Hockey is the wirst

Anonymous wrote:I wasted too much of my and my kids' lives on travel hockey. The money was fine for us, but the wasted time is real. I wish we'd taken more bucket-list family trips instead and stuck with rec sports. Hockey is such a time suck, from tournament travel to early morning and late night practices. Between my kids' activities, I spent a decade of my life sleeping less than five hours most nights, and for what? Had we never introduced hockey, they could've played town soccer or baseball and been just as happy.

Anonymous wrote:Rec hockey would've been better than travel, and high school hockey is essentially rec hockey, which is where we ended, and it was fine, in part because he could drive himself to the 10 pm or 6 am practices. But I still wish we hadn't introduced the sport in the first place. I spent too much of my life sitting in a freezing cold ice rink around nutty hockey parents.

You are filled with regret apparently. Isn't it supposed to be about your child? If your child had a lot of fun playing hockey (or any other sport/activity), made friends, enjoyed competing and improving, perhaps dreamed of being the next Ovechkin, isn't that the point? Your child's activities are not about YOU and what YOU want. What you feel was a waste of your time and a sacrifice is a large part of parenting. Spending your time doing things for your child is what you signed up for when you decided to become a parent, or at least a decent parent.

Seriously, you should feel good that you in many ways supported your child playing a sport at a travel level that we assume they enjoyed. Let the regret go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wasted too much of my and my kids' lives on travel hockey. The money was fine for us, but the wasted time is real. I wish we'd taken more bucket-list family trips instead and stuck with rec sports. Hockey is such a time suck, from tournament travel to early morning and late night practices. Between my kids' activities, I spent a decade of my life sleeping less than five hours most nights, and for what? Had we never introduced hockey, they could've played town soccer or baseball and been just as happy.

Why didnt you stick with rec hockey? Its slightly more demanding due to ice time and lack of local teams, but my one son's rec hockey schedule is less demanding than my other sons travel soccer schedule. I dont think its about hockey, its about travel.

Rec hockey would've been better than travel, and high school hockey is essentially rec hockey, which is where we ended, and it was fine, in part because he could drive himself to the 10 pm or 6 am practices. But I still wish we hadn't introduced the sport in the first place. I spent too much of my life sitting in a freezing cold ice rink around nutty hockey parents.

Anonymous wrote:I wasted too much of my and my kids' lives on travel hockey. The money was fine for us, but the wasted time is real. I wish we'd taken more bucket-list family trips instead and stuck with rec sports. Hockey is such a time suck, from tournament travel to early morning and late night practices. Between my kids' activities, I spent a decade of my life sleeping less than five hours most nights, and for what? Had we never introduced hockey, they could've played town soccer or baseball and been just as happy.

Why didnt you stick with rec hockey? Its slightly more demanding due to ice time and lack of local teams, but my one son's rec hockey schedule is less demanding than my other sons travel soccer schedule. I dont think its about hockey, its about travel.

Anonymous wrote:

Forgot Ashburn - go with them if you want a win at all costs environment. They do extremely well but it’s very intense and many teams have drama, based on parents we’ve talked to and observations during games.

I was at Ashburn on 2/1. My kid had a game and I watched the beginning of the next game while waiting. It was 12U. During the first period the Ashburn head coach got tossed after yelling at the ref non-stop for almost 10 minutes after a questionable goal call. Between the players on ice and the families in the stand there were probably 100 people there. Extremely awkward. It was silent except for this coach just relentlessly screaming at the ref and refusing to leave.

Another fine example of a self-obsessed adult ruining youth sports.

I wasted too much of my and my kids' lives on travel hockey. The money was fine for us, but the wasted time is real. I wish we'd taken more bucket-list family trips instead and stuck with rec sports. Hockey is such a time suck, from tournament travel to early morning and late night practices. Between my kids' activities, I spent a decade of my life sleeping less than five hours most nights, and for what? Had we never introduced hockey, they could've played town soccer or baseball and been just as happy.

Anonymous wrote:What does it mean to "dual roster"?

Girls who play on both a coed team and on a girls team.

It’s hard to be on two teams at once, so one is usually secondary.

What does it mean to "dual roster"?

Anonymous wrote:Good for CHA to finally begin a girls program.

A 10/12U team is a great way to bring girls over from house to travel, as coed travel can be intimidating and less fun for some girls.

It also seems likely CHA will allow coed girls to dual roster, something more established girls programs (STJ) do not allow.

Reston has a 10/12U team in CBHL 12U Silver and many of the 12U CBHL Bronze teams are combined.

I hope this leads to more girls teams at CHA in the next few years!

It's a shame about the dual rostering. We were at Reston and the biggest complaint we always heard from the girls side was that the younger girls teams were always dual roster heavy so it led to a very weird environment with dual roster girls thinking they were better than others, lack of commitment, lack of team bonding. I think that's why MYHA and St James were always against it and why they tend to have better teams.

Good for CHA to finally begin a girls program.

A 10/12U team is a great way to bring girls over from house to travel, as coed travel can be intimidating and less fun for some girls.

It also seems likely CHA will allow coed girls to dual roster, something more established girls programs (STJ) do not allow.

Reston has a 10/12U team in CBHL 12U Silver and many of the 12U CBHL Bronze teams are combined.

I hope this leads to more girls teams at CHA in the next few years!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!

That must mean they are starting with a less competitive 10/12U combined team to start. Should be a good way to convert some of the house league players to travel hockey. Unfortunately most of their travel-level girls already leave their program by 12U but hopefully this slows down the loss in the future.

I'm curious if this is an initiative from the new hockey director (the old director always said they didn't have room for girls hockey) or being forced on them by the Caps.

Anonymous wrote:^cha always has girls spring teams

Only at 19U. This will be the first year for younger ages.

^cha always has girls spring teams

Anonymous wrote:CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!

That must mean they are starting with a less competitive 10/12U combined team to start. Should be a good way to convert some of the house league players to travel hockey. Unfortunately most of their travel-level girls already leave their program by 12U but hopefully this slows down the loss in the future.

CHA just sent an email to families in the community announcing a 12/10U Girls spring league team and fall team, with tryouts in March.

They did not say the fall practice times, but CHA is long past due for a girls program. There are 17 12U girls teams in the DMV, and the marquee Capitals program should be one of them. Excited for CHA Girls!