Wash Lil Caps No Longer Moving to St James?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:The Little Caps are no longer appearing on the STJ website

I think it's safe to say our dream of WLC in a well maintained rink in a central location is dead.

Moving to Ion was the worst thing that Club did. They were a much better organization when they played out of Medstar. Centrally located. Attracted families with resources for AAA hockey. If someone from the DMV has to drive 50 minutes to get to a crappy rink then the decision to go away or drive 2 hours for a better team and organization becomes a viable option. Moving to the St James was the right move for them. They should have done everything in their power to make that work. You cannot have a sustainable program in a sh*tty rink. Haymarket is crap and Ion is literally disintegrating. Any investor who would consider investing in Ion at this point must like trying to lose money.

From what I've heard many age groups have only had 20-30 kids out for tryouts. Sounds like people are mostly done with the WLC messiness.

Its been 20 to 30 kids for years now.

That sounds like a program that should fold. You can't build a competitive AAA team when you have such few options when building a team.

WLC and TM don't help themselves by doing so much recruiting and signing kids to contracts even before tryouts begin; they miss a lot of talent that way because families know this and don't bother tryout out.

Oh come on. There is simply NOT enough talent in the DMV to field even one nationally relevant AAA team at most age levels let alone 2. The fact that parents are going to sign their kids up to play at WLC despite getting completely jerked around until the last minute is unbelievable. Like are you that desperate to say your kid plays AAA hockey? Anyone in the real hockey world looking at these teams realizes immediately how awful most of them are save one or two good players who wind up leaving because thus area cannot sustain them. But hey, they will always find parents willing to buy the dream so I guess more power to them.

But it's still a higher level then AA, even here. So if you have the time and money, why not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The TM 2014 team is top 100 in the country. The TM 2013 team is 35 overall. Seems like TM’s star is on the rise?

The 2014 birthyear team was selected just weeks ago and has not even played a single game. How can they be ranked?

And folks here’s a clue. No one in the real hockey world gives 2 sh*ts about how well your 10 year-olds team is ranked. You folks are nuts. 😆

Eh, that's the case with most things discussed on DCUM. But clearly there is a group that is interested, so I think it's ok to discuss, right?

[Anonymous]

How much of this is tm and pride lobbying behind the scenes because they knew stj would outperform them and make them second fiddle? Better facilities, stable coaching, more organized, better location, etc.

[Anonymous]

Despite the big fancy announcement - didn’t we already see one of these - I predict WLC folds within a year or 2. Sad.

[Anonymous]

The announced group of investors loaned less than a million to the two owners just within the past couple of years. CYWP is part of the 2016 original group of investors and seemingly unrelated to this recent group of investors. Add in, the two owners took out a Covid PPP loan in addition to everything else.

Just want to make sure parents don’t get screwed forking over thousands of dollars for a hockey program if this Ion announcement is not a legitimate deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The announced group of investors loaned less than a million to the two owners just within the past couple of years. CYWP is part of the 2016 original group of investors and seemingly unrelated to this recent group of investors. Add in, the two owners took out a Covid PPP loan in addition to everything else.

Just want to make sure parents don’t get screwed forking over thousands of dollars for a hockey program if this Ion announcement is not a legitimate deal.

I think all the sharks would say “I’m out.”

[Anonymous]

The owners’ TraintoSkate LLC is inactive for lack of payment. Red flags all over the place.

There needs to be better announcement explaining how this deal is structured, especially with all the outstanding loans, liens, and potential claims on the property and business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much of this is tm and pride lobbying behind the scenes because they knew stj would outperform them and make them second fiddle? Better facilities, stable coaching, more organized, better location, etc.

I think you way over estimate the draw of St. James as a facility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much of this is tm and pride lobbying behind the scenes because they knew stj would outperform them and make them second fiddle? Better facilities, stable coaching, more organized, better location, etc.

StJ doesn't have a good, strong developmental hockey program. Receiving a tier 1 program wouldn't magically change that. That's why all of the teams here are underperforming.

[Anonymous]

I would just say, with none of my kids in Tier 1, I am hoping for the success of both WLC and TM. It will be good for hockey and good for the players. It will also help maintain competitive play in the CBHL. Hopefully, the lack of uncertainty will be resolved and communication will improve. That’s the part that’s really frustrating.

[Anonymous]

*lack of certainty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much of this is tm and pride lobbying behind the scenes because they knew stj would outperform them and make them second fiddle? Better facilities, stable coaching, more organized, better location, etc.

I think you way over estimate the draw of St. James as a facility.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just say, with none of my kids in Tier 1, I am hoping for the success of both WLC and TM. It will be good for hockey and good for the players. It will also help maintain competitive play in the CBHL. Hopefully, the lack of uncertainty will be resolved and communication will improve. That’s the part that’s really frustrating.

I disagree. I have a Tier 1 player. This area doesn’t have the talent for 2 Tier 1 programs. It just doesn’t. It has become a gloried money- making scam on both sides of the equation. The teams consistently water each other down forcing high end players to leave the area. And the nonsensical “river- rule” forces players to choose which crappy team they try out for or stay with long- term. Have one top Tier 1 program. The kids who don’t make it would create a competitive Tier 2 program to compete against MYHA and Ashburn. Parents of high end players wouldn’t have to leave the area and the DMV could actually have a competitive Tier 1 program for once.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just say, with none of my kids in Tier 1, I am hoping for the success of both WLC and TM. It will be good for hockey and good for the players. It will also help maintain competitive play in the CBHL. Hopefully, the lack of uncertainty will be resolved and communication will improve. That’s the part that’s really frustrating.

I disagree. I have a Tier 1 player. This area doesn’t have the talent for 2 Tier 1 programs. It just doesn’t. It has become a gloried money- making scam on both sides of the equation. The teams consistently water each other down forcing high end players to leave the area. And the nonsensical “river- rule” forces players to choose which crappy team they try out for or stay with long- term. Have one top Tier 1 program. The kids who don’t make it would create a competitive Tier 2 program to compete against MYHA and Ashburn. Parents of high end players wouldn’t have to leave the area and the DMV could actually have a competitive Tier 1 program for once.

Does your child continue to play Tier 1 in this area? If so, why? There are plenty of parents in this area who choose not to become involved in the “glorified money making scheme” and opt for Tier 2 when they are Tier 1 players and likely better than most or all of the TM and WLC rosters. It’s obvious to us all who those players are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would just say, with none of my kids in Tier 1, I am hoping for the success of both WLC and TM. It will be good for hockey and good for the players. It will also help maintain competitive play in the CBHL. Hopefully, the lack of uncertainty will be resolved and communication will improve. That’s the part that’s really frustrating.

I disagree. I have a Tier 1 player. This area doesn’t have the talent for 2 Tier 1 programs. It just doesn’t. It has become a gloried money- making scam on both sides of the equation. The teams consistently water each other down forcing high end players to leave the area. And the nonsensical “river- rule” forces players to choose which crappy team they try out for or stay with long- term. Have one top Tier 1 program. The kids who don’t make it would create a competitive Tier 2 program to compete against MYHA and Ashburn. Parents of high end players wouldn’t have to leave the area and the DMV could actually have a competitive Tier 1 program for once.

Does your child continue to play Tier 1 in this area? If so, why? There are plenty of parents in this area who choose not to become involved in the “glorified money making scheme” and opt for Tier 2 when they are Tier 1 players and likely better than most or all of the TM and WLC rosters. It’s obvious to us all who those players are.

I feel bad for the Loudon Knights program in all of this, since Ion is their only lifeline and it provides a hockey program for a lot of kids. But I am would be so worried about the future of Ion and the risk of it shuttering half way through the season.

WLC on the other hand has chosen to bring its families on a wild ride and ultimately selected to stay in a terrible location rather than going to a much more central spot. The families of the 11U and 12U families must be furious, what a mess.