This is my conclusion about evaluation based on last year's PWAA:
1. Clubs are asked in advance to evaluate whether a team expects to be Flight1 or Flight2. While politics might easily discount a self-assessment, if your club was to have self-evaluated your team as "Flight2" it is very hard to overcome that.
2. There is an internal list with pre-jamboree rankings. This year it was especially evident based on the first round of games, as to whether you were expected to be Flight1 or Flight2, as they had most of the games be "same flight" contests.
3. In the 3rd game, teams that looked like they might be somewhere between Flight1 & 2 were given games to assess that.
4. The *only* way you seem to get points in the Jamboree that might move the evaluation needle upwards, is if you *upset* a team that you were not expected to beat. Close losses, or loss even with fairly even Shots on goal don't seem to matter. If you didn't notice any evaluators watching a game, most likely that is because the game was essentially perfunctory. There were only so many evaluators, and from what I saw, their interest level is limited.
5. Politics. The big clubs get the benefit of the doubt, other clubs don't.
Best of luck to you all, and remember, that PW is just a year or 2 in the long journey of youth hockey. Be sure to provide feedback to your club in regards to your experiences and assessment. All the clubs are able to vote on these rule changes and programs. If you feel they are broken, you have to let the club know, specifically and perhaps in writing.
