Youth/Minor/Development Hockey

Sarnia?

 

no, Pelham

Pelham yikes. Good strip clubs in Lundy's Lane.

Perfect. Plus there's a casino in Niagara Falls where we're staying. Wifey staying home.

Off until January 4th !

Hotels in Niagara are comically cheap at this time of year. Saw Holiday for $30/night

$90 plus resort fee (wtf) and taxes. And thats with the a group discount. Staying at the sheraton

You probably have a waterpark or something.

i hope its an outdoor one

Yeah, it had a watermark, a huge game room, casino attached, bunch of restUrants, etc. It was lots of fun even though we lost all the games :). Cold as shit so we stayed indoors most of the time. People who drove really regretted it. Many got stuck in snowstorms around Syracuse and/or Buffalo. We flew and had no problems.

 

Great experience for the kids, possibly once in a lifetime. There were over 70 teams all over NA and all hockey facilities we played at were top notch. Canada has awesome rinks. I wonder if they are privately owned or gov't built. Level of hockey was also much better than what we're used to around here. Overall, awesome times

Did you get to watch any AA or AAA teams?

I know our Pee Wees were pretty impressed with the AAA games they watched at silver sticks last month

No, didn't get a chance. Watched a couple of bantam games, they were at about the same time as us. Good hockey

So I guess everyone's seasons are winding down right about now. I know my son's team is gearing up for their final tourney in Maryland on March 6th and then it's basically getting ready for next season's tryouts. I'm not sure if we've already discussed this here but what are your guys thoughts on playing up? My son played up as an 8 y.o. on squirt last year and is now a second year squirt this season. He's had a real good year albeit on a not so succesful team. I'm considering having him tryout for pee-wee this season with the hopes that he plays pee-wee b this year as a 10 y.o. Thoughts?

What level would he be playing at if he remained a squirt?

So I guess everyone's seasons are winding down right about now. I know my son's team is gearing up for their final tourney in Maryland on March 6th and then it's basically getting ready for next season's tryouts. I'm not sure if we've already discussed this here but what are your guys thoughts on playing up? My son played up as an 8 y.o. on squirt last year and is now a second year squirt this season. He's had a real good year albeit on a not so succesful team. I'm considering having him tryout for pee-wee this season with the hopes that he plays pee-wee b this year as a 10 y.o. Thoughts?

 

Unless the kid is absolutely dominating the highest level of squirt, leave him where he is. Too many parents make the mistake of pushing their kid up when the kid is not ready. On top of that, a lot of kids, who were stars at their age level, get pushed up and are no longer the dominant player on the team. They lose confidence and, sometimes, interest in the game because its no longer as fun for them.

Unless the kid is absolutely dominating the highest level of squirt, leave him where he is. Too many parents make the mistake of pushing their kid up when the kid is not ready. On top of that, a lot of kids, who were stars at their age level, get pushed up and are no longer the dominant player on the team. They lose confidence and, sometimes, interest in the game because its no longer as fun for them.

 

I agree with this, however, some organizations don't offer teams at every level. Imo, I'd rather my kid play squirt AA rather than pw-b. Older age doesn't equal better hockey. I don't think that's the case for Kevin, as I'm familiar with where his kid plays. They usually have AA or A. If ice time is equal, which it usually is at tier 2, playing a year up won't kill him. I'd like to see him play, see his size, when his bday, etc.

I agree with this, however, some organizations don't offer teams at every level. Imo, I'd rather my kid play squirt AA rather than pw-b. Older age doesn't equal better hockey. I don't think that's the case for Kevin, as I'm familiar with where his kid plays. They usually have AA or A. If ice time is equal, which it usually is at tier 2, playing a year up won't kill him. I'd like to see him play, see his size, when his bday, etc.

 

I agree, but I've never heard a kid moving up to play PW B. Clearly, Squirt AA is a better class of hockey than PW B.

Of course, there is always the option to move a kid to another club if his current program doesn't offer a level to meet the ability of the player. Plenty of options in NJ.

 

TBH, if a kid is good enough to play up, there are already other programs courting the kid to play with their program.

 

The question is what is the end game? Is it for the kid to have a great experience and have fun? That should be it, but too many parents have the idea that their kid is destined for D1. We know the reality.

I agree, but I've never heard a kid moving up to play PW B. Clearly, Squirt AA is a better class of hockey than PW B.

Of course, there is always the option to move a kid to another club if his current program doesn't offer a level to meet the ability of the player. Plenty of options in NJ.

 

TBH, if a kid is good enough to play up, there are already other programs courting the kid to play with their program.

 

The question is what is the end game? Is it for the kid to have a great experience and have fun? That should be it, but too many parents have the idea that their kid is destined for D1. We know the reality.

Agree. If you're a top 6 player playing up in tier 1, go for it. If not, stay where your birth year is.

I should have been a little more clear. He is currently playing Squirt A and the rink that we are at does not offer a AA team. For us, if we stay there, he would be playing a second year of Squirt A. I'm not going to say he dominated because we ran into a few kids on other teams that did just that, but he certainly was one of the better kids out there. As far as Tier 1 is concerned, we have thought about it but I'm not ready at this time to make that commitment. I wanted to see how much he grows as a player before that becomes an option. I was thinking first year Bantam to do that, if he is capable at that time. I said PW B because I know he can handle it and he would really only be playing up one year (because most of PW B that I've seen are 11 y.o's.). I know that physically he would not be ready to play against 12 y.o's (PW A) and I don't think it would be good for his psyche. My initial idea was PW B next season, PW A, then PW AA by his 12 y.o. year.

In the NJYHL, a lot of squirt A teams could beat pw B teams. The brand of B hockey isn't as good as A, or AA.

 

As far as tier 1 goes, my advice to you is to get him recognized now, because by bantam minor year the only teams looking to pick new players are the bad ones. Kids get recycled every year. The bottom 2-3 Tier 1 kids find a below .500 team to play on the next season until they're a top 6 with pp time somewhere. That doesn't do anything for their development, other than boosting a parent's ego.

Unless the kid is absolutely dominating the highest level of squirt, leave him where he is. Too many parents make the mistake of pushing their kid up when the kid is not ready. On top of that, a lot of kids, who were stars at their age level, get pushed up and are no longer the dominant player on the team. They lose confidence and, sometimes, interest in the game because its no longer as fun for them.

 

This pretty much sums up my opinion.

General rule of thumb for us, (I sit on a development board) is this...

The only time we think of moving a player up would be because his development would be stumped by not moving up.

And generally they have to be considered a top 3 player on the team they are moving up on.

In the NJYHL, a lot of squirt A teams could beat pw B teams. The brand of B hockey isn't as good as A, or AA.

 

As far as tier 1 goes, my advice to you is to get him recognized now, because by bantam minor year the only teams looking to pick new players are the bad ones. Kids get recycled every year. The bottom 2-3 Tier 1 kids find a below .500 team to play on the next season until they're a top 6 with pp time somewhere. That doesn't do anything for their development, other than boosting a parent's ego.

 

I may be confusing levels of hockey here.

I think of "A" as the local AAA team, or AA team, (highest level).

And the "B" as the next level down, (what ever that might be).

 

Also regarded to as Major/Minor, etc.

The program that my son currently belongs to has only an 'A' and a 'B' team at the squirt level. This is in Tier 2. I believe that Tier 1 in NJ is somewhat regionalized. Mikey probably knows a hell of a lot more about this than I do but I think that there is a 50 mile area that covers each Tier 1 area and other rinks in that area wouldn't be able to produce a team. The Tier 1 in my area is the Rockets I believe. At the Pee Wee level my rink has a "AA", "A", and "B" teams.

In the NJYHL, a lot of squirt A teams could beat pw B teams. The brand of B hockey isn't as good as A, or AA.

 

As far as tier 1 goes, my advice to you is to get him recognized now, because by bantam minor year the only teams looking to pick new players are the bad ones. Kids get recycled every year. The bottom 2-3 Tier 1 kids find a below .500 team to play on the next season until they're a top 6 with pp time somewhere. That doesn't do anything for their development, other than boosting a parent's ego.

 

What are you thoughts about the Rockets? I think that is the team that covers my area. I am hesitant to go Tier 1 as a squirt just due to the cost and there are so many things that can change over the course of the next few years with his development. I know my son loves hockey but I am not quite sure if the demands and pressure of a Tier 1 would be too much for him at this point. Maybe its something that he might be more ready for next year as a Pee-Wee minor.

I hope my kid plays ultimate Frisbee.

lawn bowling