AMR24

So, here is a question: is there a specific rule that prevents a parent from the opposing team to approach a player under the age of 12?

My son's team was aiming for A Major Gold. Lost both placement games. The 1st 1 was 4-2 (equal shots on net), the 2nd was 5-1 (completely 1 sided on shots on net). His team was placed in A Minor Black along with the 1st team we lost to. The 2nd team we played were placed in A Major White, they were aiming for A Major Black. My assumption is that there must be some pretty heavy hard hitters in the upper tiers for us to be placed 2 down from where we aimed. Seems like a several teams were placed 2 down from where they started.

Are there many teams contesting the 12U placements? I was surprised by some placements, at all levels.

Talk to me about the JR Chowder Cup....has anyone been to it? What is it like? Any insight? I would appreciate it! Thanks!

My son is an 04 and went. He did not advance but he had such a great time playing with kids of that caliber. He came home and said he knows what he needs to work on for the next time. So, for us, it really wasn't a waste at all. He may not have been picked but he definitely learned.

I have been following this closely as where we live, there is not a hockey team. We do Co-op with Burrell (we pay the same season dues as the Burrell kids but still attend our local schools). There was a year, in the past, there was not a team through Burrell due to numbers. We made several calls to see if there was any where kids could play and were told no, better luck next season. This was MS, though. But, reading through this thread, it looks like people found ways to get around it. We just waited out our year and the next season there were enough to play.

Seriously? Again with the disrespect. Please do not address me unless you have something constructive to say and do so in a respectful manner. I will not entertain any more of your keyboard warrior, bullying tactics. I believed I was being helpful as this was my 1st year experiencing the whole Mid Am/Nationals stuff.

They were sent an invitation.

Thank you! I actually just got his invite. There were a couple players from his team recommended but did not received an email. The coach has been working with MidAm to figure out what happened. Slowly, the emails are coming in.

I do have a question: my son's coach recommended him in February. We never received an email. It was just brought to our attention that he was even on the list sent in. Once they receive all the recommendations,, do they then shorten the list to who they want to invite or does everyone who is recommended get to try out?

I am willing to have a discussion with you but I will not be talked to in the manor above. If you can approach me with respect, then do so. If not, then we are done.

No not at all

We will just have to agree to disagree on this matter. The 2nd game was fine until the last 5 minutes. Yes, that was on us and it was dealt with. A disgrace to PAHL is a bit extreme. I have seen worse at PAHL games than what occurred in the 2nd game. As for excuses, I make none. I speak to what I saw. My husband is a ref, a coach and a president of an organization. I tend to keep quiet as I know there are many ways to view things and different vantage points. I understand how everything works and moves. I cannot sit back and let a bunch of 14 year olds be bashed over things that were not in their control. Were there moments where they were at fault? Absolutely. They are 14, certainly not perfect. But they did not deserve they way they were treated on Friday or the rest of the weekend for that matter. Nor do they deserve the be talked about on social media among a bunch of adults that want to see them fail because of who spears the Viper Stars Program. Now going back to the coach, should he have thrown the sticks? No. However, it was more than just a few calls not going his way, it was becoming a matter of the safety of the players and the biased behavior of the refs. He is a new coach, he is young. He is learning. Can any of you say that you have not made a bad decision when you were 25, 26, 27? An embarrassing decision that you instantly regretted? We are so quick to judge and throw people under the bus without remembering that we are all humans. We make mistakes and we make errors. Part of being human and a good coach is owning up to those errors, apologizing and making sure you don't make the same mistake twice. And, he did apologize to all involved. I would rather my kid learn how to own up to a mistake than sit back and act like everything is perfect. These threads upset me because none of you all were there. What happened this weekend to these kids (specifically Friday) was atrocious. How they were treated from the very beginning was uncalled for. And, if everyone took a moment to look at it from that point, you would be just as appalled as I am over it. They are 14 year old kids.

This game and how the whole thing was handled was a disgrace. You laugh and say coach throws a hissy but you missed everything that lead up to that point. Yeah, he may have thrown a "hissy" but he was standing up for his kid's.

You were not there, I was. To begin, my son was 1 of the very few that did not take a penalty all weekend. For whatever reason, I feel like that is important to know. The game Friday was so biased from the refs to the tournament director. I am not 1 to comment or complain, my husband is a ref and a coach and the president of an organization. I tend to keep my mouth shut because I know how all the moving pieces work. I will not in this instance. For whatever reason, the ref's did not like our team. My guess is the kids probably gave them attitude in the beginning. But, the issues started the 1st rush to the net when the refs allowed 2 14 year old boys to punch each other while they sat by to watch. You give a 14 year old an inch, they will take a mile. And both teams did. Our boys couldn't even touch a Blazer player without getting called. It was literally the most one sided game I have ever seen in the 6 years I have been attending youth games. When we tried to talk to the gentleman in charge, we were told that we lost all credibility because someone said "bullshit". He then went and sat with the Blazer's parents and talked with them the remaining of the game. I sat and watched all of this. My son and his teammates were treated horribly by the staff, the ref and director. While the Blazers kids walked out of their locker room calling our parents "assholes" and their parents stood there and said "you should have let me beat her ass" our kids had to be escorted out by security. Security said "Oh, we have problems with that Blazer team all the time". Seriously? Then whey were they not also escorted out? Listen, neither side was perfect. Yes, our kids deserve red some of the penalties called. But, the other team was not perfect by no means. But, because they play out there all the time, they were given different treatment. I think that people need to be very careful when critiquing and judging 14 year old boys on a social media site. 14 year old boys are a mess in general. You add in factors like feeling ganged up against, pushed against a wall, and general frustration, they will do stupid things. However, that does not condone the way they were treated Friday night. I will not sit back and let people bash a team that has come so far all season. Friday's game was horrible. Saturday...yeah, that was on us...we had kids react negatively. By the way, the parents from that York team were no better than the ones the night before. Sunday's game was absolutely fine, from us to the other team to the refs. So, before you start judging and making up assumptions, please know the whole truth. A lot of people are waiting for the Viper Stars program to fail because of who started it. So, any type of negativity spreads like wildfire. Take away who started the program and look at it objectively and you would be appalled by what a group of 14 year old boys experienced while in Philly.

I guess I don't understand the obsession with standings. First of, there is still a lot more hockey to be played. Second, the standings do not reflect what type of games there were. For instance, were the losses blow outs or 1 goal difference? Third, they may not be high in standings but are learning and developing more. I will be 100% honest and say that my son is on a Viper Stars team. His team has slowly improved with each game and practice. The majority of games that they have played both in PAHL and in tournament have been good competitive games with close scores. He himself has made tremendous progress under his coaches. I myself do not look at standings at all. I pay for my son to develop and get ice time. I pay for him to have experience going to different states and playing different teams outside of the Pittsburgh region. I am quite happy with the instruction he is getting from his head coach and the exposure that he is getting. That alone is worth my money, not the $5 trophy at the end of the season.