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Mite Red transition to Squirt


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Anybody have experience with their child making the transition from a Mite Red team to squirt?  Typically where did you see your child shake out during squirt tryouts?  I'm guessing the results are going to be all over the place (PPE to Squirt B), but just looking for first hand input.

Thanks

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59 minutes ago, Ihearthockey said:

Anybody have experience with their child making the transition from a Mite Red team to squirt?

Yes.  As you describe, some will go to PPE.  Some will not make PPE and try another AAA program.  Most will go to PAHL travel.   And the incoming ADM Red players will land all over the board in PAHL.   You should not have an AA or A Major expectation because you are ADM Red now. 

The common sense approach, even if you think your child is going to the NHL, even if your child is scoring 20 goals per jamboree, is to start in a PAHL program.  Get your feet wet first locally.  Play local before playing AAA.  The AAA designation for 9 year-olds is only meaningful to parents.  Your 9 year old does not know nor care about being AAA, AA, A, or B.  They just want to have fun and your job is to make fun available.  You can look at MyHockey and see that PAHL teams can compete and beat AAA teams.  So play in PAHL to start, save yourself thousands in fees, and enjoy the ride while your player develops. 

 

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I second that notion to just go through the tryout process in a PAHL organization and let it play out.

This was a while back, but our Mite Red team had kids that landed on PPE, PAHL AA and A+.  In our personal experience, it was nice to have my son be on a team as the minor birth year with a team of mostly major birth years.  It took the pressure off and he just had fun.  Plus, the coach was key because they put him in situations to succeed early and then gave him and the other graduating Mites on the team more responsibility as the year went on to watch them grow.

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IMO…

Where your child shakes out all depends on the organization. If your child try’s out for a smaller organization, he could end up playing on an AA team or if you are looking at a larger organization, he could end up on an A minor team. 2 things to consider before you decided, who the coach will be and the parents. I believe the parents have just as much to do with development as the coaching staff.

I know that most people on here have an issue with AAA birth year teams, but I would still consider letting your child tryout for one. Tryout fees for PPE and the Vengeance are around $150.00. but you will be able to see how your child compares to other kids the same age.

I understand all the issues that people have with AAA teams and they are not all wrong. The cost is considerably more, PPE is around $4800, and the Vengeance is around $2600 plus the cost of travel. With that being said both organizations do not have parents as coaches, would you rather spend less and have a coach who has no idea what he is doing and favors his child and his child’s buddies ( THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH ALL PHAL ORGINIZATIONS SOME DO HAVE REALLY GOOD COACHES) or spend considerably more money and have professional coaches and a lot more ice time. This years PPE 2009 and 2010 BY teams are coached by Trever Edwards and the Vengeance 2009 BY team is coached by John Zeiler (Played for the LA Kings) the 2010 BY team is coached by Colby Armstrong.

My point is to research every organization and pick the one that is best for your family and your child’s development. At the 10U age level winning and the number of A’s should not matter, what matters is your child having fun and developing.

 

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He raises good points about researching the organization.  It will be difficult to research coaches at PAHL coaches, since most aren't named ahead of time and you'll just have to roll the dice on the coach.  It's not really not possible to research the parents/families that you might be with in the organization.  Although I have to say if that insight was available it would be very amusing to see what people did with it.  

One more note - just my experience, but former pro hockey players are not always good hockey teachers.  

Speaking of teachers, your youth hockey coach [including ex-pro guys] will be a lot like your child's school teacher.  Some years you luck out and get a good one.  Some years you will not like them and will look forward to moving on.

 

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For the most part, your mite coaches will be the same coaches for squirt.  So, if you are happy then no need to look around.  Usually, there are only a couple of kids that evaluate higher than the rest of a mite team.  If this is your kid then he will probably have one of the existing squirt coaches as your coach next year.  So, you should have a clue who the coach could be at your organization. 

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1 minute ago, twoboys said:

For the most part, your mite coaches will be the same coaches for squirt.  So, if you are happy then no need to look around.  Usually, there are only a couple of kids that evaluate higher than the rest of a mite team.  If this is your kid then he will probably have one of the existing squirt coaches as your coach next year.  So, you should have a clue who the coach could be at your organization. 

Totally understand, unless your Mite is in an "independent" organization like RMU which only connect to the Foxes via the rink.  

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2 hours ago, Ihearthockey said:

Totally understand, unless your Mite is in an "independent" organization like RMU which only connect to the Foxes via the rink.  

Keep in mind, RMU Mite Colonials act as a feeder program of sorts into many other organizations, PPE, Foxes, NP, SP just to name a few.  The coaches will follow their kid and most, (not all) will coach for the new organization.

 

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3 hours ago, BACKCHECKING said:

I understand all the issues that people have with AAA teams and they are not all wrong. The cost is considerably more, PPE is around $4800, and the Vengeance is around $2600 plus the cost of travel. With that being said both organizations do not have parents as coaches, would you rather spend less and have a coach who has no idea what he is doing and favors his child and his child’s buddies ( THIS IS NOT THE CASE WITH ALL PHAL ORGINIZATIONS SOME DO HAVE REALLY GOOD COACHES) or spend considerably more money and have professional coaches and a lot more ice time. This years PPE 2009 and 2010 BY teams are coached by Trever Edwards and the Vengeance 2009 BY team is coached by John Zeiler (Played for the LA Kings) the 2010 BY team is coached by Colby Armstrong.

Most everything else you said was true but this part not so much. MOST of the teams at PPE in the first 4 or 5 years have parent coaches on them whether head or assistant. 

 

With the pricing that is about right but you do get a lot more out of the PPE with the higher price. YES they say sponsored by the local sports store but included in that big price tag is home/away/practice jersey and socks, jumpsuits, bags, 3 ice slots per week, 2 gym sessions per week, usually around 40-50 games and more. Most other organizations can NOT or DON'T give you that. 

 

Ultimately it comes down to where your kid wants to be and if he can play at that level. Let it be about your KID and not YOU. That is the problem with a lot of organizations,  parents can't keep their hands OFF. 

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On 2/5/2020 at 3:01 PM, Pucks11 said:

Most everything else you said was true but this part not so much. MOST of the teams at PPE in the first 4 or 5 years have parent coaches on them whether head or assistant. 

 

With the pricing that is about right but you do get a lot more out of the PPE with the higher price. YES they say sponsored by the local sports store but included in that big price tag is home/away/practice jersey and socks, jumpsuits, bags, 3 ice slots per week, 2 gym sessions per week, usually around 40-50 games and more. Most other organizations can NOT or DON'T give you that. 

 

Ultimately it comes down to where your kid wants to be and if he can play at that level. Let it be about your KID and not YOU. That is the problem with a lot of organizations,  parents can't keep their hands OFF. 

Vengeance 2 days on ice=4 hours   Bag - gloves- warm ups-jerseys-socks included in price

 

 

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1 minute ago, Moj said:

Vengeance 2 days on ice=4 hours   Bag - gloves- warm ups-jerseys-socks included in price

 

 

We will end up with around 45 games this year and about 17 are played in Cleveland as other teams agree to meet us there

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4 minutes ago, Moj said:

Vengeance 2 days on ice=4 hours   Bag - gloves- warm ups-jerseys-socks included in price

 

 

On another note.     I can’t wrap my head around letting my 11 year old make a 10,000 dollar decision

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4 minutes ago, Moj said:

On another note.     I can’t wrap my head around letting my 11 year old make a 10,000 dollar decision

Actually, 2011’s are 9, not 11.  Two hour practices,  can’t wrap my head around what gets accomplished in the last 30-40 minutes of that practice twice a week.  Not putting Vengeance down, just seems very odd.  A good high tempo practice with kids that listen should only be 70-80 minutes tops.

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My suggestion is to play full ice hockey as soon as possible. I'm a big fan of spring hockey. Lots of spring teams out there with qualified coaches for red level players and they are done by the beginning of June.  My personal opinion is to avoid summer except for a camp or two or a skating instructor.  Most travel teams have more practice ice time/intensity that kids are used to and the season lengthens by 2 months (most travel team start practice around August 10th).

 I made the mistake with my son of doing the RMU crazy summer full ice 3x3 league that had no offside or icing and the Cranberry 4x4 league and a week long camp. The playoffs for summer ended 10 days before the new season started and he never got a chance to miss hockey.  

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11 hours ago, PuckHead7 said:

Actually, 2011’s are 9, not 11.  Two hour practices,  can’t wrap my head around what gets accomplished in the last 30-40 minutes of that practice twice a week.  Not putting Vengeance down, just seems very odd.  A good high tempo practice with kids that listen should only be 70-80 minutes tops.

Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. That feels like a recipe to waste half an hour of expensive ice.

Edited by Lifelongbender
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Anyone have any information on the preds putting together a AA 2011 birth year team for next year squirts? This may just be a rumor but im interested in hearing more. They have a group of great kids on that team and 1 outstanding kid who i saw play baldwin squirts this year. anyone with details about try outs for this team let me know. 

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On 2/7/2020 at 6:58 AM, Lifelongbender said:

Yes. I agree wholeheartedly. That feels like a recipe to waste half an hour of expensive ice.

I am not a Vengeance parent but I have watched parts of their practices over the years.  The 08 coach does a real nice job.  And Zeiler is very enthusiastic.   Kids seem to have fun. 

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