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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It would be amazing if they could find a central location for Pride, I feel like you'd end up with truly competitive AAA teams rather than teams that are probably equivalent to high-end Tier 2 teams. I feel like they miss out of so many talented players in our are who can't realistically get to Rockville. It ends up being more of a Team Maryland team.[/quote]

It's amazing to me how willing some families are to deal with traffic for hockey.  There are many kids that mine have played with over the years, co-ed and girls, who are driving to Philly for hockey.  We're not that hardcore, but are still coming from VA.  On the 19 team (which ended up the year ranked 21 for national bound teams which is not bad) the team was split about half and half MD/VA, and the VA folks were driving from as far as Bentonville/Skyline and Dumfries.  Definitely not for the faint of hear.  The further drivers tend to be from VA as I think there are more options for kids who live in Baltimore, they could go south or north to Philly/NJ. Believe the club has explored splitting practices between MD and VA in the past, but could not get the ice time to make it work.  Most VA rinks are pretty fully subscribed at this point.[/quote]

Given the shortage of ice rinks in the DMV, I would recommend that kids choose a different sport.  If you play hockey in a metropolitan area that has a lot of rinks, going to hockey practice is not a huge inconvenience.  It is just a short drive.

So perhaps consider having your son/daughter play a field sport -- where practices are at normal times of day and there is more space.

(There is also a shortage of indoor pools in the DMV, relative to the population, and so I do not recommend swimming either.)

The players from areas with more/better facilities will usually be better than even a large metro area like the DMV, because we lack the facilities.[/quote]

This is the most idiotic thing I have ever read. Discouraging people from playing hockey or swimming in the DMV? You realize that two of the best swimmers of all time (Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps) came from the DMV area?

You might as well tell people not to let their kids to play football or baseball since the kids in the south will be better - as they can play outside year round. How about you just STFU and let kids pick sports they enjoy?[/quote]

The most idiotic thing I see on here is parents believing it’s a worthwhile investment of their time and resources to play AAA hockey. Folks are driving over an hour each way for practices at odd hours, and getting on a plane for 10+ tournaments a year, for what? To (hopefully) start college at 20 and play on a D3 or ACHA club team?

Here is the data on who makes the NHL (spoiler, it’s not kids from the DMV):
https://www.hockey-reference.com/friv/birthplaces.cgi

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=87dea755c0034d5593d0258408d253dc

Let your kid play any other sport.

[/quote]

Here is what I know; there is a <1% of making it to the NHL if you play AAA hockey in the DMV area but there is a 0% chance you make it if you don't even bother exploring your potential. Kids play, first and foremost, for a love of the game. That is what matters most. At the end of the day, no matter where the stops are along the way, all roads lead to beer league. But if kids love the sport and want to see how far they can go with it, regardless to where they are born, who is anyone else to tell them not to?

[/quote]

This gets it exactly right.  For almost everyone, in Canada, Russia, Minnesota, or the DMV, all roads lead to beer league (which is a fantastic place to end up).  But the journey, wherever it goes, can be meaningful, and the game itself is great.  I love that kids (and families) have different choices about which paths they choose.  [/quote]

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