Anonymous wrote:No, STJ has no Mount Vernon ice. It's just assumed that many of the players who no longer have spots at STJ will move over to Ice Dogs who are restarting their co-ed travel program.
For the co-ed teams, there was already going to be a lot of families leaving for Ice Dogs when it reopened due to the low quality co-ed coaching at STJ and the inflated costs, but with all of the teams being shut down that is really going to amplify the number of people leaving.
That's us. Went to the St. James with my two sons after Mt. Vernon rink shut down and it was a struggle. There are a few good coaches on the boys teams but most of them stink. The biggest trick St. James every pulled was convincing families that their coaches were professionals. Technically they are pros because they get a paycheck to coach but 75% of the coaches of the boys teams never played high level hockey and don't have much coaching experience - you gotta check at least one of those boxes. I don't mind paying for good coaching but you need to give me good coaching. At most we'd have 2 coaches at games/practices who were mostly disinterested, then we play against most other teams who have 4 coaches on the bench and are giving pointers and helping the kids adjust in the game and it makes me wonder where all my money is going. Sometimes only one coach would show up for games and practices, just a waste.