled balls make it back in the bag.
  • Overall, the coach is providing the gear to use, but the players need to be responsible to return the gear to the proper spot after using it.

Team Fees

Different fees are needed for each sport based on costs to cover items such as scorekeepers, referees, tournaments, and purchasing team equipment and shared uniforms:

  • The estimated fees for each sport are described in the “Sports Offered” section and based on prior years.
  • If you have any questions about paying a team fee please speak with the school.
  • Team fee will be posted on School Cash Online (SCO) OR you can use cash or cheque written out to GSMS, memo the sport and team (ex. 6 boys basketball team fee).
  • Fees are given directly to the school office.
  • If selected to play, and payment is a challenge, please speak to the school and a plan can be made.
  • After a determined date, students will not play games until 1) team fee is collected or 2) payment plan has been made.

Transportation and accommodations costs:

  • These are student expenses beyond the team fee. For example, if driving outside of town and attending a 2 day tournament, it would be a family choice to stay in a hotel at their own expense.
  • At a team level you could have someone designated to block a set of hotel rooms and/or leave it to a families discretion.
  • No one is ever required to stay at a hotel, you choose what is the best travel plan for your family (ex. staying with a relative/friend).

Optional programs for assistance:

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

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

Volunteer Expectations

If selected to help with a team, volunteers are to complete the following ASD-W paperwork if you are new to coaching at GSMS or not employed within ASD-W:

1. ASD-W-360-1A: Volunteer Sign-Off (Appendix A) This form ensures you have reviewed and understand the different GNB policies, including dealing with sensitive information and confidentiality.

2. ASD-W-360-1B: Criminal Record and Vulnerable Sector Check Coaches under 18yrs old and still an ASD-W student DO NOT have to complete the Criminal and Vulnerable Sector Check. There is a fee that the school would reimburse with a receipt submitted. https://www.fredericton.ca/en/resident-services/public-safety/police-force/criminal-record-checks

3. Guidelines if driving a vehicle: ASD-W-360-1C: Volunteer Driver Sign-Off (Appendix C)

4. If an accident happens, document through the following forms: Accident Report Form (POLICY 129) Concussions: C-3 C-4 Paper copies are outside of Mr. Graham’s office.

If you are looking for coaching resources, Canadian Association of Canada provides high quality, nationally recognized resources: https://coach.ca/.

Preference for coaches:

1) School staff

2) Qualified community members

3) Guardians/family members

If you OR you know of any adults who would be interested in being a volunteer, please complete the following APPLICATION FORM.

Afterschool sports offered for our school

The following sports are what the ASD-W Fredericton Education Centre (FEC) helps organize for schools to have competition with each other.

Soccer

Time frame: First week back in September to the end of October/beginning of November.

Tryouts: There will be tryouts for each soccer team.Coaches will discuss expectations around positions and a goalie/keeper. Some teams get everyone to try different spots on the field throughout the season and other teams are more permanent on positions. Each team will have approximately 18-22 students. Teams should have a couple players who want to be the goalie/keeper, but during tryouts practice playing out as well for assessing ability and options within the team. Coaches can mix-up substitutions (ex. 10 on and 10 off or could shuffle between backs, midfield and strikers or all backs, followed by midfield, etc.). By the end of each match, everyone should have played approximately the same amount of time no matter the score or positions students played.

ASD-W does not offer Gr. 6 only soccer. Teams will be Varsity (Gr. 7-8) and JV (Gr. 6-7). Varsity tryouts will take place first to determine which Gr. 7 students are playing Varsity before the JV Gr. 6-7 can be made.

Fee our school usually charges: $20-30 per student.

Equipment: If you make the team:

  • You can wear any sneakers and/or soccer rated cleats.
  • If selected, you will need a solid pair of black shorts of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black.
  • If selected, you will need a pair of shin guards, and pair of socks to cover your shin guards (try for black socks, but it is not necessary to go out and buy a new pair).
  • The jersey provided is to be returned at the end of the season.

Practices:

  • Usually in 1.5 hours (90 minute) time slots.
  • For practices the time on the schedule is when to arrive or follow the coaches directions, usually 3:30-5pm or 5-6:30pm. Bring a dark and light coloured shirt for scrimmages.
  • Practices will usually be out of Morell Park Soccer Fields (Morell Park, Waterloo Row, Fredericton, NB E3B 1Z1). It usually takes about 25 minutes to walk from the school to the field.
  • Transportation is a families responsibility. Many students will walk together as a group, but this is not organized by the school.
  • Coaches meet students at the playing space for practices and games.

Games:

  • 30 minutes halves with a 5 minute half time.
  • Games usually start between 4pm and 5:30pm depending on the location. Transportation is a families responsibility.
  • The season is usually 6 games and then playoffs against the other local schools.
  • League record determines playoff spots.
  • We usually do not attend any tournaments.
  • The time on the schedule for games is when kickoff should start. Follow the coaches directions on arrival time to warm-up.
  • GSMS does not have a dedicated soccer field. Barker Street Field is where we would usually host home games, but it is closed fall of 2026.
  • Home games will be played at other schools and/or turf fields.
  • Spectators should try to sit on the opposite side of the field from the players bench OR not positioned where they could interfere with the coaches and players.
  • Playoffs:
    • With back to back games on some dates and ensuring we have enough daylight to get all games concluded safely, the referees are instructed to start on time and to not add any additional time due to any delays (etc. injuries).
    • When the field has a single game we have more flexibility over any extra time needed.
    • In the event of a tie at this level, penalty shots of five shooters to decide the winner.

WEATHER CONCERNS: If lightening and thunder occurs at outdoor events, 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, when playing 60 minute games in soccer it would be 40 minutes played for the score to stand.

Associations:

http://www.fdsa.org/

http://www.douglassoccer.ca/

https://soccernb.org/

Cross Country Running

Time Frame: Usually starts the middle of September and goes until the middle of October.

Tryouts: There are no tryouts for this team, every student is welcome to run at any point in the season whether it be the first, second, or last race. If you miss practices for other commitments, please still come to the races. Our goal is to see as many students as possible getting the opportunity to run!

Fee our school usually charges: Free.

Equipment:

  • You can wear any sneakers that provide safe traction on uneven ground. You will be running on different surfaces from asphalt, grass, crushed rock, dirt, over tree roots, etc.
  • You will need a solid pair of black shorts and/or pants of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black.
  • The jersey provided by the coach is to be returned after each race OR students can wear any GSMS clothing they want.

Practices: If practices occur, all students from all grades and genders would practice together. Families should not be dropping their child off unsupervised without a coach present.

Races:

  • We usually have 3 races at different locations.
  • Any meet instructions will be put in the event description on the athletics calendar OR on this resource for that event.
  • Transportation is a families responsibility, when you arrive look for where the team has gathered with the coach.
  • Each race is by grade and gender.
  • The first two races the kids are usually told the number they finished, but no combined scores are created per school.
  • We can have as many runners as we want at any of the races per grade and gender, so we encourage as many kids to come out as possible!
  • At the final race: Points are combined based on the finish position of the first 3 runners per grade and gender at each school. For example, a grade and gender having runners finish in 5th, 10th, 15th would have our school receiving 30 points. The school scoring the least number of points would win the banner for that grade and gender division. Any additional runners increase our chances to place better amongst the other schools.
  • Usually, races start with grade 6 girls and boys, followed by grade 7 and then grade 8.
  • The first races with Gr. 6’s races usually start at 4pm.
  • Parking at each location has traditionally been congested, so it is suggested to plan some buffer time into finding a parking spot and have the kids meet up with the coach around 3:45pm to complete whatever warm-up is needed prior to their race.
  • We suggest families stay and supervise their child as there is no specific end time, it depends on the number of runners and how long it takes to get everyone to complete each race.

Gr. 6: Usually 1200 meters (1.2km)

Gr. 7: Usually 1600 meters (1.6km)

Gr. 8: Usually 2000 meters (2km)

Usually we have races at a southside location, northside location and then districts (division banners given) at either a northside or southside location. Below are some routes that have been previously used:

Bliss Carman Middle School (BCMS):

Same route through the trail for each grade. Gr. 7 run a lap around the soccer field first. Gr. 8 run 2 laps around the soccer field first.

BCMS Cross Country Running RoutesDownload

Nashwaaksis Middle School (NMS):

NMS Cross country routes
The attached route is not detailed but shows the entire trail around the school.
Grade 6: called to the track and walk up the trail to the baseball field. They start in the middle of the baseball field and run diagonally to the right and onto the trail. They follow the rest of the trail the whole way around and finish on the track.
Grade 7: Starting point by the disc golf goal closest to Carrington/school driveway. They run across the driveway and onto the trail heading uphill and run the entire trail finishing on the track.
Grade 8: Same starting point as grade 7, run the entire trail plus one lap of the track.

Download

Hanwell Park Academy (HPA):

  • Blue route is for grade 6.
  • Gr. 7’s follow the red route starting behind the soccer field, doing a lap of the track and then proceeding into the trails and following the route as shown.
  • Gr. 8’s begin from the same spot as the grade 7s and complete 2 laps of the track before heading into the trails.
  • The finish will be on the trail next to the school playground. Spectators stay off the track and the trails but are welcome to wait by the finish line, inside the fence in the playground area. 

Associations:

https://www.speedingcheetahs.com/

https://www.anb.ca/programs/yxc/

http://www.frederictonredstrackandfield.com/index.php

Badminton

Time frame: End of October until winter break in December.

Tryouts:

  • There will be tryouts for each badminton team.
  • Teams are by grade and gender.
  • Each team made will have approximately 16 students.
  • Students will play both singles and doubles, if selected for the team, until the final tournament.
  • Students do not have to come with a specific doubles partner, if doubles is practiced at tryouts, students would just pair up with someone for each match.

Fee our school usually charges: Usually $10-15 per student.

Equipment:

  • You can wear any clean sneakers that will not mark the gym floor.
  • If selected, you will need a solid pair of black shorts or pants of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black.
  • The jersey provided is to be returned at the end of the season.
  • Ensure shuttles used are returned at the end of your event.
  • Rackets: We have school rackets that can be used for tryouts, practices and games OR you are welcome to bring a personal racket from home (ensure it is labelled and the school is not responsible for any damage that may occur). Please ensure rackets are not dropped on the ground to minimize damage.

Practices:

  • Practices are to help develop skills for singles and doubles game play. For practices the time on the schedule is when to arrive.
  • Resource to help learn the game: https://shuttletime.bwfbadminton.com/

Games:

Time slots are for when your team will have access to the court to warm-up and then play games. If a practice is happening before your game, ensure everyone is quietly waiting.

In your 1.5hr game time slot:

  • Warm-up starts by dividing the number of courts available between the teams to get some practice swings in. Wait for a coach from one of the schools to give you instructions on which courts to use and provide shuttles. We will try and start games as soon as possible after your time slot begins.
  • After warming up, guidelines for that event will be discussed, such as what coloured lines are used, where to be when waiting, etc.
  • Games consist of playing students from another school for approximately 35 minutes of full court singles and then 35 minutes of full court doubles, for a total of 1.5hrs. All students throughout the season will play both singles and doubles.
  • Doubles teams are made each game with the students present, and could be with a consistent partner or the coach could shuffle who plays with who.
  • Games are played to the set number of points determined by the organizers for that event (ex. could be a 5 point match or 7, etc.).
  • The goal is to get as many games in as possible against others. During league games, we will try to get everyone to play a similar number of games, but this is not guaranteed.
  • There is no official team winner, but you could say a school won based on a team record of wins and losses, but again no official record is recorded or submitted to district.

League games are meant to give you an idea of how you match up against players from other schools and what could be focused on at practices to see further improvement. Overall, a team could keep a record of whatever results they want, such as the number of singles and doubles won/loss by the team together or tracked per player. 

During badminton games at any school:

  • Players must be aware of their surroundings and not walk onto someone’s court while they are playing.
  • If someone does walk through your court while playing, then a re-serve occurs.
  • If a player feels that there are some unjust calls then place the racquet on the court and come to the coaches/scorer’s table.
  • Players ARE NOT stealing points for people serving in the incorrect spot. SCORES should be announced loud and clear and agreed on before the serve.
  • Match starts with a toss of the shuttle up in air, whichever side the tip points to that person decides to receive or serve first. The opposing player has the choice to choose the side IF their opponent chooses to serve.
  • Players track the score on their own throughout the game. ** If anyone is struggling with keeping score, a neutral volunteer could be at the net post to help guide what side to serve on, server calling the score beforehand, etc.
  • Server is always to call out the score (example: 6 serving 3). Before serving, 1) ensure you both agree on that score, 2) everyone is on the correct serving side, 3) check that the receiver is ready, and 4) then serve the shuttle.
  • Return the shuttle under the net when returning the shuttle to the other player and not serving for a point.
  • At the end of the match players should knuckles/handshake and report the score.

Everyone attends the final districts (playoffs):

  • For the final district event the coach will determine who is playing singles OR doubles for each division.
  • This final event is the only time of the season where students will only have the option of singles OR doubles and can only play in Division 1 OR 2. This is due to the time it takes to run a double elimination tournament, which means you have to lose two games before being knocked out of the tournament.
  • Points are awarded usually to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each division for singles and doubles to determine which school receives the banner.
  • Division 1 and 2, each usually have 4 singles players and 2 doubles teams, for a total of 16 players from each school.
  • Different schools will host a grade and gender for districts.
  • An end time for districts/playoffs will not be set as it will depend on speed of play through the double elimination bracket. Usually, it takes between 3-4 hours to complete the tournament. Players, once knocked out of the tournament are welcome to stay and continue to watch, but need to ensure transportation home has been arranged and ready once all games are over.

Associations: https://www.bnnb.ca/clubs.php

Basketball

Time Frame: First week back in January until the middle of March.

Tryouts: There will be tryouts for each basketball team. Coaches will discuss expectations around positions. Each team made will have approximately 12 students.

Fee our school usually charges: Usually between $60-215 per student. Fee ranges based on the number of tournaments entered. Each tournament creates a large increase in the fee to accommodate for registration and/or coaching travel costs. Sometimes a school in Fredericton will host a tournament over a weekend or potentially a school outside of Fredericton.

Basketball NB (BNB) hosts a weekend tournament that teams have the option of attending. If a team decides to attend the BNB tournament, families would incur the additional cost of registering along with any travel and accommodation costs beyond the original team fee.

Equipment:

  • You can wear any clean sneakers that will not mark the gym floor.
  • If selected, you will need a solid pair of black shorts of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black.
  • The jersey provided is to be returned at the end of the season.

Practices:

For practices the time on the schedule is when to arrive.

Games:

  • Approximately 6 league games and 1-2 playoff games.
  • For our home games and most other schools, time on the schedule is when to arrive and tip-off would be 15 minutes later.
  • Follow the coaches directions on arrival time.
  • 1.5 hours (90 minute) timeslots, games usually do not take the entire 1.5hrs, so please arrive early for pick-up.
  • Families are welcome to watch the games.
  • Games are 8 minute quarters for a total of 32 minutes of stop time play.
  • All teams play 5 vs 5 on a 10 foot net using a size 6 (28.5) basketball.
  • After league play we have our ASD-W Fredericton Education Centre playoffs (districts) where teams are ranked based on league records to determine playoff game placement.

BNB Provincials. Details: There are no middle school basketball provincials, yet BNB usually hosts a tournament after we have finished our ASD-W league, usually in March, labelled as “Middle School Provincials.” This does not represent a provincial champion though as any school paying the tournament registration fee can attend and do not have to qualify based on any league records or district championship standings. The tournament poses challenges due to a host location within the province not being determined until the end of February, yet our team budget is determined at the beginning of the season. Overall, we like to attend tournaments where we know the location in advance and families can determine if they want to incur those travel and accommodation expenses.

Associations:

https://www.frederictonfusion.com

https://www.basketball.nb.ca/

Volleyball

Time frame: Middle of March to the end of May.

Tryouts: There will be tryouts for each volleyball team. Coaches will discuss expectations around positions. Each team plans to have 12 students.

Fee our school usually charges:

  • Usually between $100-175 per student depending on the team and number of tournaments entered.
  • Each weekend tournament creates a large increase in the fee to accommodate for registration and/or coaching travel costs.
  • Each team usually attends two or more weekend tournaments.
  • Volleyball New Brunswick (VNB) usually hosts a weekend tournament labelled as provincials, but there are no middle school volleyball provincials. This tournament is not a representation for selecting a provincial champion as any school can register, as long as spots are available, and do not have to qualify based on any league records or district championship standings. The VNB tournament is usually held in Moncton where travel and accommodation costs are a families responsibility.

Equipment:

  • You can wear any clean sneakers that will not mark the gym floor.
  • If selected, you will need a solid pair of black bottoms of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black.
  • If selected, knee pads and/or arm sleeves are optional and a families responsibility to purchase.
  • The jersey provided is to be returned at the end of the season.

Practices:

Time on the schedule is when to arrive.

Games:

  • League games are 1.5 hours (90 minute) time slots. Best of 3 match.
  • Teams start with a warm-up and then sets 1 and 2 go to 25 points, win by 2. If a third tie breaking set is needed, the set goes to 15, win by 2.
  • Any additional games within the timeslot are for fun, playing to 25 points or until the time is over.
  • We usually attend 2 local weekend tournaments.
  • Other tournaments usually come up throughout the season (ex. previous years teams have travelled to Saint John, St. George, Woodstock, Sussex, and Oromocto).
  • Tournament games are usually in 1 hour time blocks.
  • Tournaments are usually a best of 2 match during round robin play, where only 12 players will get playing time as the rules state you cannot substitute players unless someone is hurt. When tournament games become a best of 3 match in the playoffs, if the match goes to a third set, then the coaches can substitute players as per tournament rules in the 3rd set.
  • Volleyball games usually involve lots of cheering and regrouping before a next point. Teams are to find a positive way to pump each other up, even when a poor play is made, and to be respectful to the other team.
  • At the end of a match, teams line up along the baseline and then handshake/fist pump the other team and referee. 
  • After league play we conclude with our ASD-W playoffs.
  • Gr. 6 only teams play by Volleyball Canada Tripleball rules.
  • Net heights: 2.15m or for Gr. 8 boys/T2 boys 2.20m.
  • Gr. 6 tripleball use Volley-Lites, all other teams use Mikasa VQ2000 Plus.  
  • Family members will be asked throughout the season by the coaches to complete the game sheet and scoreboard flip chart during home games and at tournaments. Both of these roles are simple tasks so please help when needed.

Associations:

https://www.spartansvolleyballclub.com

https://leagues.teamlinkt.com/regulatorsvolleyball/Home

https://www.facebook.com/p/East-Coast-Mavericks-Volleyball-61587505580126

https://volleyballnb.org/

Track and Field

Time frame: In May near the end of volleyball season to early June.

Tryouts:

  • District guidelines are we can only have 3 students in each event per grade and gender and you can participate in up to a maximum of 3 events plus the relay race.
  • We plan to have multiple tryout dates as we know there will likely be conflicts around volleyball season.
  • The athletic calendar will show which dates and click on the date for which events.
  • If time allows, other events will likely get practiced until pick-up time.
  • Students do not have to attend every tryout, just come for the events you want to try.
  • Students should be wearing sneakers and clothing appropriate for the weather for tryouts.

Usual events for all grades and genders:

  • 100m
  • 200m
  • 400m
  • 800m
  • 1200m
  • Running long jump (we use a standing long jump at Queen Square during tryouts as we have no sand pit for jumping)
  • Softball throw
  • 3kg shot put

If selected:

  • Some students might go for 3 events while others might only go for 1 event.
  • The coaches will review tryout results and determine who goes into which event to make the overall BEARS team.

Fee our school usually charges: Usually around $10 per student to cover all our costs.

Equipment:

  • Wear a pair of sneakers that are safe for running on grass, gravel and asphalt.
  • If selected, you will need a solid pair of black shorts or pants of your choosing to wear with the provided jersey to match our school colours of purple, gold and black. An expectations sheet will be sent home with supplies needed (ex. food, hat, sunglasses, bug spray, layers of clothing, blanket, etc.) for the full day meet.
  • The jersey provided is to be returned at the end of the meet.

Practices and Meet:

Each grade and gender compete separately at the district meet, but coached as a full team. District banner is usually awarded for combined points between all grades and genders.

Meet is during a school day:

  • Typically in early June.
  • Students would arrive to school as usual and then a bus will take students competing to Nashwaaksis Middle School.
  • We typically leave GSMS by 8:45am and the meet usually starts between 9:45-10am.
  • There is no official end time, but it typically goes until around 4:30pm and transportation home is the responsibility of the family.
  • Track Events: Remember to go 100% through the finish line in your race even if you have a large lead as the next heat, or “group”, could be faster than yours! An example of this would be in the sprints with timed heats. Sprint races can only have a couple of runners at a time due to having to stay within your marked running lane, therefore heats are needed. You could be 1st in your heat, but another heat could have had multiple faster running times than yours. Stay relaxed at the start line and focus on controlling your breathing. A relaxed body moves faster than a tense body.
  • Field Events: If an athlete is scheduled to perform in both a track event and a field event, at the same time, please send someone to inform the field event official so that your name makes it on the list as a field event participant. If you are at a field event and your running event is called, speak to the volunteer at the field event, go to your running event, and return to finish the field event. Ensure the volunteer records on the results sheet that you left for the track and will be returning, so that you do not miss out on completing your field event attempts.
  • Long jump: Remember that running fast and jumping high equals going far. There is a 1m take-off location, that you are trying to jump from, so run fast and take off within that 1m section, driving your take-off knee up, swinging your arms forward, followed by stretching the legs forward/point the toes up, and keep the eyes looking up and fixed on an object in the horizon (ex. looking above the trees). Keep momentum going forward when landing as the closest body part touching the sand to the takeoff spot is the measurement used. Jumping feet first, we measure the closest body part from where you land to your take off spot. When practicing on a hard surface like the grass at Queen Square focus on swinging your arms, looking up and reaching with the your feet from a stationary starting point, not a running start, to minimize hurting yourself.
  • Shot put: Transfer weight from back to front, pivoting the back foot, twisting the hips and pushing the ball away from your neck when your elbow crosses the hip. Elbow stays tucked into your body and push the ball away like you would push your body off a wall with your arm and/or think about doing a push-up with your elbow tucked at your side. Push is marked from the start line to where the ball first hits the ground.  
  •  Ball throw: Take some shuffle steps and transfer weight when releasing the ball from the throw line. Looking for that best angle to get the ball flying in the air for distance. Throw is marked from the start line to where the ball first hits the ground.

Associations:

https://www.frederictonredstrackandfield.com/index.php

https://www.anb.ca

Rugby (organized through the Loyalist Rugby Club in Fredericton)

Time frame: May and June.

Tryouts: Usually no tryouts. This program is run by the Loyalist Rugby Club.

Fee: Set through the Rugby Canada registration process for liability insurance.

Equipment:

  • Wear a pair of sneakers or cleats (soccer or rugby style). You will be playing on grass.
  • The Loyalist Rugby Club will provide the jersey to be returned at the end of the season.
  • Durable shorts that could be pulled on during a tackle

Practices and Games:

Gr. 6 – 8 boys and girls combined. Organized through the Loyalist Rugby Club.

Coaching spot: Coaches work with the Loyalist Rugby Club to run practices and games.

Association: https://www.loyalistrugby.ca/

Schools we play outside of ASD-W

EAEC: École Arc-En-Ciel (Oromocto francophone school)

​ELE: École L​es Éclaireurs​ (Fredericton northside francophone school)

ESA: École Sainte-Anne​ (Fredericton southside francophone school)

FCA: Fredericton Christian Academy​ (private school on Fredericton northside)

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