Jump to content

Status of girls hockey


aaaahockey

Recommended Posts

I will give my take on this based on many years of experience with girls teams.

in no particular order:

  • if your daughter is serious about hockey, look at the Steel City Selects (SCS), or secondarily PPE (only if they are the next Miss Sidney Crosby).
  • a very small percentage of even the best girls will make D1 hockey, so don't kill yourself trying to get your daughter onto PPE
  • Consider the SCS as they are local to Pgh and if your child is good, they will get a lot of ice time and good coaching
  • the SCS teams are all local
  • most PPE teams have lots of girls outside the area and infrequent practices as a whole team, which makes learning how to play with your teammates difficult
  • PPE nepotism and not always picking the best players (this has been beat to death many times in the past), but it is true
  • PAHL girls teams should generally only be thought as fully "recreational" teams.  if your daughter wants to play hockey in college, only play for one of the local girls AA or AAA teams.
  • Yes, I realize most girls may start on a PAHL girls team when they are young, but like I said if your girl likes hockey get them to an AA program as soon as possible.
  • Don't worry about trying out for the PPE, or "not making" PPE.  I have seen girls who have not made PPE be tremendous AA players and get as many college looks as PPE players.  I have also seen PPE players (multiple ones) who left AA to go to PPE and then only got a few shifts each game and were very unhappy.  All in the name of the extra "A"...  So PPE is not for everyone.

 

  • Local Western PA AA teams (in order of my recommendation)
    • Steel City Selects (most of their teams win Mid-Ams each season)  The other two teams below struggle to compete against SCS.  if your daughter is good get her to SCS tryouts.  They play a lot of games and will develop your daughter.
    • Armstrong Arrows (in general a step down from the SCS teams)
    • Midstate Mustangs
  • Local Western PA AAA teams:
    • PPE Girls

 

  • If your daughter is highly motivated and thinks they want to play college hockey at any level, get them in an AA program as soon as possible.  It's not that hard for a girl to make an AA team if they have decent skills
  • I highly recommend your daughter "playing with the boys" at least until around the end of Bantams.  At that point boys become much larger and you may risk injuries.  Playing with the boys will toughen up your daughter and in general make them a better play when playing against all girl teams.
  • Don't fool yourself- girls hockey is physical... your daughter will take hits and needs to be able to absorb hits and bump back.  That's why playing with the boys is important for their overall development.
  • I have seen girls that have not ever played on boys teams, and some of them took hits and bumps by girls as a big problem, cried, got injured, etc.  Like I said playing with the boys toughens up your girl.
  • Skating ability is 100% critical for girls.  If your player is a great skater that will open a lot of doors and catch the eyes of a lot of coaches
  • Once your player hits age 15-16, start filming all their games, make highlight videos and post them to youtube
  • Create a CaptainU account (or similar) recruiting profile for your daughter and fully keep it up to date

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

Could anyone with actual experience and knowledge about the topic tell us about the overall status of girls hockey in the Pittsburgh region?  Number of teams in PAHL?  Competitiveness?  Does it dwindle as the girls get into older age groups?  

Here are the rest of your question - answers:

Competitiveness

Hardest team to make to easiest team to make

1) PPE AAA.  Everyone thinks they need to try out there or their daughter will never make it to a college team.  Biggest false thought of them all.  Most PPE tryouts have tons of girls show up and very few open spots.  Even if you are local unless your girl is one heck of a player it will be very difficult to make the 1st or 2nd lines on any PPE girls team.  And if your daughter makes it as a 3rd or 4th line player they will rarely get ice during any important game or tourney.  For this reason alone I would avoid PPE.

2) SCS AA. Easily the 2nd best team in town.  If your player is good they will get a lot of ice time.  They have a good program and good coaching and development.

3) Armstrong AA & Midstate Mustangs AA.  Weaker girls teams than SCS and less player depth.  Beyond their top lines talent drops off and they rarely win Mid-Ams and make it to nationals.

4) PAHL girls teams

5) PAHL boys teams

 

# of girls teams in the PAHL. 

Go look at their web site for that info.

If you are serious about girls hockey I wouldn't waste my time with PAHL teams.

 

What happens at older ages for girls teams:

Just like boys, the number of teams dwindles as you get older. 

If your daughter is 15-16 and is decent, and has never played AA hockey, gently nudge them toward AA hockey unless they are 100% recreational and have no desire to play in college.

As the ages get older, the players remaining on those teams will be more serious and more competitive and want to win (speaking of AA and AAA teams).

There are TONS of college hockey opportunities for girls at D3, ACHA D1/D2/D3 and they are all very good and competitive.

I would personally skip "club" college hockey as that is basically recreational college hockey and there will be zero financial incentive to your player to play on a team like that.

 

 

Edited by Scooby Doo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/10/2018 at 10:30 PM, Scooby Doo said:

Hardest team to make to easiest team to make

1) PPE AAA.  Everyone thinks they need to try out there or their daughter will never make it to a college team.  Biggest false thought of them all.  Most PPE tryouts have tons of girls show up and very few open spots.  Even if you are local unless your girl is one heck of a player it will be very difficult to make the 1st or 2nd lines on any PPE girls team.  And if your daughter makes it as a 3rd or 4th line player they will rarely get ice during any important game or tourney.  For this reason alone I would avoid PPE.

 

 

This is 100% false at the 10u and 12u levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/23/2018 at 1:05 PM, somebody’s mom said:

This is 100% false at the 10u and 12u levels.

I didn't state it in my post -- however, my top two posts are applicable somewhat to 14u but mostly to 16u and 19u.

The gates are usually wide open at the younger levels to collect lots of $$

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/24/2018 at 3:00 PM, Saucey said:

At 12u, in order to get those games, the Pens Elite has a team this year playing under Artic Foxes' banner in the boys division. A Major Gold. Are those parents paying for PAHL and Pens? That is a lot.

Oh boy, isn't that interesting? And I'll bet the RMU D1 Coach has a kid on that Foxes team. And what does the 12U Black team get? Thanks for your money girls?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, dazedandconfused said:

Oh boy, isn't that interesting? And I'll bet the RMU D1 Coach has a kid on that Foxes team. And what does the 12U Black team get? Thanks for your money girls?

There is two teams at the Foxes u12 & u10 only for players who were invited, no tryouts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based upon the quote below from Scooby Doo, I wouldn't listen to much of anything that they have to say.  They say to skip "club" college hockey yet in the prior sentence they recommend ACHA D1/D2/D3. The ACHA is by definition a non-varsity or club team league.

https://www.google.com/search?ei=UgC2W76OLZLH_Qa1zoGICA&q=ahca+hockey&oq=ahca+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.7.0i67l3j0i131j0i67l2j0l2j0i67j0.6442.6442..8523...0.0..0.69.69.1......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.pxilpaqa6II

As the ages get older, the players remaining on those teams will be more serious and more competitive and want to win (speaking of AA and AAA teams).

There are TONS of college hockey opportunities for girls at D3, ACHA D1/D2/D3 and they are all very good and competitive.

I would personally skip "club" college hockey as that is basically recreational college hockey and there will be zero financial incentive to your player to play on a team like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

I have experience with girls hockey as my daughter has played for many years.  Definitely steer clear of PPE.  One of the most biased and shady organizations for girls hockey.  Being part of the Penguins organization, you would think the Penguins management would want them to be developing hockey for PITTSBURGH girls.  They don't.  They go out and look for girls from other organizations across the country that they can steal and bring in to make themselves look better. They'll even help their parents find local boarding schools for these out of state players.  A disgrace to girls hockey in Western PA.  They barely practice and when they do, they're lucky if they have 8 - 10 girls since so many don't live in our area and only show up for games.  I have friends who's daughters made the team and were told straight up that their child would be nothing more than a bench warmer but we'll "try to work on her skills".  And these girls were excellent hockey players!  If they truly put any effort in working with the local talent, they could be just as competitive.  It's all about the adults looking good.  They don't care about 90% of the girls playing for them.  Don't waste your time or money on the shysters running this organization.  I really wish the Penguins would clean house and get this organization developing Western PA girls.   

Steel City on the other hand, practices at least 4 times a week, they don't go out and recruit, they offer a minor team for 14, 16 and 19U girls who are newer players and need development training as well as 12U, 14U, 16U and 19U teams (they might be having a 10U this year as well.  I think I heard that).  The 14, 16 and 19 teams are groomed to be National bound and they are the true Pittsburgh hockey team for local girls.  They're tryouts are this Saturday and Sunday, May - 4 and 5.  If you have a daughter looking for a place to play or you know someone who does, here's their tryout page with the details:  https://www.steelcityselectshockey.com/2019-tryouts.  There are some Divison III scholarship opportunities for girls playing Tier II also if that's important to you.

 

 

 

      

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steel City and the Pens are not the only game in town capable of developing girls. A nice Facebook page that doesn't denigrate anyone's program is called Pittsburgh girls Youth Hockey. You ask to join. Run by a hockey mom of two girls looking only to collect info that she wished she had when looking for a place for her girls to play, she does a really nice job.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=841603716173422&ref=content_filter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something to keep in mind, regardless of if you have a son or daughter playing, is that for-profit organizations (Pens, Selects, Vengeance, Icemen, etc) have one primary concern - making money and filling their ice slots, especially if they have an ownership interest in the rink. Fielding competitive teams and developing players is secondary. Pens are known for not caring where the players come from, if it makes their teams more competitive. Their success shows that it works for them, like it or not. 

It would be safe to bet that all of those for-profit teams have bench warmers. If you want to play at that perceived higher level, equal playing time is not guaranteed. Offering “Black” or “Minor” teams is no guarantee of development either. They often perform at a lower level than PAHL teams, at a higher price tag and time commitment. Their “development” is playing teams well above their skill level in hopes they will push themselves harder and somehow get better. It’s an approach that rarely works. 

I haven’t met anyone cut from the Pens have a good thing to say afterward. I’m sure it stings, especially if you’ve been there for awhile. However, cutting an org down and then immediately trying to build up another org really doesn’t reflect positively on the org that you are trying to promote. Consider that before venting.

There is an organization out there to fit everyone’s needs. Do your research to find what makes sense for you. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure about girls but I have heard a lot of people cut from Pens boys teams who have had good things to say. Even on this forum. 

Also, I'm not sure asking kids who were just cut is going to give you the best answer to how good a program is. I'd be interested in hearing from a girl who has played there for years.  

 

That being said, I would agree that if PAHL options exist they are usually stronger than second tier Pens teams. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...