Feedback of MYHA travel hockey?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS plays house at MYHA and previously played house at MedStar in VA. MYHA is head and shoulders above. The communications and leadership are great and they go to great lengths to make well balanced teams and get each kid in the right place. Assuming the people who run the travel program overlap with the house leadership, you may find the same positives that we have. There are also three rink options on Montgomery which expands opportunities for training and competition.

What were the biggest issues with Rooftop at MedStar? We were thinking of trying it because the schedule and location are more convenient for us than Rockville.

Medstar has a new hockey director this year and he’s great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

LOL. It sounds like you just explained why Frederick is worse. And how dare there be kids doing kid things in a youth hockey program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS plays house at MYHA and previously played house at MedStar in VA. MYHA is head and shoulders above. The communications and leadership are great and they go to great lengths to make well balanced teams and get each kid in the right place. Assuming the people who run the travel program overlap with the house leadership, you may find the same positives that we have. There are also three rink options on Montgomery which expands opportunities for training and competition.

What were the biggest issues with Rooftop at MedStar? We were thinking of trying it because the schedule and location are more convenient for us than Rockville.

PP here. It just felt very thrown together with no effort on development or helping the boys feel like a team. To the extent we reached out the management over a couple questions/issues, there was no response.

[Anonymous]

To clarify on Medstar, the original post is about travel hockey. Rooftop is the house option at Medstar. Over the years, we participate din both at Medstar, as at the time, for Mites (8U), rooftop was the only option. Might still be, I'm not sure.

That said, I thought Rooftop was great for that age group. I'm not sure what kind of team dynamic the PP is looking for, but at least at 8U it was comparable to rec soccer. There's generally a team parent who sets up a snack signup. Kids have snacks together after games. Sometimes there is a team get together after the season if someone decides to host it, usually not. that age level is pretty much kids trying hockey, some stick with it, some don't. Benefits are that games were always at the same times on the weekend, so very easy to plan around.

Not sure how Rooftop is at the higher age levels as by that point we had switched over to travel, but again, I would suspect it's comparable to a rec sport. Difference probably is that kids live more geographically distant than for a normal rec team where most of the kids go to school together and live pretty close to one another. If a parent wants to organize team get togethers outside of hockey, many will participate and that would help foster team, but it's incumbent on someone to step up.

[Anonymous]

How hard would it be able to make an MYHA 14U travel team for a kid who has only played rec so far. Kid is one of the better on his rec team, but has no higher level hockey experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How hard would it be able to make an MYHA 14U travel team for a kid who has only played rec so far. Kid is one of the better on his rec team, but has no higher level hockey experience.

They usually have a B team and a travel lite B team, so he has a shot. But definitely try out somewhere else too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

Hmmm. I've always just poured my beer into a cup to bring it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

Hmmm. I've always just poured my beer into a cup to bring it out.

You wear a leather jacket too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

Hmmm. I've always just poured my beer into a cup to bring it out.

You wear a leather jacket too?

No. And what does that mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are far worse rinks in the area than Rockville! At least it is warm and has a bar lol!

Really? name one. You can’t even take your beer out of the trashy little deli there where they haven’t turned off the annoying beeping device back in the kitchen for 5 years. Might as well not serve alcohol at all. I love the kids watching YouTube cartoons on the nights too. There isn’t even a decent brewpub within 15 minutes to kill time at between games.

The stands are awful in the front 2 ones and rink 3 is almost as cold as the back rink in Frederick. The lobby has nowhere to relax and it’s the only rink in the area where a ton of kids get ready in the lobby and leave bags and gear everywhere. Why don’t myha kids use the locker rooms? I honestly can’t think of a worse rink a legit team uses in the dmv.

Hmmm. I've always just poured my beer into a cup to bring it out.

You wear a leather jacket too?

No. And what does that mean?

You sound like a rebel

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^

Depends where in Montgomery county.
Cmon.

But it is a good club. My kids played there for a couple seasons an had fairly good experiences. Although the striver parents there can be a bit much, and tend to stick their noses in more than other places, with things like what line their kid is on and who their line mates are.

Op, where in Moco? Believe it or not, reston and st James, and tricity, can actually be more convenient from certain parts of Moco. Rockville ice area can be a serious pita. And the rink is one of the worse ones in the area for watching you kid on a nightly basis.

Are you saying you think living in Montgomery County, MD and crossing the American Legion bridge in rush hour traffic twice a week to get to Reston or St. James practice is more convenient than driving to Rockville? That is a surprising statement. I disagree, but you do you.

You seem to have missed the important point made by the PP that there is also Tri-City. We live in Montgomery County and the drive to Laurel is reasonable. (and for the games at least, you're not playing at your home rink for 1/2 the time anyways)
More importantly, Tricity is a nicer organization in our experience. After being rather involved in MYHA in the earlier years of our kid's playing, we switched a few years ago after getting very turned off by the MYHA organization (e.g., top management is not ethical; although some volunteer parents are very nice.). This affects your experience in ways you might not expect. I know a number of families from MYHA that also have ended up making the switch and have been much happier at Tri-City. (Very few former team-mates I can think of are still at MYHA, though part of that is because earlier teams were co-ed and I don't know where the girls are now)
When we changed clubs, it was a little hurdle (mentally) for our kid who had to try out without being a 'known quantity' and among other players he didn't know. It also felt strange to make the leap when others we knew had not cottoned on to MYHA's issues. But it worked out and we haven't regretted it for a second. Good quality, ethical management positively affects your experience (and your player's).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^

Depends where in Montgomery county.
Cmon.

But it is a good club. My kids played there for a couple seasons an had fairly good experiences. Although the striver parents there can be a bit much, and tend to stick their noses in more than other places, with things like what line their kid is on and who their line mates are.

Op, where in Moco? Believe it or not, reston and st James, and tricity, can actually be more convenient from certain parts of Moco. Rockville ice area can be a serious pita. And the rink is one of the worse ones in the area for watching you kid on a nightly basis.

Are you saying you think living in Montgomery County, MD and crossing the American Legion bridge in rush hour traffic twice a week to get to Reston or St. James practice is more convenient than driving to Rockville? That is a surprising statement. I disagree, but you do you.

You seem to have missed the important point made by the PP that there is also Tri-City. We live in Montgomery County and the drive to Laurel is reasonable. (and for the games at least, you're not playing at your home rink for 1/2 the time anyways)
More importantly, Tricity is a nicer organization in our experience. After being rather involved in MYHA in the earlier years of our kid's playing, we switched a few years ago after getting very turned off by the MYHA organization (e.g., top management is not ethical; although some volunteer parents are very nice.). This affects your experience in ways you might not expect. I know a number of families from MYHA that also have ended up making the switch and have been much happier at Tri-City. (Very few former team-mates I can think of are still at MYHA, though part of that is because earlier teams were co-ed and I don't know where the girls are now)
When we changed clubs, it was a little hurdle (mentally) for our kid who had to try out without being a 'known quantity' and among other players he didn't know. It also felt strange to make the leap when others we knew had not cottoned on to MYHA's issues. But it worked out and we haven't regretted it for a second. Good quality, ethical management positively affects your experience (and your player's).

The caliber of teams at tri-city is far inferior to MYHA teams, and I doubt many people make the move because tri-city is nicer. Most MYHA kids who moved to tri-city only moved because they didn’t make any MYHA travel team, or because they wanted to play on AA or UA and they weren’t good enough to do that for MYHA. Not trying to be a hockey snob but this has been my experience for the 7 plus years my kids have been playing at MYHA.