Stoddert Juniors v. PPA Premiere

[Anonymous]

Son has an offer to play Stoddert Juniors "blue" and also has an offer to play "up" into PPA Premiere 2011 age. (He is 2012 birth year.)

We don't really know much and are not necessarily looking for a pipeline to the highest levels of travel. He loves to play competitively though, and coaching is important to us. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Ok, I’ll bite.

Play up a year in PPA, see how the development goes and reevaluate next year if you feel like it isn’t strong enough.

[Anonymous]

Toss up. At this age pick what's convenient to your home. Coaching at PPA is inconsistent. Good coaches can be had but so can bad coaches even in premiere. Stoddert is non-profit while PPA is for-profit. Every email feels like they see dollar signs in the kids.

[Anonymous]

Money grab.

[Anonymous]

If the coaching is important -- have you met the coaches? Talked to them?

[Anonymous]

So he’s a first grader??? Total money grab.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know the Stoddert juniors program but my DC played Stoddert rec until about 2nd grade before switching to a travel club with some friends. The drop off in commitment level from families in rec is significant. The quality coaching available at travel is very good.

Not sure why the posters above recommend running away from these programs but I think either choice is going to be much better than staying put.