Only trouts for 10U/12U are soon. Everyone else has to wait until after Nationals, Week of March 23rd, so Tier 1 tryouts can only start the week of March 31. Interestingly, Little Caps is delaying their tryout until week of April 8th. Most Tier 2 orgs will not have tryouts until Week of April 18th, so a lot of time between now and then. |
Is that not exactly what OP said? Tryouts for Tier 1 start in about 2 weeks and Tier 2 in about 3 weeks. They didn't say "all tryouts will be done in 3 weeks". 10U and 12U tryouts usually account for about half of the total players trying out. |
IMO this is unreasonable. I don’t have kids at stj but have in the past. The coaches were always announced before tryouts. I don’t understand why they are expected to have them all listed a month prior. Does every other association in cbhl have all of their coaches listed? |
It's unclear what age OP's kids are. Not sure that I agree that 10/12U have more kids trying out than all other ages combined, probably not, but in any case, they do not combined have more teams than the rest of the ages. You could argue that 10/12U teams should have coaches announced, but we're almost two months out from tryouts for the other age levels, I wouldn't expect all those coaches to be named yet. |
All of the ones that make you pay extra to have paid coaches all have their coaches listed. If you are going to charge a premium make sure people know what they buying. |
| I don't think they have even officially listed all the coaches for the Tier 1 programs yet, and you're paying a heck of a lot more for that... |
+1. Appears OP has some sort of axe to grind or is just a troll. Tier II club hockey costs have been discussed extensively in this forum, and nearly all are within +/- $500 of each other. Out of curiosity, I checked several other clubs and many of them have 50-70% of their coaching slate for '26-'27 listed as TBA. |
Having 70% listed as TBA is still better than 100% being TBA. |
If this is a problem, then clearly, STJ is not the club for you. |
But how on earth will your child make it to the NHL if you don't know who their prospective 10U coach is RIGHT NOW?! |
So you are saying that parents should just trust a for-profit company to make the right choices for their kids without any vetting of if the paid coaches are any good? The fact you are paying a coach means you are either paying more in team fees, getting less ice time, or both. Parents should just smile and toss their money down the drain in the hopes that some unnamed 23 year old with no serious hockey of coaching experience will be the right fit for their kid? Give your head a shake. |
I would expect this from a non-profit, volunteer-run organization. Not one where there are full time staff to deal with issues. If your reason people should choose your club is that you have paid coaches, then you better be upfront about who those coaches are. My sons have never played at STJ but their Reston teams play them plenty. As I look at the website at their coaches last year, I can only find one coach who played D1 or better. A couple played D3. The rest look like a bunch of people in their early 20s who played club hockey or worse and have maybe 1 or two years of coaching experience. That is not impressive and not worth paying for. |
No, I'm saying that this entire thread was disingenuously meant to troll a single program, when (1) other programs also have not announced coaches; (2) those other programs are charging a similar amount when you factor in the additional travel of those programs; (3) it's clear the OP has no actual interest in STJ and just wants to stir the pot; and (4) all roads lead to beer league. As someone nearing the other side of the travel hockey "journey," unless your goal is keeping your kids physically fit, teaching them the value of teamwork and sportsmanship, and hopefully developing a lifelong love of a great sport, there is no measurable ROI from any co-ed program in this area from development perspective, which is why the most skilled players leave the area for other programs and/or prep school. Choose the rink that is closest to you or the program that has the most like-minded parents. If you're not sure about a program, go watch some games and see how the parents behave. That will tell you all you need to know. |
I'm not the OP and don't have any skin in this game, but saying fitness, teamwork, sportsmanship, and love are the most important but coaching is not is a bonkers statement. The coach is responsible for all of those and I've seen mediocre coaches ruin all of those things for an entire team. |
I don't see how someone, in good faith, thinks OP is trolling. They want to know who their kid would play for before paying a coach. Seems like a pretty basic ask, no? |