Jack Handey

Wow. He can't play by rules, but has no problem warning everyone else about the rule benders. You win the ironic post of the day.

KDKA reports 2 North Hills school players are positive for Covid-19. They allege it may have spread at the school's tryout. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/07/02/two-north-hills-students-test-positive-for-coronavirus-after-attending-unsanctioned-hockey-tryouts-families-warned-of-potential-outbreak/ One question: why is the tryout on June 27 considered to be "unsanctioned"?

For anyone requesting to see their org's income statement, be sure to check in with the board members who set pricing, and ask them why tryouts are so high. Most orgs will be honest and set the record straight. Prices are inflated to right size the candidate pool. This is Econ 101 and a technique that most boards use to ensure high acceptance rates of placements. It will be up to you to judge the character in their response. And by the way, yes, the tryout fees get chalked up on the balance sheet as revenue. Is the intent to gouge their own members or fundraise? No. It's a weed-out play, plain and simple. I'll go ahead and predict the king will come back with the same old song and dance and say that you can't trust board members because they are lying and covering up some payoff or immoral behavior. Does it happen? Yes. Is it typical? No. But it is clearly the king's anecdotal experience, and it has poisoned him. That and/or he's feeling the sting from a hand slap by some regional affiliate. Whatever. Spare us your overdone broken record response.

LOL. Let's just run tryouts at cost. Why not double or triple our candidate count. We can increase declines from 5%-10% to 50%-60%. We can have constant roster instability all summer long as players quit and hop from $20 tryout to $20 tryout. This is great. We'll name it the King tryout model. Seems just about right for 2020.

...and that's we we have high tryout fees. Tryouts are not an intentional money maker as some have speculated. Most youth orgs are 501(c)3s and aren't in place to make money. Tryouts HAVE to be painfully expensive to prevent the tune up mentality and the constant shopping that goes on. It also wastes of a lot of people's time when you do this.

plus it's "18u prep" now. Does that mean there is a school or academy requirement now? that would add a hefty price tag and force many prospects out.

How is today any different than yesterday? Like you I look out my window and don't see much different. What I can tell you is that I'm not qualified to answer. The question is better suited for public health officials, doctors, etc. Thanks to all who had patience to wait things out. Will my kids skate? Certainly considering it. They put on their pads a few days ago and everything is too small.

I am staying home and if nothing happens to you, you can thank me later. You can stay home too. You got this. And for all the new overnight pulmonary experts, here's a medical tip: Yellow is not Green. It seems this basic scientific fact has eluded you on your way to your instant MD.

This is ALL ABOUT protecting my kids. And protecting myself too. No, we're soccer, lacrosse, and track this time of year. Miss those too, but this is really about protecting kids and families at tryouts like I said from the start. It's about staying alive. I like life. Big fan. I like my life, my kids' lives, your lives, your kids' lives, and all the kids' gramma's lives. When my team plays your team this year, I want 100% of your team, my team, every coach, every official, and every cow-bell-ringing gramma to be there. It will be a great game, I'm looking forward to it. What I don't want is any single one of those people to miss out on the fun that is our game. Especially if their absence could have been so easily prevented. My kids are not tested. I'm not tested. We could be carriers. I don't know. You don't know. You and your kids could be carriers. You don't know. I don't know. But our lives, your life, your kids' lives, your gramma's life are all more important than my kids' need for hockey. So we can wait a little while. From the trenches, if you've not been: hockey brings all kinds of opportunity for fluid exchange. Spit. Hockers. Snot. Coughing. Vomit. Blood. Even something as simple as a coach delivering a spirited talk at the whiteboard, spittle flying through his teeth and lips while kids take a knee, shoulder to shoulder, heavy breathing from the last drill, rapidly inhaling and exhaling. We have enough uncertainty with this virus. By getting together in large groups under yellow, some of us are compounding that uncertainty. Do your kids and yourselves and my kids and me and all grammas a favor: stay home for a few more weeks. Hockey will still be there when we go green.

I'm worried that people who are pretty smart at science, medicine, microbiology, etc have issued recommendations for the benefit of the public good, and that hockey coaches by night and whatever else they are by day have decided they know better.

What's best is probably not within the bounds of reality. I'm guessing they'll need to grease the palms in the legal community instead. If an association has knowledge that its coaches and players are practicing, they could be held accountable once mid-am goes green if a future outbreak occurs. It's probably a good time for board members to pick up some (more) personal liability insurance.

Yeah I can't get into a forensics debate here, but it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened if there is outbreak amongst a group of people who collectively engaged in a risky activity. On the bright side, 99% will survive. Odds are in your favor.

It is well known now that some very specific USAH coaches, hockey parents, and players are willfully disobeying public health orders. There is news today of fall team prospects now practicing together. Some may now be infected, or may now be carriers of infection. Allowing these coaches and players to participate in a tryout is now a serious health risk. Can we assume that local associations will protect their memberships, and require a negative COVID-19 test on these people before tryouts?

This is correct. With a dedicated coach, you can get training as good as "elite" level at any local organization.

1. Agree with you Nemesis. I think the moderator was more concerned with protecting the ID of the original poster than protecting the anonymity of the violating rink. But we should be able to talk about controversial tidbits. Outing a violator is probably in the best interest for public health. Worst case scenario: positive cases of the virus will spike upward, progress to green status will be halted, season will be further delayed or even canceled. If that happens, you can blame the rink or blame the dude needing his quick buck off a clinic. I will blame both. 2. I wouldn't worry much about not being able to practice while other kids are practicing. Suppose a few kids are getting a few weeks head start. It will all even out by the start of the season. If there is a season. And lets be honest - anyone working on ice hockey specific skills in May is probably on the path to burn out. Kids should be outside doing lacrosse, baseball, soccer, and track/field. 3. USA Hockey has no jurisdiction over a private business and no jurisdiction over a private transaction (sale of ice to guy running clinic). OMG I've turned into the King! I'm sure USAH can issue dirty looks though. A fourth point of interest, worthy of discussion, is insurance. USAH liability coverage does not apply in this case. Maybe rink is protected through another insurance. Maybe ISI? Opening the doors with no liability insurance would seem like a big risk. I would like to hear more comments on that if anyone has knowledge to share.