Injured Before Tryouts

[Godzilla]

Just looking for advice...son injured two weeks before tryouts and won't be able to get on the ice until at least the end of May.  I know there are supplemental skates at some point.  Nobody will "hold" a spot and I don't expect anyone to.  Is my best bet to reach out to the coaches where we were going to tryout?  Pay the tryout fees?  Just looking for some direction.  Thanks in advance. 

 

[aaaahockey]

I would contact the coaches. If you are staying at the same organization it probably won't be an issue as they will know your kid. 

[Lifelongbender]

15 minutes ago, aaaahockey said:

I would contact the coaches. If you are staying at the same organization it probably won't be an issue as they will know your kid. 

Unfortunately there isn't another answer to this issue. These things do happen, and most organizations try to make allowances for it, but the only thing you can do is contact the coaches and the organization about it. I wouldn't pay anything until they tell you what they want you to do.

[Lucky17]

1 hour ago, Godzilla said:

Just looking for advice...son injured two weeks before tryouts and won't be able to get on the ice until at least the end of May.  I know there are supplemental skates at some point.  Nobody will "hold" a spot and I don't expect anyone to.  Is my best bet to reach out to the coaches where we were going to tryout?  Pay the tryout fees?  Just looking for some direction.  Thanks in advance. 

 

We’re you planning on trying out for the same organization?  I know organizations will place kids based on past seasons if they came up through the organization in these cases.  If not, is the new coach/team familiar with your player?

[Godzilla]

3 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

I would contact the coaches. If you are staying at the same organization it probably won't be an issue as they will know your kid. 

Thanks.  We were looking to move to the next level and it's going to be difficult. 

[Godzilla]

3 hours ago, Lifelongbender said:

Unfortunately there isn't another answer to this issue. These things do happen, and most organizations try to make allowances for it, but the only thing you can do is contact the coaches and the organization about it. I wouldn't pay anything until they tell you what they want you to do.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[nemesis8679]

The worst case scenario is he should be able to be placed on a team at the level he played last season. Especially within the same org. I know that doesn't help you getting to the next level, but at least he should be able to be placed no lower. 

[CranjisMcBasketball]

Be an adult and reach out to the points of contact before tryouts and explain what is going on. See who gives you the best answer. Guess what. They may get under placed. That’s ok. It’s not their or your fault. They got hurt. Don’t let egos get in the way of a good learning experience. 

[Godzilla]

On 3/25/2023 at 7:58 PM, CranjisMcBasketball said:

Be an adult and reach out to the points of contact before tryouts and explain what is going on. See who gives you the best answer. Guess what. They may get under placed. That’s ok. It’s not their or your fault. They got hurt. Don’t let egos get in the way of a good learning experience. 

Understood.  Thanks for the feedback.

[Loach]

I think it only happened once in my coaching career (12+ years as head, assistant coach in youth hockey) where a player who played for us the prior year was injured for tryouts. He broke his arm playing lacrosse just before tryouts. Luckily, he was the 2nd (maybe it was 3rd) leading scorer on the team the year before. We got approval from the board of our organization to offer him a spot without skating at tryouts. The organization still made his family pay the tryout fee (to get him in the registration system, they said) and he showed up and was on the bench during the skates. No one complained (that I know of) that he got a spot because he was known to be one of the better players.

I doubt we would have taken an injured player from another team without trying out unless that player was known to be exceptional. If the injured player had been in the bottom half of the team, that would have made things much more difficult - probably would have been a judgement call based on who showed up at tryouts. So, yes, call the coach and let him know and go from there.