hockeyisgreat Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 My question is for folks with multiple kids playing hockey over several age groups. They get a better feel for an organization as a whole instead of particular birth years. Anyone care to offer an opinion as to why they like where they are or why they switched to a different organization. Seems like Preds, Mt Lebo and SHAHA would compete for the same kids. How do you pick one over the other? I think most others start because of proximity to the rink. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forbin Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 1 hour ago, hockeyisgreat said: My question is for folks with multiple kids playing hockey over several age groups. They get a better feel for an organization as a whole instead of particular birth years. Anyone care to offer an opinion as to why they like where they are or why they switched to a different organization. Seems like Preds, Mt Lebo and SHAHA would compete for the same kids. How do you pick one over the other? I think most others start because of proximity to the rink. I prefer the organizations that can offer some type of consistent practice slot for the whole season. Location obviously plays a huge part in picking the organization, but I personally don't mind driving a little further if its worth it. We switched from one large organization to a slightly smaller one for multiple reasons. Reason number one being that 5pm weeknight practices are nearly impossible to make with two working parents. And when those 5pm practices were all four 10U teams on the ice at once and running station drills like mites do, it wasn't really worth pissing my boss off by leaving early every week. Not to mention no set schedule so it really messed up our home life balance, especially when you have other kids who do other activities like dance/cheerleading etc. Reason number two was the people involved. I understand that the teams cant advertise their practice schedule ahead of time because they usually sit down and figure that out in July based on what the rink can offer, but it sure would make it an easier decision for some, myself included. Regardless, my sons are both very happy with where they are playing currently. The coaching is great for both age levels, and the set practice times make it easy to plan around my daughters schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyisgreat Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 1 hour ago, forbin said: I prefer the organizations that can offer some type of consistent practice slot for the whole season. Location obviously plays a huge part in picking the organization, but I personally don't mind driving a little further if its worth it. We switched from one large organization to a slightly smaller one for multiple reasons. Reason number one being that 5pm weeknight practices are nearly impossible to make with two working parents. And when those 5pm practices were all four 10U teams on the ice at once and running station drills like mites do, it wasn't really worth pissing my boss off by leaving early every week. Not to mention no set schedule so it really messed up our home life balance, especially when you have other kids who do other activities like dance/cheerleading etc. Reason number two was the people involved. I understand that the teams cant advertise their practice schedule ahead of time because they usually sit down and figure that out in July based on what the rink can offer, but it sure would make it an easier decision for some, myself included. Regardless, my sons are both very happy with where they are playing currently. The coaching is great for both age levels, and the set practice times make it easy to plan around my daughters schedule. So all other things being equal (Quality of Coaches). Ice time is very important to you. You drive a little farther for a better Ice time. Do your kids play in different divisions? Are their practices back to back? Will you consider changing organizations again somewhere down the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoboys Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said: My question is for folks with multiple kids playing hockey over several age groups. They get a better feel for an organization as a whole instead of particular birth years. Anyone care to offer an opinion as to why they like where they are or why they switched to a different organization. Seems like Preds, Mt Lebo and SHAHA would compete for thIt e same kids. How do you pick one over the other? I think most others start because of proximity to the rink. It depends on your kids ability. If they are AA players, then you are team shopping and probably know which organization has the better core of kids and coach. If not then it is personal preference. And by personal preference, I mean cost, time to get there, how many slots a week, and whether or not there is a set practice time or not, friends, etc. The worst thing is having a practice with 5 kids there. So, we like teams that kids show up and take it seriously. Our kids every other year or so play at different organizations, which means we accept that they could be on the ice the same time at two different rinks. Our kids like hockey and don't do it casually so we are willing to arrange schedules to make it work. Edited July 27, 2021 by twoboys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forbin Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 2 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said: So all other things being equal (Quality of Coaches). Ice time is very important to you. You drive a little farther for a better Ice time. Do your kids play in different divisions? Are their practices back to back? Will you consider changing organizations again somewhere down the road? Yes, aside from coaching I would say that ice time is the most important thing. I have an 09 and a 13. My 09 is a lower level player and will likely not play after this season as he has a lot of other interests he wants to pursue. My '13 will likely make the jump to "AAA" for squirts. He is a talented and driven kid who is addicted to hockey. Their practice schedule for this season seems to line up nicely. I drive 40+ minutes to the rink and pass 4 other rinks on my way. I have been really impressed with both of their coaching staffs, and like how things are properly communicated to us. I could never get a straight answer from anyone at our old organization and half the parents had no idea we had to drive to places like Johnstown or Erie for games. Then you have half the team that doesn't want to spend the extra money to participate in tournaments, it totally killed it for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaaahockey Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 9 hours ago, hockeyisgreat said: My question is for folks with multiple kids playing hockey over several age groups. They get a better feel for an organization as a whole instead of particular birth years. Anyone care to offer an opinion as to why they like where they are or why they switched to a different organization. Seems like Preds, Mt Lebo and SHAHA would compete for the same kids. How do you pick one over the other? I think most others start because of proximity to the rink. Proximity of the rink and coaching. I think it might be my kids birthyears but I've never been impressed with the Lebo coaching. Don't forget potentially southpointe (South Pittsburgh) and even Rostraver can compete with those three as well depending on where you live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondering aloud Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 Lebo coaching? You mean hornets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaaahockey Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 8 minutes ago, Wondering aloud said: Lebo coaching? You mean hornets? Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJUSHL Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 (edited) On 7/27/2021 at 7:48 AM, bb2j3z said: I think it's difficult to say if an organization as a whole is good or not... usually the politics will reside with the coaches and parents of a particular team. It's best to do your research and get to know the coaches possibly the parents before you make a switch. In a head coach bio, you might be able to find out how long they have been in an organization. It's not even clear what age group you are in. Sometimes it will not always been greener on another organization. We had a really good experience with our head coach and parents last year, when in previous years, you would get a few kids move on to the Predators or PPE year after year. So we all came back this season or at least tried out for the same team. This is our team 1 for squirts at South Pittsburgh Rebellion at Southpointe... most are 2011, 2nd yr squirts. I know a few parents on the 2011 Predators team and they have been positive about their experiences there + I like the facility and that they have two sheets of ice.. we usually go there for Quest summer league. Two sheets of ice is HUGE. I think the second sheet at Southpointe is going to start slowly shifting some south hills kids that way. I think some school districts are already planning the move to Southpointe (besides just Peters, Canon Mac, and Trinity). I also think the southern beltway is going to start brining some Robinson and west hills kids to Southpointe. Will be such an easy drive and I think driving is always an aspect that is a bigger deal than people like to admit. Edited July 28, 2021 by RJUSHL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoboys Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 On 7/28/2021 at 10:06 AM, RJUSHL said: Two sheets of ice is HUGE. I think the second sheet at Southpointe is going to start slowly shifting some south hills kids that way. I think some school districts are already planning the move to Southpointe (besides just Peters, Canon Mac, and Trinity). I also think the southern beltway is going to start brining some Robinson and west hills kids to Southpointe. Will be such an easy drive and I think driving is always an aspect that is a biggeByr deal than people like to admit. I think for the most part parents stay with their local rink for Mites and Squirts. By the time kids get to Peewee, parents are willing to drive their kids to a different rink. By the time you kids is a peewee, you know if a coach is any good, the team is ok, or whether or not you are getting the short end of the stick at tryouts. We live in the North Hills and we know countless people who go to the South Hills and vice versa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fafa fohi Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Sad news Preds coach Greg Timmons recently passed away. https://obituaries.post-gazette.com/obituary/gregory-d-timmons-esq-1082924492 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wondering aloud Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 That's sad news. My condolences to the family and kids he coached Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loach Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 I didn't know he was fighting cancer. Rest in peace, condolences to the family. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOldPucker Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 Too many people that I know are passing way too soon lately..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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