Travel Hockey
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Anonymous
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Hi everyone!
We’re about to move to the area and trying to figure out which travel hockey program might be the best fit for our two kids (one moving into 12U and one into 10U). They’re currently playing 10U AA and 8U A. We live in McLean and are open to driving for a great program. I know tryouts are in March. Our top priority is that the kids have fun, but we also want strong development. We’re not looking for a “win at all costs” environment just a place that’s competitive and has great coaching. So far we’ve come across Reston, Ashburn, St. James, and Caps Hockey Academy. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks. Pros/cons, differences between the programs, or any personal experiences or recommendations. |
Anonymous
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My son plays house and isnt very competitive so i dont have direct experience with the travel programs. But we've done lessons, clinics, or played at or against all of those programs. Reston and Caps Academy are seemingly the most competitive. My son played rooftop at caps academy and we saw the travel teams in the facilities a lot. They were good and took things seriously. I cant speak to the coaching or programs other than to say I frequently heard the kids in the hallway and locker rooms talking about who made what team and who got moved teams and it seemed quite competitive. The medstar facilities have a lot going on with the Capitals and is busy all the time so that environment is different from the other ice rinks. Something to consider. Its kind of a production.
A family friend plays with Reston and is really serious about it. They are expected to do a lot of extra training and there are several different layers to the 12U and 14U team placements. St James house is a mess, it seems designed to make the facility a profit. Minimum player development. They have a lot of player and coach turnover and politics within all of their sports teams. But idk about the travel hockey specifically. I know all travel leagues are competitive so this comment may not help much!! But ice hockey is a close knit community here because its not that popular. So dont be afraid to make some calls and show up at all of those facilities to get a vibe. My son has had a great experience with Nova Ice Dogs (again, only house league, but really nice community) so add that to your list too! |
Anonymous
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Living in McLean means Caps Academy in Ballston will most likely be your geographically closest travel team rink/program. A little further away is Reston and The St. James. Check out all three, they are members of the CBHL. Caps Academy and Reston offer four levels of travel (AA, Upper A, Lower A, B) at the 10U and 12U level. I think The St. James offers three.
If you want to avoid a "win at all cost" environment stay away from Ashburn. Lots of banners, but I've witnessed first hand, coaches screaming at 8U and 10U players and refs like the game was a Stanley Cup game. The majority (not all) of the players that move on to play AAA for either Team Maryland or Washington Little Caps are usually from the Ashburn, Montgomery (MYHA), Reston, or Caps Academy, or Loudoun clubs. Take that for what its worth. Tryouts are intentionally scheduled at the same time to keep kids/families from trying out for three or four different teams and club swapping from season to season. I'd suggest settling on two teams for tryouts. Let the teams know you are new to the area and are trying out for two teams to see which is the best fit. My DS plays travel at Reston and loves it. It's a fun environment with good coaches, quality development, nice parents (who root equally for all of the kids), good teammates & friendships, and competitive teams. Good luck |
Anonymous
Adding on about AAA, neither AAA team in the area is very well regarded in either talent or coaching so people tend not to be willing to travel very far to play on those teams. So most of the AAA players come from "nearby", which is why you see a lot of Ashburn, Loudon, Reston, and MYHA players. I will say, whatever program you look at, make sure they are upfront about who the coaches are and that they have good track records. A big scam in this area in hockey (and other sports) are places that say they have "professional coaches", but those coaches are often fresh out of college, have no coaching experience, and never played hockey at a high level (maybe they played DC area highschool hockey or on a college club team that didn't hold tryouts). We got burned by that when my sons were younger when we realized that "professional coach" just means that you, they parents, pay them to coach. The coach was in his early 20s and had no idea what he was doing but it still cost the team $15,000 - $20,000 for him and his assistant. |
Anonymous
| Where are you moving from? All the programs you listed have teams at aa through b. Go with the most convenient. IMO reston skates the best of all the clubs, stj is an awesome facility and is a very organized as an assn. I’d pick between those 2. But you’re in McLean…just go to Reston. |
Anonymous
| ^ even though reston tends to be the biggest crybabies of all the assns. whenever the lose they all gather in te lobby of skatequest and complain about the refs and how they got screwed. |
Anonymous
Reston is....weird. There are a lot of voluntary things that are actually mandatory if you want to keep on their good side. Also, if your kid leaves to another team you have to come back and beg their board to let you play for Reston again. They take themselves too seriously so we left after 8U. |
Anonymous
| My kids both played Caps Academy before moving on to AAA. I'm of the firm opinion that what makes or breaks an organization is the families. We loved the teammates and families at Caps Academy and definitely miss that a lot. There are a few professional coaches at Caps Academy, although they tend to be older, not just out of college. I do know there was one situation recently that did not work out, and the coaches were essentially let go, and the hockey director filled in for that team for the remainder of the season. We know many who have played at Reston and I agree with the previous poster that it is kind of a weird place, run by a board that sometimes makes decisions that sometimes cause angst and cause families to depart, not that this is that different from any other rink rolling out different policies. The Reston families we know are all very nice. St James is a newer program and I feel like it has tended to collect families what have been unhappy with their prior teams. Kids who don't make AA at their former clubs will go to St James, and make a AA team, but those teams tend to be a little weaker overall. St James prides itself on not having parent coaches, but this is where you end up with a straight out of college coach which is sometimes great, and sometimes not so great. Still, none of the teams you mention are bad choices. At 10 and 12U I would go wherever is more convenient to you. |
Anonymous
Puh-LEASE  . You must be kidding me? Any DMV area youth sports league has parents complaining when their DS/DD loses a game. Soccer, Hockey, Basketball, LAX, etc. Get a grip, maybe your kid's team won that day at Reston so you had no complaints, but the next weekend you TOO were complaining after your kid's team lost.
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Anonymous
lol… this kind of proves pp’s point that reston is weird. |
Anonymous
How so? |
Anonymous
Because you’re being overly defensive and accusing others of doing the same thing. I’ve been around cbhl hockey for a decade and my kids have played at 4 association, including Reston. Like I said they skate better that the other clubs imo, and I think the coaches are great, but the players stand out more that the other clubs with regarding whining, both on the ice and in the lobby of skatequest. Every assn has their own unique traits, that’s restons in my opinion. It’s not a huge deal and I think the op should sen her kids there. |
Anonymous
Brah. Aren’t you also anonymously complaining and whining on a message board about people complaining amongst themselves in a semi-private conversation??? You see the hypocrisy/silliness, right? |
Anonymous
| Play lacrosse instead. DCUM is a hockey desert, and no one from here goes on to play NCAA, whereas DCUM is a hotbed for developing college lax players. Or play hockey for fun and pick the team that is closest to home, regardless of what anyone says about the coaches or the organization. Make it easy on yourself. If your kid isn't at least a second-line player, play on a lower team where they will play more and have more fun. I'm at the end of the road with my hockey player - did the full gambit from AAA to settling for being a good high school varsity player and focusing on school and college (BTW, high school hockey is fun). The last thing we wanted was for him to take 2 years off to play juniors and then go play at whatever D1 or D3 school would take him, with not enough time to focus on academics and a real career. Cynical, yes, but I wish someone had given it to me straight back when we had an 8U "star, and we kept chasing the next best thing to what end? |
Anonymous
Sound advice. +1. Get your child a Tier 1/AAA EDUCATION and play sports for fun and camaraderie. |