WPA ACHA College Club Hockey

[Danner27]

28 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

What you will get from me is insight on my own experiences while not claiming I know everything based on those experiences.  Circumstances are different for each kid - I had two that played at a high level and each was a completely different set of circumstances, and it is up to them to find the best fit based on their needs and not from some loudmouth know-it-all on a hockey forum claiming to know everything about everything.

 

Again, your assumptions are incorrect and your reading comprehension needs work - I never mentioned SHAHA until after you brought it up so for you to say I am always championing that team is a load of crap.  You are moving the goalposts and combining comments from other threads onto this one to try and make some kind of point.  Thud. 

Nor do I have a kid that plays there nor am I involved there, but I find it interesting to see teams of all local kids beat a team that recruits heavily out of state that is labeled "elite."

Backhanded insults?  I cannot speak for @Law but he may like a word, as all you did was hurl insults and opinions not based on fact towards him.

Adios.

Talk about reading comprehension smh. I never stated you brought shaha into this thread, I clearly stated why I did. 
 

My pitt comments are facts. Regular season best record doesn’t mean anything, the playoff winner from the confrence gets the auto bid. That hasn’t been pitt. 

[muckerandgrinder]

My guess is that half of the kids playing at some of the schools mentioned are doing it because THEY want to and the other half are playing because their parents want them to.
 Don’t underestimate the fact that hundreds and hundreds of parents have been on the PPE/Esmark youth hockey train for years and can’t come to grips that the real D1 and NHL dream and sell job has to end. Not for the player but for the parents. They’ve spent so many years thumping their chests about their kid dominating at squirt through midget and looking down their nose at PAHL and their “faux” buddies that they just can’t come to grips with reality. Why? Because it’s always been about them and not their son or daughter. (Don’t even get me started on the idiotic “gap year” so you can show up at your local rink sporting a hoodie or hat of some nondescript “junior” team in Alabama that had a tryout camp that you had to pay for your kid to go to… oh yeah, and his “advisor” told you and your wife that he is the only 5 tool player on the Muskrats squad)
Listen, I’m all about people having hockey as a part of their life. And I’ll never tell a young kid that they have no chance to make it to the NHL. But at the same time, people can’t come here and bash “faux” and PAHL teams but talk seriously about college club hockey being anything but a couple more years of putting on a jersey and being part of a team. 
And honestly, I who would want to spend another 4 years (while paying tuition) with disgruntled PPE/Excel castoffs reminding everyone how much better they are than you. Even though they ended up in the same place as the “faux” boys. It’s bad enough when they can’t handle checking at bantam and get relegated to your PAHL team. Get out while you can. 
lol

On that note, cheers to all of the young men and women still playing after high school because they love the game. 

 

 

[HSFBLJ]

I would fall into the 1/2 of the parents that wanted to see my son continue to play hockey.  Partially because I feel his best years could be in front of him, he graduated younger (17) than most kids in his grade.  The biggest reason to see him continue was the discipline that comes with being part of team.  Transitioning to college can be tough, being a part of something helps to ease that transition.  Being a part of a team gives you and immediate social group, people you have at least one thing in common with.  Also, mandatory study time, prefered scheduling, tutor assistance and someone who is checking in with your youngster besides mom and dad.  

If your looking at ACHA or M1,M2, or M3 as an avenue for your child to continue to play at a high level you may want to rethink that process.  I could be wrong but I don't think many college players transition to another level to advance their hockey career.  I'm sure it is competitive and everyone still wants to win but reading these posts are a bit concerning.  

I miss being at the rink and watching my son play.  We still love hockey and go to several games a year, however, now we enjoy a round of golf and talking about what the future holds outside of hockey.  For those of you that are concerned, there is life after hockey.  Good luck with whatever you decide and whatever path your child decides to take.  Spend your money however you wish, you can always make more.

[dazedandconfused]

3 hours ago, muckerandgrinder said:

college club hockey being anything but a couple more years of putting on a jersey and being part of a team.

THIS!!!

Maybe there are still a few players left in this world that this is why they still play. But you know for Danner and the disappointment that he harbors due to his kids not reaching HIS goals for them, he must bash all hockey.

For those who think he offers great insight and an unbiased opinion, just remember he doesn't even tell the truth about his own kid's playing experience. He claims he has a 99 that played at PPE and was drafted into the USHL. Never happened. No 99's from PPE fall into that category.

Reader beware.

 

[Danner27]

Liberty plays Ohio U on espn plus tonight if anyone wants to see what the high end club hockey looks like. 
 

I’ve been following the acha the past few years - mainly the end of the seasons & nationals at all 3 levels. I’ve helped a few families and players make informed decesions about college and it was very simple - don’t pick a school because of hockey. Pretty simple. 
 

I think club hockey is a great thing, I don’t understand why some think I’m putting it down. If you read my posts above I mention how it helps with the adjustment  for a lot of kids, gives them new friends instantly etc. 

Sorry when I call out the BS it offends, like I said youth hockey parents & poltics have worked their way into the local college club hockey. The ones that are offended are usually the offenders. 

Edited February 18, 2023 by Danner27

[whatever]

2 hours ago, Danner27 said:

Liberty plays Ohio U on espn plus tonight if anyone wants to see what the high end club hockey looks like. 
 

I’ve been following the acha the past few years - mainly the end of the seasons & nationals at all 3 levels. I’ve helped a few families and players make informed decesions about college and it was very simple - don’t pick a school because of hockey. Pretty simple. 
 

I think club hockey is a great thing, I don’t understand why some think I’m putting it down. If you read my posts above I mention how it helps with the adjustment  for a lot of kids, gives them new friends instantly etc. 

Sorry when I call out the BS it offends, like I said youth hockey parents & poltics have worked their way into the local college club hockey. The ones that are offended are usually the offenders. 

Quit a few area kids play for Ohio U. I'm going to tune in.  Thanks! 

[Danner27]

4 hours ago, whatever said:

Quit a few area kids play for Ohio U. I'm going to tune in.  Thanks! 

Two that I know of - 1 at ppe most of his youth, the other from esmark. Both I think are seniors at Ohio U. 
 

It was a good game, liberty won in ot. 

[ANKLEBENDER]

More than a couple...

https://www.ohiobobcathockey.com/team/roster

[Danner27]

1 hour ago, ANKLEBENDER said:

More than a couple...

https://www.ohiobobcathockey.com/team/roster

I missed two ? two players I don’t recall from back In the youth days. One of the guys doesn’t appear to play much as a senior. Great link!  better than the acha website. 

[theconradwaite]

On 2/11/2023 at 2:23 AM, Danner27 said:

I’m going to go on a small rant here for a second but this is also to inform parents. Western pa M1 “D1” teams. Pitt has to leave to CHMA that they could never win because they want “better competition”. Their fees to play are in the youth hockey AAA range now. The ACHA favors big name schools and known hockey schools  with their secret rankings. They won’t disclose thier formula. Their ACHA rankings were much better when they used my hockey rankings. Bias was harder to manipulate. Example - in the acha a OT loss counts straight up as a loss, you get zero points. A top 5 ranked team lost in OT last weekend, the acha put the game as a tie in the rankings formula and didn’t even try to hide it. In the standings it’s listed as a loss. 
 

Back to Pitt - the city game last weekend  was pitt vs duqesne. Duquesne is always at the bottom of the M1 rankings. Pitt won by one goal. I watched the live stream, I’m scratching my head trying to figure out how pitt is ranked as a top 20 team (well I know how but that’s another story) 
 

somehow duqense managed to get a series against Adrian this weekend, Adrian is always a top 10 team. I watched the feed for game one. Adrain just rolled lines and mainly played the 3rd & 4th lines. Here are the results of both games. 
 

80 shots a game! That’s like midget PPE or ESMARK playing a PAHL A major team.  this is what happens when western PA acha teams try to play with the real M1 teams. A lot of our western PA acha M1 teams (and Ohio) are run by local politics to a degree. Lots of Pahl & Pihl parent involvement, Elbow rubbing like the good old youth days. RMU & DUQ are the biggest offenders locally. RMU has kids on their top team that wouldn’t crack the top 10 on their second team. 

the point - don’t pick a college because you want the “D1”(M1) name. Pick a school that fits the education your child is looking for along with manageable debt / cost. It’s CLUB hockey - glorified BEER leauge. When a coach or “GM” tells you or your son they will put you on team 1 if you go there, tell them to put it in writting, they won’t. These guys get a bird dog for getting kids to enroll. 
 

/END RANT

 

If anyone wants to talk local acha club hockey, I guess do it here. 

 

@Danner27 as the Head Coach & head of Duquense’s club hockey program for the last 7 years I was fascinated to hear that unbeknownst to me our team is “run by local politics”, and has “lots of PAHL & PIHL parent involvement and elbow rubbing”. I am curious though, can you provide a single example, shred of evidence to back up this claim, or even a detail about our program that would explain what any of that actually means?
 

Further, you choose to disparage the way we run our program and recruit, but I challenge you to find a single player I’ve talked to since taking over, that I tried to convince to come to Duquesne for the hockey and hockey alone. 

I know you can’t, because I’m the one that has talked to every player interested in  Duquense over the last number of years, and they all get the same first question from me: “what do you want to study?” Next we talk about academics & school size/fit to see if Duquesne makes sense for them. All of that long before we talk hockey, because I don’t want to recruit players for hockey and hockey alone. And the funny thing is, that philosophy is definitely one of the reasons why we struggle to compete with the top teams at our level. But I’m just not willing to compromise our ethics for short term success.

On top of that, nearly every single player I talk to hears from me at some point “look, if you decide during your college search that Duquense isn’t a good fit for you anymore, that’s fine. College is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life, you don’t need added pressure from myself or any other coaches where to go. If I can help you find the best fit for you, I’m more than happy to do it.” And I’ve always stood by that.

So again, please provide a single example to back up your claim about our program. One. I’d love to hear it, because if there is any validity to anything you say, I want to know about it.  But since I’m quite certain you don’t have any example or proof, I would appreciate an apology and clarification of your comments. 

 

thank you.

 

-conrad 

 

[Overqualified]

On 2/13/2023 at 12:24 AM, Danner27 said:

I’m old - it’s hard to sugar coat things. I just tell it like it is. Both of my boys played, I played & coached (never them). I’ve watched how much the game has changed since I was young, all the way up to my youngest aging out and being done. I’ve watched the sport turn into pure business at the youth level, now I’m watching the college level - both acha & ncaa turn into pure businesses. 

This comes from a coach who asked for more and more money every year to coach

Until they fired you

[Saucey]

10 hours ago, theconradwaite said:

@Danner27 as the Head Coach & head of Duquense’s club hockey program for the last 7 years I was fascinated to hear that unbeknownst to me our team is “run by local politics”, and has “lots of PAHL & PIHL parent involvement and elbow rubbing”. I am curious though, can you provide a single example, shred of evidence to back up this claim, or even a detail about our program that would explain what any of that actually means?
 

Further, you choose to disparage the way we run our program and recruit, but I challenge you to find a single player I’ve talked to since taking over, that I tried to convince to come to Duquesne for the hockey and hockey alone. 

I know you can’t, because I’m the one that has talked to every player interested in  Duquense over the last number of years, and they all get the same first question from me: “what do you want to study?” Next we talk about academics & school size/fit to see if Duquesne makes sense for them. All of that long before we talk hockey, because I don’t want to recruit players for hockey and hockey alone. And the funny thing is, that philosophy is definitely one of the reasons why we struggle to compete with the top teams at our level. But I’m just not willing to compromise our ethics for short term success.

On top of that, nearly every single player I talk to hears from me at some point “look, if you decide during your college search that Duquense isn’t a good fit for you anymore, that’s fine. College is one of the biggest decisions you will make in your life, you don’t need added pressure from myself or any other coaches where to go. If I can help you find the best fit for you, I’m more than happy to do it.” And I’ve always stood by that.

So again, please provide a single example to back up your claim about our program. One. I’d love to hear it, because if there is any validity to anything you say, I want to know about it.  But since I’m quite certain you don’t have any example or proof, I would appreciate an apology and clarification of your comments. 

 

thank you.

 

-conrad 

 

To be fair, I can't find where Danner said that in connection with Duquesne. I do remember a thread somewhere on this forum where those criticisms were leveled against Pitt.

[theconradwaite]

1 hour ago, Saucey said:

To be fair, I can't find where Danner said that in connection with Duquesne. I do remember a thread somewhere on this forum where those criticisms were leveled against Pitt.

It’s in the first post of the thread that I quoted. He said that RMU & DUQ are the biggest offenders locally. 
 

-conrad 

[Danner27]

14 minutes ago, theconradwaite said:

It’s in the first post of the thread that I quoted. He said that RMU & DUQ are the biggest offenders locally. 
 

-conrad 

Since you felt the need to come on here to reply - proves my point even more. It’s like those montour board memebers that showed up here - guilty. I’m sure you are a nice person, im sure 90% of what you said is true but it doesn’t change anything about the politics creeping into the local acha hockey. That’s why many western pa kids are leaving the area and paying out of state tuition (stupid move imo - just don’t play) the players & parents see the same politics they watched go on during 10 years of youth hockey. It’s almost spring, ya better start putting that vengeance money grab together. 

[theconradwaite]

49 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

Since you felt the need to come on here to reply - proves my point even more. It’s like those montour board memebers that showed up here - guilty. I’m sure you are a nice person, im sure 90% of what you said is true but it doesn’t change anything about the politics creeping into the local acha hockey. That’s why many western pa kids are leaving the area and paying out of state tuition (stupid move imo - just don’t play) the players & parents see the same politics they watched go on during 10 years of youth hockey. It’s almost spring, ya better start putting that vengeance money grab together. 

@Danner27 I came on here last week/weekend because I was hoping to find the midam schedule and results posted. I happened to find this thread because it was fresh, and mentioned ACHA hockey. I created an account and spoke up because you levied accusations against and disparaged our program without any evidence. You can give your opinion on our results, success, wins/losses all you want, I’m not going to take time to debate those things with strangers on the internet. But I will defend unfounded attacks on myself and the program.
 

I’ll admit, I did debate the benefits of responding vs leaving it alone, but honestly I figured one of two things would likely result from a response.
1. You would provide details or evidence that I don’t know about, and I’d be better off with the knowledge so myself and our program  don’t make those mistakes again. Which would be great, because I’ll take any opportunity to learn or get better. 
2. You would prove in your response that the claims are baseless, and as a result they would not go unchallenged to anyone reading this thread.

There was of course the third possibility that you might actually acknowledge or apologize for the claims, but even I knew that was unlikely.

 

At the end of the day, I’m perfectly comfortable with anyone reading this thread t drawing their own conclusions. I appreciate the response, and good luck! 

 

-conrad 

[sarampage]

Regarding Duquense, Conrad approached me concerning my son during a game to inquire about his plans after HS.  I told him he was most likely going to a school that was not Duquense, and we had nice conversation.  He gave me his contact info and said to reach out if his plans changed or had any questions regarding hockey in general.  That was it...good experience for me.

As others have suggested, my son picked a school based on what he wants to study and hockey is only a bonus, which gives him the opportunity to make new friends and continue playing the game he loves...

[Saucey]

3 hours ago, Danner27 said:

Since you felt the need to come on here to reply - proves my point even more. It’s like those montour board memebers that showed up here - guilty. I’m sure you are a nice person, im sure 90% of what you said is true but it doesn’t change anything about the politics creeping into the local acha hockey. That’s why many western pa kids are leaving the area and paying out of state tuition (stupid move imo - just don’t play) the players & parents see the same politics they watched go on during 10 years of youth hockey. It’s almost spring, ya better start putting that vengeance money grab together. 

Actually, Danner, I doubt the kids who would play ACHA club hockey are leaving the area specifically to go to another school to play club hockey somewhere else. Pitt, Duquesne and PSU are very expensive to go to and good out of state schools are frequently cheaper. Ohio has so many schools, for instance. Plus Pitt and PSU Main have become super hard to get into. It's actually pretty terrible that a good Pa student with decent SAT scores can expect that it will still be hard to get into the big Pa schools. I would submit that decisions are being made more based on those reasons than wanting to play club hockey at Pitt/Duquesne and not being able to based on politics. That doesn't really make sense, actually.

[Danner27]

9 minutes ago, Saucey said:

Actually, Danner, I doubt the kids who would play ACHA club hockey are leaving the area specifically to go to another school to play club hockey somewhere else. Pitt, Duquesne and PSU are very expensive to go to and good out of state schools are frequently cheaper. Ohio has so many schools, for instance. Plus Pitt and PSU Main have become super hard to get into. It's actually pretty terrible that a good Pa student with decent SAT scores can expect that it will still be hard to get into the big Pa schools. I would submit that decisions are being made more based on those reasons than wanting to play club hockey at Pitt/Duquesne and not being able to based on politics. That doesn't really make sense, actually.

Oh no, they are. Take a look around. This issue is a compound between local politics & parents still wanting to live through their kids to some degree. Miami, Ohio U, Kent just in Ohio alone. There are kids going as far as Colorado. Families paying over 35k a year to go out of state just to play acha hockey. It’s crazy. 
 

I am not saying the coach at Duquesne is a bad guy (like the rmu guy). What I am saying is parent politics are creeping into local acha hockey. It’s happening at every western pa school to a degree, just much stronger at some. 

[Saucey]

17 minutes ago, Danner27 said:

Oh no, they are. Take a look around. This issue is a compound between local politics & parents still wanting to live through their kids to some degree. Miami, Ohio U, Kent just in Ohio alone. There are kids going as far as Colorado. Families paying over 35k a year to go out of state just to play acha hockey. It’s crazy. 
 

I am not saying the coach at Duquesne is a bad guy (like the rmu guy). What I am saying is parent politics are creeping into local acha hockey. It’s happening at every western pa school to a degree, just much stronger at some. 

No offense Danner, but my family is doing this right now, and I still say, not being able to get into the school and the expense are more influential on Western Pa kids leaving the area than not getting on the local club hockey team. We parents compare notes. Pitt is a bigish school with one club team.  Hard to get into the school, hard to get on the team. Duquesne is crazy expensive. Pitt, PSU, RMU...they are expensive imho. RMU was most generous with merit offer for us, but wasn't a good fit for what my kid wanted to study.

To my knowledge, Miami University doesn't recruit for their club teams. Or maybe that was just my kid. ? Ohio, they want you to have some sort of hockey experience outside of youth/high school, even for their club teams, but who knows, maybe if you are good enough you could walk on during try outs. Kent tells you the same thing but they have kids rostered that came straight from high school. Depends on how good the kid is and who came out, I bet. The ACHA is all over the place. Bowling Green has a club team that is coached by the players. It really depends on the school. Adrian College loves their hockey and it is tough as hell to be rostered on their club three team. They recruit. But the school itself is....not so good academically. You have to research and be creative in your research, because it is hard to find information. Everyone's needs are going to be different.

My kid wants to play club. He reached out to coaches of schools he was interested in. Even at the club level, if you want to play, it's a good idea to get on their radar. It's hard to pick a team just based on a tryout, I think. The coaches are all over the place in how they respond. Everything from, cool, come out to a practice and skate with the team, to....here's the dates for our prospect skates...to...see you in August for tryouts. I don't know that this is politics or....life. Kind of like getting a job. Is it crazy to do this for club? Well, yeah. But it happens in youth travel hockey all the time, too.

For anyone interested, once my kid figured out what he wanted to study, we looked for schools known for those programs that have club hockey and went from there. Looked at rosters and Elite Prospects, whatever that website is, to try and see where kids played before getting on the team. It gives you a good idea if your kid has a chance and will fit with the program. Ohio University's rosters are littered with AAA kids and kids that played juniors, for instance. Then if it was a fit, he applied to the school and got in. Then reached out to coaches to gauge interest. And I keep telling my kid....you might not make the team. You might get hurt. You might decide playing is too much. Will you be happy at this school if hockey doesn't happen? Because at the end of the day, it's about getting a job after getting that degree. And no one is giving you money to play club hockey. You either qualify for merit money based on need or scholastics or you are paying.

If you want scholarship money....grades grades grades. High SAT or ACT. Rigorous courses if you want in a popular degree at PSU Main or Pitt. You need those things before even worrying about the club hockey team. 

Oh...and ask when practices are. It's beer league times or 6 am practices now with most club programs. When you try to balance that with studies...I know that was a deal breaker for some kids. 

[Happy Hockey Fan]

7 minutes ago, Saucey said:

No offense Danner, but my family is doing this right now, and I still say, not being able to get into the school and the expense are more influential on Western Pa kids leaving the area than not getting on the local club hockey team. We parents compare notes. Pitt is a bigish school with one club team.  Hard to get into the school, hard to get on the team. Duquesne is crazy expensive. Pitt, PSU, RMU...they are expensive imho. RMU was most generous with merit offer for us, but wasn't a good fit for what my kid wanted to study.

To my knowledge, Miami University doesn't recruit for their club teams. Or maybe that was just my kid. ? Ohio, they want you to have some sort of hockey experience outside of youth/high school, even for their club teams, but who knows, maybe if you are good enough you could walk on during try outs. Kent tells you the same thing but they have kids rostered that came straight from high school. Depends on how good the kid is and who came out, I bet. The ACHA is all over the place. Bowling Green has a club team that is coached by the players. It really depends on the school. Adrian College loves their hockey and it is tough as hell to be rostered on their club three team. They recruit. But the school itself is....not so good academically. You have to research and be creative in your research, because it is hard to find information. Everyone's needs are going to be different.

My kid wants to play club. He reached out to coaches of schools he was interested in. Even at the club level, if you want to play, it's a good idea to get on their radar. It's hard to pick a team just based on a tryout, I think. The coaches are all over the place in how they respond. Everything from, cool, come out to a practice and skate with the team, to....here's the dates for our prospect skates...to...see you in August for tryouts. I don't know that this is politics or....life. Kind of like getting a job. Is it crazy to do this for club? Well, yeah. But it happens in youth travel hockey all the time, too.

For anyone interested, once my kid figured out what he wanted to study, we looked for schools known for those programs that have club hockey and went from there. Looked at rosters and Elite Prospects, whatever that website is, to try and see where kids played before getting on the team. It gives you a good idea if your kid has a chance and will fit with the program. Ohio University's rosters are littered with AAA kids and kids that played juniors, for instance. Then if it was a fit, he applied to the school and got in. Then reached out to coaches to gauge interest. And I keep telling my kid....you might not make the team. You might get hurt. You might decide playing is too much. Will you be happy at this school if hockey doesn't happen? Because at the end of the day, it's about getting a job after getting that degree. And no one is giving you money to play club hockey. You either qualify for merit money based on need or scholastics or you are paying.

If you want scholarship money....grades grades grades. High SAT or ACT. Rigorous courses if you want in a popular degree at PSU Main or Pitt. You need those things before even worrying about the club hockey team. 

Oh...and ask when practices are. It's beer league times or 6 am practices now with most club programs. When you try to balance that with studies...I know that was a deal breaker for some kids. 

Most intelligent post I have ever read on this site. Very well said. 

[hockeyisgreat]

Saucey, what level did your son play?  How many schools is he looking at? Is he still applying to schools?  Please let us know how this all is going?  Thanks for sharing!

[Saucey]

9 minutes ago, hockeyisgreat said:

Saucey, what level did your son play?  How many schools is he looking at? Is he still applying to schools?  Please let us know how this all is going?  Thanks for sharing!

He is a pretty good hockey player with good grades, decent SAT scores, and went to a high school in a good school district. Played both AA travel and AAA high school and was a leader on the teams. He got into most schools he applied to. Good enough hockey player that some of those better ACHA programs were receptive to his overtures.

The college search was a little difficult because I don't think he knew exactly what he wanted in a school. We visited a lot of schools. He applied to A LOT of them, both in and out of state. Colleges make it harder on themselves and the kids by offering free applications, I think. Those fees make you pause a little before applying. I did a lot of check ins with him because he was initially pretty excited to have a coach interested in him, and he wasn't thinking about cost or if the school was a good academic fit.

He committed to a good school. Club hockey may or may not be in his future. The school does have its own rink and intramural hockey, which I didn't even know was a thing, so he can still get hockey if he wants if he doesn't make one of the club teams. That made him happy.

It all just ends at some point. ?‍♂️ But truly, the beauty of hockey is that it doesn't have to end. It is a sport where you can still do it if you want, for as long as you want. It's not the same, but still lots of fun. Coaching, beer league, whatever. 

It's not the end of the world when it ends. Just sad. I am a little sad. ? 

[Danner27]

Completely missing my point, obviously you didn’t look to see how many pa kids are paying out of state tuition to play in an example such as the state of ohio (small example at that). 

[fafa fohi]

It is a known fact Ohio schools are very aggressive in getting PA kids to enroll at their schools and there is tons of money available out there in the form of merit and other types of scholarships.  If your kid has good grades they can be an out of state student at some schools for less than it costs to go in-state to PItt or PSU.  Penn State?  Don’t get me started on them as everyone pays sticker price regardless of GPA and unless your kid is a 5* athlete, the school doesn’t give out merit scholarships to get students to enroll there “because they can.”  Private schools are higher in tuition yet they offer more in the form of scholarships due to the endowments.  Kent, BGU, Miami, OU, Dayton and Akron all have hockey programs at different levels for kids wanting to move away from home to get the “college experience” while still having the opportunity to play hockey at various levels.

[Saucey]

7 minutes ago, fafa fohi said:

It is a known fact Ohio schools are very aggressive in getting PA kids to enroll at their schools and there is tons of money available out there in the form of merit and other types of scholarships.  If your kid has good grades they can be an out of state student at some schools for less than it costs to go in-state to PItt or PSU.  Penn State?  Don’t get me started on them as everyone pays sticker price regardless of GPA and unless your kid is a 5* athlete, the school doesn’t give out merit scholarships to get students to enroll there “because they can.”  Private schools are higher in tuition yet they offer more in the form of scholarships due to the endowments.  Kent, BGU, Miami, OU, Dayton and Akron all have hockey programs at different levels for kids wanting to move away from home to get the “college experience” while still having the opportunity to play hockey at various levels.

This has been our experience exactly.