Anonymous
Post 03/07/2023 00:50     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the IM input! Has been hard to figure out, had to visit each school website one by one. And like I didn’t see much at Michigan in Ann Arbor, but they can’t be right, so not sure it is easy to find. Wisconsin may be a great one for the list.


If your kid can get into Michigan, they have strong D2 and D3 club teams. The D2 team just played in SE Regionals at the St James. D3 team is #3 seed at Nationals. ACHA website is pretty good.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2023 17:07     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Seems like a kid who is usually making the upper A teams and occasionally hits it and makes AA is probably IM bound and likely to get cut from ACHA 3. Is there anything in between?
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2023 17:05     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Thanks for the IM input! Has been hard to figure out, had to visit each school website one by one. And like I didn’t see much at Michigan in Ann Arbor, but they can’t be right, so not sure it is easy to find. Wisconsin may be a great one for the list.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2023 08:55     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:Where does one get smart on all these intracacies?


Live through 10 years+ of kid hockey!

A good AA player would have a good chance, I think, of playing on many ACHA D3 teams. My son has a former teammate who played for Ashburn for many years who just finished his freshman season at JMU, and got plenty of ice time.
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2023 08:31     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Where does one get smart on all these intracacies?
Anonymous
Post 02/26/2023 08:20     Subject: Re:ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:What colleges offer intramural hockey? I know Syracuse has intramural hockey, any others?


Lots of schools in the north will have IM hockey. Two I know of for sure are Northeastern and Wisconsin. When I went to Williams (many years ago!) they also had it.
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2023 21:33     Subject: Re:ACHA hockey in college
What colleges offer intramural hockey? I know Syracuse has intramural hockey, any others?
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2023 21:29     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Does anyone have a good primer on what the options are out of high school? You have to take a year off to play ncaa?!
Anonymous
Post 02/25/2023 20:50     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Helpful thread, thanks PPs. Any suggestions where a strong student who plays AA travel on a good day might fit? So hard to get this sorted.
Anonymous
Post 01/09/2023 12:30     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone comment on how it's going if your kid opted for ACHA hockey in college? It seems like a good option for a kid who plays AAA (or even AA) in high school and doesn't want to move away from home or take anytime off to play juniors. Is it really that different from NCAA D3 hockey?


My kid played for the Little Caps for many years (including 1 year of 18U) and decided to head straight off to college and play ACHA, rather than work through juniors en route to NCAA hockey. His college has an ACHA D2 team that is pretty competitive (they have been to Nationals for 5 years in a row, I think). After the first night of tryouts in September, he called me to say he wasn't sure if he was going to make the team. It turns out he did and, so far, he has been able to play in every game (this is only true for 3 of the 7 freshman on the team). He gets solid ice time, but not as much as he got with the Little Caps. He's getting both PP and PK time, and is averaging about 0.5 pts per game. Its been a great situation for him, in that he gets the camaraderie of the team (and the opportunity to get to meet and know quite a few upper classmen), as well as a solid amount of hockey (they practice twice a week and play a 22 game schedule (not including post-season). I don't think the overall experience at his school is very similar to an NCAA D3 team, in that the whole operation is much less formal, but its been good for him. For what it worth, the Northeast Region, where he plays, seems to be the weakest overall in terms of level of play. Many of the southern schools have programs which get much more formal support. My son's team went down to Lynchberg to play Liberty, and kids were lining up 3 hours in advance to watch the Liberty D1 team play at midnight. Kentucky has a similar vibe, I think, based on what some of my son's former teammates have said.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2023 21:29     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Thank you! This is really helpful and I plan to spend a good amount of time on the links you provided. We don't see our AAA player doing well moving away from home before high school graduation, nor do we like the idea of him taking a year or more off between high school and college. The few ACHA M1 teams that I had researched have a strong roster, so it seems like a great way for him to continue to enjoy competitive hockey through college but not lose focus on academics? But, I get the message - we need to do a lot of research to guide him toward the right fit....


Based on what I’ve seen from the local 18U tier 1 teams, good ACHA M1 would be a stretch straight out of high school. Villanova, Lehigh, Mason, some of those programs should be fine. No one on the 18U teams would make Liberty M1.
Anonymous
Post 01/06/2023 18:01     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone comment on how it's going if your kid opted for ACHA hockey in college? It seems like a good option for a kid who plays AAA (or even AA) in high school and doesn't want to move away from home or take anytime off to play juniors. Is it really that different from NCAA D3 hockey?


Depends on team and level. The top 15 in ACHA D1 is very comparable and even AAA players would have trouble making some of those teams out of high school. Programs like Ohio, Adrian, Minot State, Liberty, and UNLV are full of older Canadians and former NCAA players. They are also run like varsity programs. Schools like Liberty and Adrian also have teams at lower club levels. Nearby, Delaware has a well supported program but aren't competitive with the top of ACHA D1 right now, but they too have D2 and D3 (CHF) options. Same with WVU, which has 3 club teams. Mason is low level ACHA D1 and would struggle against the top ACHA D2 programs, but I think school is committed to program. Some teams are free but some teams can cost like $3000.

While some programs are nowhere near NCAA D3 competition-wise, they still pack the house and are fun teams. In the the low-level CHF, Georgia and South Carolina are good examples and lots of local players on both. Kentucky and NC State are also fun ACHA D2 programs with great fan bases. VA Tech seems to be getting some momentum at ACHA D2 but they practice/play an hour+ from campus. These teams may give a better college hockey experience. At the same time, some teams barely practice and aren't serious at all. But I've also known some good players to get cut when the school has a single team (see Penn State). With ACHA/CHF, you need to do your research for sure. Reach out to coaches for schools your son is interested in and check out their social media. With Covid, there are a lot of NAHL, NCDC, and Junior A players at club these days. One of the best players I've seen from Gonzaga (former Providence commit) is playing CHF at Tampa. So good players everywhere.

Good links to start researching:

https://www.achahockey.org/ (Check out rankings, schedule, results etc.)
https://twitter.com/campusclubpuck
https://twitter.com/hockeyhousepod (ACHA focused podcast)
https://www.eliteprospects.com (look up a school and you can see where kids are from)


Thank you! This is really helpful and I plan to spend a good amount of time on the links you provided. We don't see our AAA player doing well moving away from home before high school graduation, nor do we like the idea of him taking a year or more off between high school and college. The few ACHA M1 teams that I had researched have a strong roster, so it seems like a great way for him to continue to enjoy competitive hockey through college but not lose focus on academics? But, I get the message - we need to do a lot of research to guide him toward the right fit....
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2023 18:37     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Anonymous wrote:Can anyone comment on how it's going if your kid opted for ACHA hockey in college? It seems like a good option for a kid who plays AAA (or even AA) in high school and doesn't want to move away from home or take anytime off to play juniors. Is it really that different from NCAA D3 hockey?


Depends on team and level. The top 15 in ACHA D1 is very comparable and even AAA players would have trouble making some of those teams out of high school. Programs like Ohio, Adrian, Minot State, Liberty, and UNLV are full of older Canadians and former NCAA players. They are also run like varsity programs. Schools like Liberty and Adrian also have teams at lower club levels. Nearby, Delaware has a well supported program but aren't competitive with the top of ACHA D1 right now, but they too have D2 and D3 (CHF) options. Same with WVU, which has 3 club teams. Mason is low level ACHA D1 and would struggle against the top ACHA D2 programs, but I think school is committed to program. Some teams are free but some teams can cost like $3000.

While some programs are nowhere near NCAA D3 competition-wise, they still pack the house and are fun teams. In the the low-level CHF, Georgia and South Carolina are good examples and lots of local players on both. Kentucky and NC State are also fun ACHA D2 programs with great fan bases. VA Tech seems to be getting some momentum at ACHA D2 but they practice/play an hour+ from campus. These teams may give a better college hockey experience. At the same time, some teams barely practice and aren't serious at all. But I've also known some good players to get cut when the school has a single team (see Penn State). With ACHA/CHF, you need to do your research for sure. Reach out to coaches for schools your son is interested in and check out their social media. With Covid, there are a lot of NAHL, NCDC, and Junior A players at club these days. One of the best players I've seen from Gonzaga (former Providence commit) is playing CHF at Tampa. So good players everywhere.

Good links to start researching:

https://www.achahockey.org/ (Check out rankings, schedule, results etc.)
https://twitter.com/campusclubpuck
https://twitter.com/hockeyhousepod (ACHA focused podcast)
https://www.eliteprospects.com (look up a school and you can see where kids are from)
Anonymous
Post 01/05/2023 07:58     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Yes, but still a great experience. Most aaa players from this area would probably not be able to make a d-3 team
Anonymous
Post 01/04/2023 17:49     Subject: ACHA hockey in college
Can anyone comment on how it's going if your kid opted for ACHA hockey in college? It seems like a good option for a kid who plays AAA (or even AA) in high school and doesn't want to move away from home or take anytime off to play juniors. Is it really that different from NCAA D3 hockey?