Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

What a weird take. St James is towards the bottom of every co-ed AA division, where is all the benefit from paid coaches? Reston and MYHA use parent coaches and are do much better, on average.

Well Reston and myha tend to get the top players in their respective areas. Kids will drive from laurel and Frederick to play at Myha, but that doesn’t mean the coaches are better than tri city or Frederick. St James tends to get the kids that don’t make Reston or ashburn.

Perhaps at the aa level the coaches at Reston and myha are better because they are dads that played at a very high level and have a ton of hockey experience. But at the upper an and lower a levels, I’d take st James any day, primarily because having non dad coaches keeps the parents at bay. Not so much at Reston, but at the other assns (especially Montgomery) the parents are jockeying with each other to get on the coaches good side to hopefully influence where their kid plays. It’s exhausting and gross. I’ve seen none of that at st James.

My kids were at St James for 3 years and even on the Wales teams there were parents in the coach's ear. It was infuriating. Looking back, having a paid coach for the low level teams my kids played on was such a waste of money. Other than the AA coaches, none of the coaches have ever played or coached at anything like a high level.

My son's AA coach at St James is fine but the quality drops quickly. We never have enough people on the bench to properly monitor the game, run doors and give feedback. Every other team has 3-4 people and we have 1-2.

Anyone paying for coaches for a A or B level team are suckers, IMHO.

What age group is your son? If they’re 14u or older they should be paying attention and working the doors themselves. Tight control over adults in the bench is one of the things I appreciate about stj. My kids have played at some of the associations with 4+ adults on the bench, and the third/fourth ones are usually dads trying to buddy up to head/asst coach in attempt to influence their kids line and ice time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

What a weird take. St James is towards the bottom of every co-ed AA division, where is all the benefit from paid coaches? Reston and MYHA use parent coaches and are do much better, on average.

Well Reston and myha tend to get the top players in their respective areas. Kids will drive from laurel and Frederick to play at Myha, but that doesn’t mean the coaches are better than tri city or Frederick. St James tends to get the kids that don’t make Reston or ashburn.

Perhaps at the aa level the coaches at Reston and myha are better because they are dads that played at a very high level and have a ton of hockey experience. But at the upper an and lower a levels, I’d take st James any day, primarily because having non dad coaches keeps the parents at bay. Not so much at Reston, but at the other assns (especially Montgomery) the parents are jockeying with each other to get on the coaches good side to hopefully influence where their kid plays. It’s exhausting and gross. I’ve seen none of that at st James.

My kids were at St James for 3 years and even on the Wales teams there were parents in the coach's ear. It was infuriating. Looking back, having a paid coach for the low level teams my kids played on was such a waste of money. Other than the AA coaches, none of the coaches have ever played or coached at anything like a high level.

My son's AA coach at St James is fine but the quality drops quickly. We never have enough people on the bench to properly monitor the game, run doors and give feedback. Every other team has 3-4 people and we have 1-2.

Anyone paying for coaches for a A or B level team are suckers, IMHO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

What a weird take. St James is towards the bottom of every co-ed AA division, where is all the benefit from paid coaches? Reston and MYHA use parent coaches and are do much better, on average.

Well Reston and myha tend to get the top players in their respective areas. Kids will drive from laurel and Frederick to play at Myha, but that doesn’t mean the coaches are better than tri city or Frederick. St James tends to get the kids that don’t make Reston or ashburn.

Perhaps at the aa level the coaches at Reston and myha are better because they are dads that played at a very high level and have a ton of hockey experience. But at the upper an and lower a levels, I’d take st James any day, primarily because having non dad coaches keeps the parents at bay. Not so much at Reston, but at the other assns (especially Montgomery) the parents are jockeying with each other to get on the coaches good side to hopefully influence where their kid plays. It’s exhausting and gross. I’ve seen none of that at st James.

My kids were at St James for 3 years and even on the Wales teams there were parents in the coach's ear. It was infuriating. Looking back, having a paid coach for the low level teams my kids played on was such a waste of money. Other than the AA coaches, none of the coaches have ever played or coached at anything like a high level.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

What a weird take. St James is towards the bottom of every co-ed AA division, where is all the benefit from paid coaches? Reston and MYHA use parent coaches and are do much better, on average.

Well Reston and myha tend to get the top players in their respective areas. Kids will drive from laurel and Frederick to play at Myha, but that doesn’t mean the coaches are better than tri city or Frederick. St James tends to get the kids that don’t make Reston or ashburn.

Perhaps at the aa level the coaches at Reston and myha are better because they are dads that played at a very high level and have a ton of hockey experience. But at the upper an and lower a levels, I’d take st James any day, primarily because having non dad coaches keeps the parents at bay. Not so much at Reston, but at the other assns (especially Montgomery) the parents are jockeying with each other to get on the coaches good side to hopefully influence where their kid plays. It’s exhausting and gross. I’ve seen none of that at st James.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

What a weird take. St James is towards the bottom of every co-ed AA division, where is all the benefit from paid coaches? Reston and MYHA use parent coaches and are do much better, on average.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:St James is line pricing wise with all the other associations. All the practices are at the st James. We’ve had better coaches there than the other assns our kids played for. Not sure what you guys are talking about.

Look at the number of house of ice you get at STJ vs other programs. While the costs may be similar, the $15K you are paying to coaches comes out of your ice, so fewer practices and games, which is why the players don't develop as well. Cutting out 30 hours of ice time to pay coaches is a huge developmental disadvantage.

Anonymous wrote:There was a post on here awhile ago about some kind of bait and switch with the location of their hockey practices, do a search

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

If you are the OP, sounds like St James not a good fit for you then. Have fun navigating dadball at a different club.

Anonymous wrote:St James is line pricing wise with all the other associations. All the practices are at the st James. We’ve had better coaches there than the other assns our kids played for. Not sure what you guys are talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.

Pretty much every hockey thread I've ever read on here has said either the paid St James coaches were really bad or (being generous) they were fine but not worth the added cost.

Anonymous wrote:Historically coaches have been (mostly) announced closer to tryouts. Current travel coaches are on the website, and while there is a little movement between seasons, most of the coaches tend to return. I am not sure where you have heard that most coaches are bad. Not our experience at all. You might consider trying clinics or group skates to see whether the coaching staff is a good fit for you. Most clinics are very reasonably priced.