Pros and Cons of the different orgs

[nemesis8679]

With tryouts approaching, I'm curious to know what people's experiences have been with the different orgs around here. Good coaching, bad coaching... Org culture... Decent ice slots, not decent ice slots... Not enough travel, too much travel... Fair evaluations, or buddy system... Cool jersey, lame jersey.....  Does the org seem stable? 

I'm curious of peoples' experiences. Might be helpful to newer parents. Not asking for anybody to be blasted, but if the ice slots suck let's be honest. If the coaching is great, say that. So let's hear it. 

 

[bb2j3z]

It really depends on the coach at each age level...  then how long have they been at the organization so you know that they have a core group that have wanted to stay season after season.   Each coach has a coaching plan which will drive the commitment and you pick what's right for you.. practices, games, tournaments, travel.  You want to get put on a roster where you feel like you belong and the competition is good... so you may win slightly more games than you lose.  At the end of the day, you feel like your player developed and got better over the course of a season... and wants to come back.

Then also distance to the rink should be a consideration..  you should really consider organizations that are within 30 mins or less from your household.   I'm guessing you are a parent of a younger player so you have a wide spectrum of options to choose from.

I've been pretty happy in the organization I've been in and it's local to our community so we have been there for five years and counting.  Our player is a 2011.  There are many hard working individuals across many youth hockey organizations.   The competition is good for the health of our sport.

[CranjisMcBasketball]

Suggestion: Pick an organization generally based on this hierarchy:

1.  You can afford and is within a reasonable to you distance away. 

All being equal then-

2.  Where there’s a high likelihood of being with parents and kids who share your same values for the game and in general. 
 

All being equal then-

3.  The ice schedule you can actually make without losing your mind. 
 

all being equal then-

4. Best coaching. 
 

Everything else is below this. You’re kid isn’t going pro. One “bad” year isn’t going to take them from being Crosby to being a pile of garbage. Stop stressing and spending more than you can afford to. This isn’t an investment. This is recreation. 

[Hattrick Swayze]

 

Seems like a lot of money for one 50 minute practice slot a week and nothing else included. Let’s Fly!!

[kid310050]

Where is all this ice time coming from? The organization as a whole has less than 10 hours of ice per week and they are floating 3 practices a week for AA and 2 for single A. Unless they only have 2 or 3 teams the math doesn't work unless the 3 ice slots a week are half ice with another team. 

[HatTrick]

Look at the cost of the BY.  It's $3,000 and the team will play 50-60 games.  But only 20 pahl games are included in that $3,000.

[dazedandconfused]

So....... a 10U team and an 18U team pay the exact same fee? Seems like the 10U would be getting the short end there when you consider every cost for 18U is higher for games. Longer ice slot, higher paid refs and EMT.