Travel Hockey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

Sound advice. +1. Get your child a Tier 1/AAA EDUCATION and play sports for fun and camaraderie.

+1 again. Great advice.

[Anonymous]

So true. Especially when mom is 5’4” and dad is 5’8”. Shrimpy parents walking around like their kid is going to make it in the NHL, like genetics don’t matter.

[Anonymous]

Caps academy is what you want. Great program without some of the drama found at other clubs. We play the Virginia teams (so no personal interest here) and CA has the best combination of skilled players and low(er) key parents; we’ve found that to be the case across several age groups.

If you are ok with less but still ok development and are interested in a great facility you can use, then St. James.

Reston is also a good program but as noted, the parent group can be a bit much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Caps academy is what you want. Great program without some of the drama found at other clubs. We play the Virginia teams (so no personal interest here) and CA has the best combination of skilled players and low(er) key parents; we’ve found that to be the case across several age groups.

If you are ok with less but still ok development and are interested in a great facility you can use, then St. James.

Reston is also a good program but as noted, the parent group can be a bit much.

Forgot Ashburn - go with them if you want a win at all costs environment. They do extremely well but it’s very intense and many teams have drama, based on parents we’ve talked to and observations during games.

[Anonymous]

I'd add on that if either of your kids are girls, St James is the best option out there. Montgomery would be a close second. Our neighbor's daughter plays at St James - they had the CBHL girls playoffs today and St James made the playoffs in the top division of every age group and won 3 of the 5 age groups top divisions. They have teams going to nationals every year and one of their teams won national last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd add on that if either of your kids are girls, St James is the best option out there. Montgomery would be a close second. Our neighbor's daughter plays at St James - they had the CBHL girls playoffs today and St James made the playoffs in the top division of every age group and won 3 of the 5 age groups top divisions. They have teams going to nationals every year and one of their teams won national last year.

If you are in Virginia and want to play on an all-girls tier 2 team, then yes, StJ is the best option for most ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd add on that if either of your kids are girls, St James is the best option out there. Montgomery would be a close second. Our neighbor's daughter plays at St James - they had the CBHL girls playoffs today and St James made the playoffs in the top division of every age group and won 3 of the 5 age groups top divisions. They have teams going to nationals every year and one of their teams won national last year.

Caps Hockey Academy (CHA) aka MedStar, put out a survey geared towards (finally) starting a girls team for the spring and fall. So hopefully that will be an option.

St James has a nice facility, but they also tend to have “professional” coaches with little professional experience.

We know some girls who spent years at St James just to be cut, with little to show for development. As they pull in girls but have only one team per age.

St James tried to acquire Little Caps AAA team, but bungled it at the expense of their developmental teams and families (several threads here from last spring).

Montgomery seems to be a more traditional association, where they do well to make more teams and keep families. As does Potomac in PW county.

[Anonymous]

Is Loudoun any good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Loudoun any good?

I think families have been happy with the program. The prior rink ownership caused issues and was on the verge of closing causing a disruption of teams for 25-26. The owners sold, and Loudon Knights are “back” for the upcoming 2026-27 season, with 10U-18U co-ed and 12U and 14/16U girls teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd add on that if either of your kids are girls, St James is the best option out there. Montgomery would be a close second. Our neighbor's daughter plays at St James - they had the CBHL girls playoffs today and St James made the playoffs in the top division of every age group and won 3 of the 5 age groups top divisions. They have teams going to nationals every year and one of their teams won national last year.

Caps Hockey Academy (CHA) aka MedStar, put out a survey geared towards (finally) starting a girls team for the spring and fall. So hopefully that will be an option.

St James has a nice facility, but they also tend to have “professional” coaches with little professional experience.

We know some girls who spent years at St James just to be cut, with little to show for development. As they pull in girls but have only one team per age.

St James tried to acquire Little Caps AAA team, but bungled it at the expense of their developmental teams and families (several threads here from last spring).

Montgomery seems to be a more traditional association, where they do well to make more teams and keep families. As does Potomac in PW county.

Going to be interesting to see what CHA does. For years they have said they have no ice for a girls program. Are they going to cut some coed teams or have more developmental teams with one practice a week.

[Anonymous]

CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!

That must mean they are starting with a less competitive 10/12U combined team to start. Should be a good way to convert some of the house league players to travel hockey. Unfortunately most of their travel-level girls already leave their program by 12U but hopefully this slows down the loss in the future.

[Anonymous]

^cha always has girls spring teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^cha always has girls spring teams

Only at 19U. This will be the first year for younger ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!

That must mean they are starting with a less competitive 10/12U combined team to start. Should be a good way to convert some of the house league players to travel hockey. Unfortunately most of their travel-level girls already leave their program by 12U but hopefully this slows down the loss in the future.

I'm curious if this is an initiative from the new hockey director (the old director always said they didn't have room for girls hockey) or being forced on them by the Caps.