Leaderboard

Brian (bb2j3z) designs the social media and does a great job :)

Agreed. All the team plans posted on the website for each BY and AA teams have specifics about coaches, tournaments, number of practices per week, etc. Nice job Rebellion. People aren't left wondering like many of the organizations. Seems like things changed there when they ditched the rat logo. And it's nice to have a board member in this forum providing information while still avoiding a lot of the nonsense.

Does seem like Esmark initially took quite a few of AA kids. I wonder if they are now second guessing the jump and may stick with their AA team? Honestly we need more of that. Teams have lot to compete for in AA; PAHL, AHF (for Badgers and Rebellion), potentially Tier II Nationals. Something to be said for that. That's way more appealing than some of these independent AAA schedules with all these two game sets against random teams in Ohio and Buffalo.

The "perception the organization is amazing" comes from MOST of their teams being MOSTLY in the top 10, and MOSTLY within striking distance for a national championship every year. They are one of about a dozen organizations like that in the nation. They play in highly selective tournaments and in a league with similarly successful organizations. Because of that, out of town kids that want to play at the highest level and be seen by scouts travel to play for PPE. So of course little Johnny Ringer from Sacramento comes here and steals a spot from a decent player from Pittsburgh. On the contrary, nobody is coming very far to play for Preds, SHAHA, Vengeance etc. So inevitably the best players from those teams move on to better teams as well. It's the competitive food chain, eat or be eaten. The pens could make a team of the 20 best Pittsburgh area kids each year, and they would be moderately successful. (Probably something like the Cleveland Barons) But the top players would always be leaving. We don't have to like how they do things, but that's the way Pens choose to run their organization. This is what makes PIHL somewhat interesting and why everyone made a big deal about the billeting rules. School teams can't just cut and recruit new players each year. And players can't jump from team to team every year. There's atleast some competitive balance and reliance on development and building a program.

So was the talk of their demise greatly exaggerated? Last week people were saying they had like four kids going to tryouts. It's funny how quickly signups happen after Pens make their roster.

yea, just what pgh needs more crazy wanna be aaa parents

Second sheet should be open by Labor Day weekend. Work seems like it's moving along. There was work going on the weekend while we were doing our younger BY 2011-2014 tryouts, They should have bleachers in the lower corner where the cage was. That's the end closest to the entrance from the lower lobby. I don't think they can put bleachers in the balcony area due to a capacity limit. I would assume yes that the second sheet would be used mostly for practices and game overflows since there's more capacity in the main rink.

I did not go to IUP, but I had thought of it as a solid option in the state system. In my head, it was relatively inexpensive, a decent campus and town, somewhat safe, and a better school with better resources than the other state schools in the area (Cal, Clarion, SRU, Edinboro, etc.). Granted, I don't talk to anyone young much anymore, but people I know who went to IUP have never really been excessively negative about it, and a lot of them did say the school was fun. Very disappointed to read this. Certainly I wasn't expecting zero crime and a top tier academic ranking, but this definitely is well below my expectations.

14K a year for Clarion (aka PennWest)? I was just at Edinboro (aka Penn West) last Friday with my son and they showed us the breakdown at 12k a year for tuition, 22k all in a year. So i'm not going to try to tell you what you paid, but seems prices may have changed. So if your choice is 22k for no hockey, or 25k for Bobcat hockey, seems pretty worth it, provided the kid can actually make the team. and with stats like this According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one-third of all U.S. college students switch majors before earning a bachelor's degree. And around 1 in 10 students changes majors more than once. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, around one-third of college students transfer schools before earning their degree. not to mention how many people get jobs unrelated to their degree or after working in their field for a few years change careers entirely. You pick a school that is the best fit for YOUR family. if that includes hockey or not, it's only YOUR business. Whether the school is in state or out of state is YOUR business. I know kids that went to school in Colorado just to go to school in Colorado, So what? their business, not mine. If everybody is so concerned about everyone else's education costs the advice that should be given is go to community college, get an associates degree. Transfer to a 4 year university with a transfer agreement with your community college. the associate degree gets you a 20% tuition discount on your remaining 2 years. Graduate with an associates degree and a bachelors degree with minimal debt relatively speaking. if your kid wants to go to a school to play club hockey, do it. chances are they will be more engaged and less likely to be part of this stat 30% of students drop out in the first year. Only 41% of students graduate in 4 years. Male students have a 20% higher chance to drop out, than female students. Asian students have the lowest dropout rate.