Hockey

[Anonymous]

If you are still playing in DC after age 15, the chances of juniors, especially USHL, is exceptionally rare. It is so frustrating that this is the case - other metro areas like Dallas have figured out a way to keep their kids at home and still offer a high level of practice and game schedule (admittedly traveling for nearly all games). Dallas has 5 kids drafted to the USHL last week. MD, DC and VA have 0.

[Anonymous]

if you think you have a shot you need to leave the area. on the girls side even at tier 1 you still have dad coaches that cant help but prioritize their kid's friends during team selection. and i know a couple parents of boys that left for prep school after first year 16U aa, and ended up making tier ii juniors before hanging it up. kids that "couldnt" make aaa here. go look at the alumni sections of the 3 tier 1 programs in the dmv and its pretty dismal. and when you investigate further you find the ones that "made it" only played in the program for a year.

the tier 1 programs in dc are ineffective - heck I know its not what its about but go look at their W-L records over the last few years. its why some of my posts above were so critical. there's probably a slew of reasons to it - but i've witnessed networky or clicky parents get their kid on a team. basically parents buddying up to the heard coach whenever possible. i think most parents of kids in the programs here should just play aa. cbhl and ahf are fun and offer all the benefits of the sport without giving up a normal high school life. the ones that really think they have a chance should move. because dmv tier 1 inst going to get you there. i dont know why usa hockey makes it so hard to start a tier i program, because if these guys didnt have a monopoly the kids would benefit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are still playing in DC after age 15, the chances of juniors, especially USHL, is exceptionally rare. It is so frustrating that this is the case - other metro areas like Dallas have figured out a way to keep their kids at home and still offer a high level of practice and game schedule (admittedly traveling for nearly all games). Dallas has 5 kids drafted to the USHL last week. MD, DC and VA have 0.

Dumb question, where can I find the list of kids drafted from each state?

[Anonymous]

https://ushl1draft.rinknet.com/ Will show you who was drafted this year and their hometown and previous team is listed.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of reasons why the DMV Tier 1 programs do not produce kids who can play juniors and progress to NCAA D3 and D1. It's a complex mix of a very thin talent pool among parent coaches compared to other cities (who inevitably are training the youngest players and giving them their start, from age 5 on), producing a very thin player pool at the young ages when regional/national competition begins (so DC is WAY behind to start), fragmented Tier 2 scene, lack of available ice time in the season (even if some sheets go down in the spring/summer), Tier 1 offerings for kids starting 2 years later than most other markets (putting DC even further behind), and a number of other factors. There are some great professional coaches in DC, but unless the entire landscape is re-configured, this problem will not go away.

As someone who is knowledgeable about the youth hockey scene here in the DMV and elsewhere (from a major hockey market out west originally, with a high-level hockey background), I see all kinds of families. I have lots of sympathy and understanding for the poster who has a kid that plays out of the city - there are talented players who simply are not served appropriately by the local programs if they reach a certain level, and if the kid is dialed-in and loves it, and the family is committed and knows what the are doing, playing away makes sense for that kid and family, college aspirations or not.

I also see parents who have no clue what they are talking about and move all over the country, home or online school, for a kid that would be better served being in a traditional school and making some friends at home, rather than home-online-schooling and being in a rink in a semi-random city all day.

Our family policy is to respect everyone's decisions and cast aspersions on no families' choices: we can't know everyone's circumstances, and in our experience, sometimes the strangest-seeming choices end up being those that make a ton of sense when you get to know the people -- and sometimes what seems like the most obvious set of choices make no sense whatsoever, with parents very obviously chasing the dream for their kids (or worse, being a hockey parent is the parents' primary activity, the kid being an afterthought).

It is just a fact that until the business of DC hockey is totally reorganized, this problem will persist. In the meantime, we hope that folks will all be respectful and understanding of others, who are inevitably trying to do what is best for their kid or family regardless of how misguided (or not) they may ultimately be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are lots of reasons why the DMV Tier 1 programs do not produce kids who can play juniors and progress to NCAA D3 and D1. It's a complex mix of a very thin talent pool among parent coaches compared to other cities (who inevitably are training the youngest players and giving them their start, from age 5 on), producing a very thin player pool at the young ages when regional/national competition begins (so DC is WAY behind to start), fragmented Tier 2 scene, lack of available ice time in the season (even if some sheets go down in the spring/summer), Tier 1 offerings for kids starting 2 years later than most other markets (putting DC even further behind), and a number of other factors. There are some great professional coaches in DC, but unless the entire landscape is re-configured, this problem will not go away.

As someone who is knowledgeable about the youth hockey scene here in the DMV and elsewhere (from a major hockey market out west originally, with a high-level hockey background), I see all kinds of families. I have lots of sympathy and understanding for the poster who has a kid that plays out of the city - there are talented players who simply are not served appropriately by the local programs if they reach a certain level, and if the kid is dialed-in and loves it, and the family is committed and knows what the are doing, playing away makes sense for that kid and family, college aspirations or not.

I also see parents who have no clue what they are talking about and move all over the country, home or online school, for a kid that would be better served being in a traditional school and making some friends at home, rather than home-online-schooling and being in a rink in a semi-random city all day.

Our family policy is to respect everyone's decisions and cast aspersions on no families' choices: we can't know everyone's circumstances, and in our experience, sometimes the strangest-seeming choices end up being those that make a ton of sense when you get to know the people -- and sometimes what seems like the most obvious set of choices make no sense whatsoever, with parents very obviously chasing the dream for their kids (or worse, being a hockey parent is the parents' primary activity, the kid being an afterthought).

It is just a fact that until the business of DC hockey is totally reorganized, this problem will persist. In the meantime, we hope that folks will all be respectful and understanding of others, who are inevitably trying to do what is best for their kid or family regardless of how misguided (or not) they may ultimately be.

Great post. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:if you think you have a shot you need to leave the area. on the girls side even at tier 1 you still have dad coaches that cant help but prioritize their kid's friends during team selection. and i know a couple parents of boys that left for prep school after first year 16U aa, and ended up making tier ii juniors before hanging it up. kids that "couldnt" make aaa here. go look at the alumni sections of the 3 tier 1 programs in the dmv and its pretty dismal. and when you investigate further you find the ones that "made it" only played in the program for a year.

the tier 1 programs in dc are ineffective - heck I know its not what its about but go look at their W-L records over the last few years. its why some of my posts above were so critical. there's probably a slew of reasons to it - but i've witnessed networky or clicky parents get their kid on a team. basically parents buddying up to the heard coach whenever possible. i think most parents of kids in the programs here should just play aa. cbhl and ahf are fun and offer all the benefits of the sport without giving up a normal high school life. the ones that really think they have a chance should move. because dmv tier 1 inst going to get you there. i dont know why usa hockey makes it so hard to start a tier i program, because if these guys didnt have a monopoly the kids would benefit.

m
Having two Tier 1 programs in this area makes no sense ( not enough talent) unless you are the program that is in it to make endless gobs of money. And throw in the “ River Rule” and you’ve got yourself a greedy shi*tshow called DMV hockey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

It is just a fact that until the business of DC hockey is totally reorganized, this problem will persist. In the meantime, we hope that folks will all be respectful and understanding of others, who are inevitably trying to do what is best for their kid or family regardless of how misguided (or not) they may ultimately be.

What do you think needs to change on the business side?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread sums up a lot of things I see wrong with youth sports. Why are you trying to pick a sport based on what will get you into a Ivy League school? Why not just let your kid play what they want and learn the lessons - teamwork, winning and losing, working hard, etc. if they really love it they’ll apply themself and get really good at it. Fencing? Give me a break.

And the youth hockey development is nuts. Do you really want your kid to play tier I their entire childhood, skip years of schooling to play juniors, just for a shot at making a ncaa team? Why not just let them play aa (which is rotary competitive all round with great coaching) and for their hs team, and let them play on a college club team if they want. Why chase the dragon? Hockey is such a great sport and has so many lessons in it, and I understand the temptation, but jeez unless your kid is pounding pucks off the garage door 4 hours a day…

Sometimes there are kids, like mine, who simply can’t find teams in the DMV (AA, TM and WLC) that play at his level. Yea, maybe it sounds obnoxious or you think I’m blowing smoke, but he is very competitive and was frustrated by all of the hockey in this area. He simply plays at a higher level. So I hate it when hockey friends turn up their noses and assume we are chasing some hockey dream. The reality is that he loves the sport and got bored with what he had in the DMV. Will he play college hockey? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a long shot especially when you throw in that he’s at a top HS and we won’t let him sacrifice academics for hockey. But please don’t judge our choices. For some kids, there simply isn’t enough here in the DMV to play at a certain level.

Yeah...ok. Sure.

What a pathetically petty response. Hockey parents in the DMV are so predictable. 😂

If you knew even the first thing about hockey you would understand that reply. Clearly you do not.

Actually one thing I’ve learned in my almost two decades in the DMV hockey world. Most hockey parents are not that smart and many of them are petty and jealous when they see an amazing and talented player who they know will never be their kid. Get some therapy. Jealously will eat you from the inside out.

That's not my experience at all - with 3 kids in hockey most of the parents we've met are nice, intelligent, and overall pleasant people.

Same. Well educated, mostly government and private sector. Lots of lawyers. It isn't a cheap sport, so not really any uneducated/middle class families. Unfortunately.

What does it matter. It’s a fun sport but none of the players in the DMV have a chance of D1 or juniors.

It’s a middle class sport everywhere else and they are committed to hockey. They play year round and have natural talent. It’s cute that you think your tiny group of kids playing hockey are the norm.

This is plainly untrue. Plenty of local kids playing juniors (though most at the Tier 3 level. There are also quite a few local kids who have made or are making their way to D1 schools, including 1 who has played his entire "career" through juniors locally. And there are currently three local kids playing professionally up in Hershey (Joe Snively, Sam Anas, and Alex Limoges).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread sums up a lot of things I see wrong with youth sports. Why are you trying to pick a sport based on what will get you into a Ivy League school? Why not just let your kid play what they want and learn the lessons - teamwork, winning and losing, working hard, etc. if they really love it they’ll apply themself and get really good at it. Fencing? Give me a break.

And the youth hockey development is nuts. Do you really want your kid to play tier I their entire childhood, skip years of schooling to play juniors, just for a shot at making a ncaa team? Why not just let them play aa (which is rotary competitive all round with great coaching) and for their hs team, and let them play on a college club team if they want. Why chase the dragon? Hockey is such a great sport and has so many lessons in it, and I understand the temptation, but jeez unless your kid is pounding pucks off the garage door 4 hours a day…

Sometimes there are kids, like mine, who simply can’t find teams in the DMV (AA, TM and WLC) that play at his level. Yea, maybe it sounds obnoxious or you think I’m blowing smoke, but he is very competitive and was frustrated by all of the hockey in this area. He simply plays at a higher level. So I hate it when hockey friends turn up their noses and assume we are chasing some hockey dream. The reality is that he loves the sport and got bored with what he had in the DMV. Will he play college hockey? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a long shot especially when you throw in that he’s at a top HS and we won’t let him sacrifice academics for hockey. But please don’t judge our choices. For some kids, there simply isn’t enough here in the DMV to play at a certain level.

Yeah...ok. Sure.

What a pathetically petty response. Hockey parents in the DMV are so predictable. 😂

If you knew even the first thing about hockey you would understand that reply. Clearly you do not.

Actually one thing I’ve learned in my almost two decades in the DMV hockey world. Most hockey parents are not that smart and many of them are petty and jealous when they see an amazing and talented player who they know will never be their kid. Get some therapy. Jealously will eat you from the inside out.

That's not my experience at all - with 3 kids in hockey most of the parents we've met are nice, intelligent, and overall pleasant people.

Same. Well educated, mostly government and private sector. Lots of lawyers. It isn't a cheap sport, so not really any uneducated/middle class families. Unfortunately.

What does it matter. It’s a fun sport but none of the players in the DMV have a chance of D1 or juniors.

It’s a middle class sport everywhere else and they are committed to hockey. They play year round and have natural talent. It’s cute that you think your tiny group of kids playing hockey are the norm.

You are not a very nice person, are you? Can you respond without throwing in insults? The person you are responding to had a perfectly polite post.

The person had the usual stereotypes around here about lawyers? and govt workers being the parents of the players. Also it’s not for the uneducated or middle class. Not only was that an uneducated statement that made no sense but it was rude. And wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread sums up a lot of things I see wrong with youth sports. Why are you trying to pick a sport based on what will get you into a Ivy League school? Why not just let your kid play what they want and learn the lessons - teamwork, winning and losing, working hard, etc. if they really love it they’ll apply themself and get really good at it. Fencing? Give me a break.

And the youth hockey development is nuts. Do you really want your kid to play tier I their entire childhood, skip years of schooling to play juniors, just for a shot at making a ncaa team? Why not just let them play aa (which is rotary competitive all round with great coaching) and for their hs team, and let them play on a college club team if they want. Why chase the dragon? Hockey is such a great sport and has so many lessons in it, and I understand the temptation, but jeez unless your kid is pounding pucks off the garage door 4 hours a day…

Sometimes there are kids, like mine, who simply can’t find teams in the DMV (AA, TM and WLC) that play at his level. Yea, maybe it sounds obnoxious or you think I’m blowing smoke, but he is very competitive and was frustrated by all of the hockey in this area. He simply plays at a higher level. So I hate it when hockey friends turn up their noses and assume we are chasing some hockey dream. The reality is that he loves the sport and got bored with what he had in the DMV. Will he play college hockey? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a long shot especially when you throw in that he’s at a top HS and we won’t let him sacrifice academics for hockey. But please don’t judge our choices. For some kids, there simply isn’t enough here in the DMV to play at a certain level.

Yeah...ok. Sure.

What a pathetically petty response. Hockey parents in the DMV are so predictable. 😂

If you knew even the first thing about hockey you would understand that reply. Clearly you do not.

Actually one thing I’ve learned in my almost two decades in the DMV hockey world. Most hockey parents are not that smart and many of them are petty and jealous when they see an amazing and talented player who they know will never be their kid. Get some therapy. Jealously will eat you from the inside out.

That's not my experience at all - with 3 kids in hockey most of the parents we've met are nice, intelligent, and overall pleasant people.

Same. Well educated, mostly government and private sector. Lots of lawyers. It isn't a cheap sport, so not really any uneducated/middle class families. Unfortunately.

What does it matter. It’s a fun sport but none of the players in the DMV have a chance of D1 or juniors.

It’s a middle class sport everywhere else and they are committed to hockey. They play year round and have natural talent. It’s cute that you think your tiny group of kids playing hockey are the norm.

This is plainly untrue. Plenty of local kids playing juniors (though most at the Tier 3 level. There are also quite a few local kids who have made or are making their way to D1 schools, including 1 who has played his entire "career" through juniors locally. And there are currently three local kids playing professionally up in Hershey (Joe Snively, Sam Anas, and Alex Limoges).

Three players over a ten year span isn’t great. It’s just not a hockey area. That could change. With the over saturation of baseball and basketball schools and clubs and everything else hockey might be the next big sport for businesses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think this thread sums up a lot of things I see wrong with youth sports. Why are you trying to pick a sport based on what will get you into a Ivy League school? Why not just let your kid play what they want and learn the lessons - teamwork, winning and losing, working hard, etc. if they really love it they’ll apply themself and get really good at it. Fencing? Give me a break.

And the youth hockey development is nuts. Do you really want your kid to play tier I their entire childhood, skip years of schooling to play juniors, just for a shot at making a ncaa team? Why not just let them play aa (which is rotary competitive all round with great coaching) and for their hs team, and let them play on a college club team if they want. Why chase the dragon? Hockey is such a great sport and has so many lessons in it, and I understand the temptation, but jeez unless your kid is pounding pucks off the garage door 4 hours a day…

Sometimes there are kids, like mine, who simply can’t find teams in the DMV (AA, TM and WLC) that play at his level. Yea, maybe it sounds obnoxious or you think I’m blowing smoke, but he is very competitive and was frustrated by all of the hockey in this area. He simply plays at a higher level. So I hate it when hockey friends turn up their noses and assume we are chasing some hockey dream. The reality is that he loves the sport and got bored with what he had in the DMV. Will he play college hockey? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a long shot especially when you throw in that he’s at a top HS and we won’t let him sacrifice academics for hockey. But please don’t judge our choices. For some kids, there simply isn’t enough here in the DMV to play at a certain level.

Yeah...ok. Sure.

What a pathetically petty response. Hockey parents in the DMV are so predictable. 😂

If you knew even the first thing about hockey you would understand that reply. Clearly you do not.

Actually one thing I’ve learned in my almost two decades in the DMV hockey world. Most hockey parents are not that smart and many of them are petty and jealous when they see an amazing and talented player who they know will never be their kid. Get some therapy. Jealously will eat you from the inside out.

That's not my experience at all - with 3 kids in hockey most of the parents we've met are nice, intelligent, and overall pleasant people.

Same. Well educated, mostly government and private sector. Lots of lawyers. It isn't a cheap sport, so not really any uneducated/middle class families. Unfortunately.

What does it matter. It’s a fun sport but none of the players in the DMV have a chance of D1 or juniors.

It’s a middle class sport everywhere else and they are committed to hockey. They play year round and have natural talent. It’s cute that you think your tiny group of kids playing hockey are the norm.

This is plainly untrue. Plenty of local kids playing juniors (though most at the Tier 3 level. There are also quite a few local kids who have made or are making their way to D1 schools, including 1 who has played his entire "career" through juniors locally. And there are currently three local kids playing professionally up in Hershey (Joe Snively, Sam Anas, and Alex Limoges).

Three players over a ten year span isn’t great. It’s just not a hockey area. That could change. With the over saturation of baseball and basketball schools and clubs and everything else hockey might be the next big sport for businesses.

No real disagreement from me. Certainly compared with other "non-traditional" markets like Phoenix or St. Louis, the DMV hasn't (yet) produced much pro-level talent. But there was a big bubble of players from the 2003-2008 birth year as the Rock the Red era kicked in, so its possible that more talent will bubble to the top. But, for the most part, its going to be rare for pro-level players to play here through HS. Most will have left by age 13-15.

[Anonymous]

Im curious to get the opinion of some of our more youth hockey knowledgeable posters -

Is this announcement and this “2nd” U18 team - called U18 Elite - more show than substance? I seem to recall references to Elite on this thread or another one as it being inferior

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7DEeHTAu6G/?igsh=MTUyODVuNWNlcTF2MA==

[Anonymous]

For which club? Everything is “Elite” now … is used as a marketing word to denote higher-level than “AAA”, which itself used to be the top-level marker.

So a second “Elite” team in an age band would seem to be a contradiction in terms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For which club? Everything is “Elite” now … is used as a marketing word to denote higher-level than “AAA”, which itself used to be the top-level marker.

So a second “Elite” team in an age band would seem to be a contradiction in terms.

I think "Elite" is usually used to denote a lower level (see, e.g. USPHL Elite v. USPHL Premier)