Saucey

The problem that has existed with this for years is that the East puts really good AAA talent on their teams and has quite a few practices before the event. The other two teams have to travel to ty he east and don't attract the same level of talent. 16u AAA Vengeance and Icemen are not AAA. Some I would bet are A Major knowing who those programs took. Not fun when the odds are stacked before you get out of the gate.

I thought his comment odd, too, in light of exactly what you said. Politics comes into play every where you go. If you are picking between the same level of talent, some other factor comes into play, including I know this kid and his family thus they are a known entity. But it could be lots of things, like ...your kid is a known trouble maker...you are bad in the stands....etc. This is a small hockey town. By the time your kid hits U18, everyone knows someone who knows your kid.

There do exist people and organizations who don't blow the smoke.

I agree on school first. But if you also want to play hockey the choices are there. If he can get into Pitt and play there, go for it, I say! Not easy to get into Pitt these days.

Ugh. Did you ask what the plan is if Rostraver goes bye bye? It's why Cal is even on my boy's radar.

I don't disagree with you, but I don't think the volunteer run Boards have the time or energy to do it, unfortunately. It's a cycle that repeats over and over. By the time people realize these things, they are moving on and don't care about what is coming behind them. And there is always someone out there with their hands out, ready to give parents the truth they want to hear in exchange for their dollars.

It's not just that age group. I have an older child playing summer hockey. The dads for the other team, in a very lopsided win, would cheer every goal by saying... F ya, let's go, that's awesome! Cry over missed calls. The goalie couldn't move laterally and my son's team had seven skaters or something. But that was a big deal to them. Too many parents really suck these days. It's impossible to sit in stands anymore.

Peewees and summer hockey. ?

Oh yeah. Those players typically come with the worst attitudes if they haven't gone to another team that attached the extra 'A'.

My kid? Yes, actually. Burnout? No, quite happy and still playing at the level I am willing to pay for without feeling like a sucker. Bitter at the Western Pa hockey world? Yes, quite. Continue to criticize it for misleading parents like you and harming overall development of the market, an opinion that I am entitled to both have and express? Yes, please. You said you don't play, so you really have no point of reference for what I am talking about. People who play AND HAVE PASSION FOR THE GAME understand how not fun it is to play on a sheet with benders when you have some skill, and why a family might choose to exit the game rather than to spend time and money on that. How the ringer who enjoys skating around everyone sucks the life out of the game. Coaches understand how difficult it is to develop players when the level is that uneven on the same team. Ask a parent of girls who play. No matter how much passion you have, it gets old after a while. I'm out on this thread. You insult me, than get all bent out shape when I poke back. ? No matter what I think or feel, parents (and the carpet baggers behind them) are driving this market. The biggest peddler has yet to even flex. (Blackbear with their AAA league.) Someone else needs to start talking to the ADM parents, because like you said, I am bitter. But I still suspect that it is waste of breathe. Just keep slapping on that extra A and the lemmings will come.

He is perfectly fine. And you mean ..I will allow my kid to play the highest level someone will let my kid play, no matter if it is accurate or not, as long as I have money to pay....

Or....get out now, save the money, do another sport and....play beer league just like all the other faux AAAs when he turns 18. Passion for the game? How is fun to not be challenged on the ice? You must be one of those ringer types that lives off going end to end in a beginner skate.

People criticize because it drains the talent playing locally and not everyone can afford to pay that or wants to spend all their time traveling when the finish line remains the same. It is NOT good for the sport at all to continue to raise the bar for entry. I mean I get it, if you got the change you don't give a flying F about people without. Pretty standard for people with money IMHO. You prevent people with talent from playing. I hear this argument all the time, like draining the talent doesn't somehow affect other families. It does. I know a family with a good kid in a low birth year who has some talent that is poised to exit the sport at his prime playing year because the level of play is just that bad in PAHL and the family is not willing to go play AA under a faux AAA name. So yeah, people care. I get it you don't.

That's true no matter where you play. Not like that doesn't happen in PAHL....

And all of those teams were pretty darn good... spending extra and traveling further does not necessarily equate to development.

I am sure it depends on how good your HS team is, too. The HS teams that are playing weekend tournaments, those kids would pick that over the travel. My kids are over the travel tournament in general. A couple every year since they were nine...yeah.

That depends on your perspective. At 18u, that entire play level is a crap shoot anyway. To me, 18u is bonus hockey by that age as kids begin to focus on life after high school. It isn't the priority of most kids by that time.

Some personalities don't mesh well as Pucks11 points out. But people don't recognize when that happens. Ot that it's good for a kid to figure out how to handle a coach that they don't like. You know, practice for the real world for when they get a coworker or boss that they hate.

Most of the big AAA high school programs, if you look at the scoring, is driven by one line. If a high school program is successful in luring some of the AAA or AA talent on the team, that is kind of a large key to success. Not all of it, way too simplistic, it is still a team sport, but the numbers don't lie. High school hockey's attraction around here is its fun factor. Name in the paper. Friends and family coming to watch way much more than any AAA game. Playing for your school. Less pressure because there is no suggestion you should be chasing anything more than that Penguins Cup. Some people have said here there is no exposure there. I disagree with that. If the goal and the drive is to make NCAA or the USHL, no PIHL is not the path. But that is the path of .001 percent of children, anyway. Some of high school events like the Pens Cup, some of the events that Pa Hockey hosts, the All Star game...local club coaches watch. Definite conversations with coaches asking if my kid wanted to come play for them. But you know what? They are also interested in about .001 percent of the kids they are seeing. For club hockey. Just play. Tell your kid to have fun, enjoy the ride. There is definitely a huge toll on a family's life with that chase. Finances. Friends.

Sigh. All the same advice that has been given on this board ad nauseam. Doesn't matter. And ironic since my hockey rankings has had a significant part in driving the crazy. I know the author has said that was never his intent. But it's true. What would happen, at least temporarily until someone else filled the void, if my hockey rankings disappeared? I thought my family wasn't part of the crazy. But we did get caught up, to some extent. Don't look back and wish you had spent less time on it. Make sure you are spending time with family and friends that are not a part of hockey. Have some balance in life.

Why should everyone be chasing like that? That's the problem. When the end game for success is .001? Why is this the norm? Why structure youth sports around the idea that you are training for Div I or the NHL? Because people are making money from it is actually a pretty crap reason to structure something for kids that way.

So sad, isn't it? I work with young kids. They need MORE opportunities to move, not less. They can't run for long without getting winded. They don't know basic recess games. They can't organize themselves into their own games. This was prepandemic, now I am sure it will be worse. They don't want to go go toss a football around with their friends because 'they aren't good.' Since when did messing around around in the back yard with friends require talent? Sports are very much becoming associated with elite athletes only in our kids' minds. Bleh.

I can classify, too. The problem is feeling forced into paying more in time and money AND having to spend time with crazy parents for the same level of hockey we were just playing. Because many are not aware like you are that they are playing a certain level. They bought the salespitch.

You are very confusing hence why someone said you are trolling. It's getting harder to advise people because the hockey landscape is changing very quickly. The level of play is decreasing in PAHL every year as people play these other things. For me, I too turn down the faux AAA option because there is no way that my family needs more. But my kids are older. When they were coming up, playing A major their first year in a level was perfectly fine for their development. But now...that has changed just in the last few years as even A Major and lower go to play independent. If I had a young child... maybe we wouldn't play at all, quite frankly. I think at the younger levels it is still good hockey and so your choice right now is likely fine. Just keep an eye on his fun level, the crazy level of the parents and whether he gets better. Don't worry about having him evaluated and blah blah. Just those things and you will be fine. I am burnt out on the crazy in youth sports. I am tired of even basically good people getting so wound up in it that they lose sight of the kids. So my comments come from negativity because I am tired of experiencing negativity. Tired of the crazy. Try really hard to remember this is just a game and they are just kids. I should change my handle to letsjustplaypuck.

You get sarcasm because you aren't interested in the answer. How do I get my kid noticed that no one is noticing, no matter how many teams we try out for or how much money I spend or how much I put him on the ice. We say...stop. You say...how do I get him noticed? We say....if he is good someone will. You ask again, you are surprised you get the sarcasm? Just take him to the faux AAAs. They love you all and PAHL has been ruined. Spend three times the amount of money and time for what used to be AA hockey. Or now, lower. Vengeance 07 took kids this year from NPs AA team last year that people were saying were A Major. If nothing better comes along, they will take what they can to fill rosters while you hope that will get your kid noticed.