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2011 South PGH - Looking for more hockey


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Have a son born 2011, we are in Canonsburg...   we did our first year of Rink Rats mites at Printscape Southpointe and are looking to do it again this year.  He plays pretty well for his age level and we are hoping to make the red team this season in his last year in mites.   His tryouts are in 2 weeks.

Anyway he really enjoys hockey and we are looking for more ice time and instruction to improve his game.   Open to going to other rinks in the area.   We have been to RMU, Ice Castle, Mount Lebanon, South Park, and Wheeling Park for practices.

Here's what we have currently going on Printscape 3 on 3, RMU skills clinic, weekly private lesson for skating (w/o stick).    Then we are doing Rink Rats summer program, Quest 4 on 4 summer league, then one of the RMU summer camps.

Any suggestions or advice?   Maybe in the skills clinic or private instruction area as an add on.    We love hockey and are looking to improve his game and most importantly have fun!   I enjoy watching him play and being the equipment and scheduling manager.

 

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At his age keep him skating but get him involved in roller hockey he will learn the game better skating with his head up passing and receiving passes with more open space to better his game skills. Some diehard ice coaches will discourage but only disadvantage is roller stop to ice he will adjust . Good luck 

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thanks, he is also doing roller hockey at Bridgeville Rollerplex with their in house hockey league.   It's just every Sun for an hour.   He also really likes roller hockey so we sometimes go to Wiltshire Park in Upper St Clair.    Pretty nice outdoor rink for inline and dek hockey in the area.    Sorry I should have mentioned that in our initial post.

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Go to the pool. Play some kick ball. Eat some ice cream. Ball hockey in the driveway with buds.

My boys play high level hockey in PAHL. You don't have to touch the ice at all over the summer at that age and he will still develop. I have one that does just that. The other has a weekly private and may or may not play in a three on three league. They both play lacrosse.

Don't burn him out or injure him from overuse.

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Agree with Saucey.  Get him doing other sports until the age of 14.  Then he can concentrate on just one.  My son is now in his 20's and I wish I had did that with him.  He will develop all muscle group.  and I will respectively disagree on roller hockey.  My kid did it from 2008 to 2013.  Went to NARCH Nationals, State Wars, Team USA for AAU all of it.  He did nothing but develop bad skating habits, that took years to undo.  Roller is too slow, and when he goes back to ice, his decision making was too slow.  You do what you want, this is just my experience. 

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It's about fun. He's a squirt roller will help him plus he will have fun that should be your encouragement. Enjoy mine just turned 18 I'll miss it but he will play high level roller in college and the talentless goon won't be trying to take his head off. That's ice hockey USA hockey,pihl and pahl coaches and refs allowing the goons to play without discipline. Without adequate suspensions your kid will need his brains in the future let him play roller it's not to slow when you play high level

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not my opinion, these are factual data : http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/2019/03/study-data-shows-need-for-patience.php

The data supports the USA Hockey long-term athletic development model

https://www.admkids.com/page/show/910488-long-term-athlete-development

Follow this model for your player. It's based upon decades of science. The closer you pay attention to every detail along the way will improve outcomes.

It's a sport so keep it fun including for yourself and other family members. Many families have broken apart from obsessions with sports.

Great effort and attitude, always. It's a marathon and not a sprint.

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Thanks for the advice, he is also doing spring baseball until the end of May.    I should have given the full picture.   I think we will probably just keep what we have now then maybe look for something else in July/August when the schedule frees up again post camp.    Anyone familiar with the area programs in that time period, any suggestions would be appreciated.   It's just maybe adding a day or two of hockey to get some more ice time... not looking to overload his schedule, he just wants to play more.

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Rest Reflect Rewind article on 8 us and summer ice time link below. You can use Mr. Google and ice rink websites for their summer programs if you really need to add more. And....you as the parent are the gatekeeper. You don't let him eat candy all day long just because he wants to, so you can also tell him to take a break because it is good for him. 

https://www.admkids.com/news_article/show/1003880?fbclid=IwAR2aMl597dFwy1KopzNok5CksQhDsGslqM1qSmk32J5HherGbayKqFZ-2KM

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On 4/14/2019 at 9:01 AM, bb2j3z said:

Have a son born 2011, we are in Canonsburg...   we did our first year of Rink Rats mites at Printscape Southpointe and are looking to do it again this year.  He plays pretty well for his age level and we are hoping to make the red team this season in his last year in mites.   His tryouts are in 2 weeks.

Anyway he really enjoys hockey and we are looking for more ice time and instruction to improve his game.   Open to going to other rinks in the area.   We have been to RMU, Ice Castle, Mount Lebanon, South Park, and Wheeling Park for practices.

Here's what we have currently going on Printscape 3 on 3, RMU skills clinic, weekly private lesson for skating (w/o stick).    Then we are doing Rink Rats summer program, Quest 4 on 4 summer league, then one of the RMU summer camps.

Any suggestions or advice?   Maybe in the skills clinic or private instruction area as an add on.    We love hockey and are looking to improve his game and most importantly have fun!   I enjoy watching him play and being the equipment and scheduling manager.

 

I think you have a lot of hockey going on.  It is okay to say no to some things.  At some point you need to emphasize quality over quantity. 

The other thing to be aware of is that kids are starting to play full ice hockey on the side.  They will likely head to Buffalo and Rochester a few times next season to play in some AAU tournaments.  I get some parents are offended by this but most of the top mites are doing this.  This will likely have no bearing on how your son ends up at 15 but will have a bearing on which team he makes as a first year squirt.     

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1 hour ago, twoboys said:

I think you have a lot of hockey going on. 

Yes, it sounds a bit much.  I've seen kids come up like that, only to despise hockey by age 12-13.  Be careful.  Spring, summer and fall - his main activities should be outside.  Focus on well rounded athletic development.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just an update for possible readers in a similar situation, we're almost done with spring baseball at canon mac and he's really into it and having fun.    They also keep track of standings so that's new to him as mite hockey - they don't keep track of wins and losses.   We're going into playoffs now.   It works pretty well in our hockey schedule since the baseball season goes from April-May.     Highly recommended.

We're doing Mite 3x3 at Southpointe and it's been okay - more to get some ice time, but the skill level is varied and also there isn't any goalies so the scores are using in their 20s.    Goalies I think can play for free if there are any interested out there.     We might consider trying out RMUs next year.

So we made the red team in mites for Rink Rats, which is the top team there.    Do mite teams play the same number of games per skill level?    Also I've noticed that a couple players from our previous team are now playing for Pittsburgh Predators at Ice Castle in the squirt and mite levels.    Is there any thoughts on programs in the area?   It seems like many of the coaches are parents of the players as they go through the system.    Was just thinking about options for next year when we go into squirts.

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22 hours ago, bb2j3z said:

We're doing Mite 3x3 at Southpointe and it's been okay - more to get some ice time, but the skill level is varied and also there isn't any goalies so the scores are using in their 20s.    Goalies I think can play for free if there are any interested out there.     We might consider trying out RMUs next year.

 

My 2013 son loves playing at RMU. We also live in Canonsburg. I hated everything about the way things were run at Southpointe (learn to play program, not Rink Rats) so we decided to check out RMU. SO glad we did. The summer 3V3 is great. $99 for 10 games. Games on Sunday afternoons. They break the mites into 4 tiers based on skill. Some of the in house teams stick together for the summer, some (like my sons team) are formed from individual players who's in house teams did not have enough interested players, and then there are some other teams from outside organizations like South Hills Panthers etc. Overall the games have been close. Cross ice and goalies in full gear. Scores like 7-4, 9-6. My son is really enjoying it and because he is younger and less skilled I truly think he is benefiting from playing "up" so to speak. He scored twice yesterday too actually. You might want to give them a call, I believe there are some teams in tier 1 and 2 that have openings.

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22 hours ago, bb2j3z said:

We're doing Mite 3x3 at Southpointe and it's been okay - more to get some ice time, but the skill level is varied 

 

...and that's a very typical problem with spring and summer hockey at every rink, not just Printscape Arena.  Island Sports Center is the only rink that gets enough of a critical mass of participants to divide players up by skill level.  As they get older, at RMU they do full ice 3v3 - which is kind of a different game.  Keep looking into other sports as an avenue for athlete development.

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Actually speaking of other sports, he likes inline hockey.   Any parents with kids here that are doing both?   We do the in house league at Bridgeville Rollerplex which is on Sundays at noon, but it's mostly beginners and they only really play a game for 15mins.   Is there any inline hockey teams in the area that do not practice on Tues?   We had to back out of Canon Mac inline last year because of scheduling conflict with Rink Rats practices.    Seems like everybody likes Tuesday for scheduling.    Looking for something to compliment Rink Rats.    The baseball season at Canon Mac worked perfectly because it was from April - end of May.

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Thanks for the info, we will try RMU 3 on 3 next year.    I think we have enough for the summer with Rink Rats tues practice, Printscape 3 on 3, and Quest summer league at Ice Castle.   Then we are doing a 1 week hockey summer camp at RMU in July for powerskating and shooting.

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