Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Little Caps are no longer appearing on the STJ website

I think it's safe to say our dream of WLC in a well maintained rink in a central location is dead.

Moving to Ion was the worst thing that Club did. They were a much better organization when they played out of Medstar. Centrally located. Attracted families with resources for AAA hockey. If someone from the DMV has to drive 50 minutes to get to a crappy rink then the decision to go away or drive 2 hours for a better team and organization becomes a viable option. Moving to the St James was the right move for them. They should have done everything in their power to make that work. You cannot have a sustainable program in a sh*tty rink. Haymarket is crap and Ion is literally disintegrating. Any investor who would consider investing in Ion at this point must like trying to lose money.

From what I've heard many age groups have only had 20-30 kids out for tryouts. Sounds like people are mostly done with the WLC messiness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Little Caps are no longer appearing on the STJ website

I think it's safe to say our dream of WLC in a well maintained rink in a central location is dead.

Moving to Ion was the worst thing that Club did. They were a much better organization when they played out of Medstar. Centrally located. Attracted families with resources for AAA hockey. If someone from the DMV has to drive 50 minutes to get to a crappy rink then the decision to go away or drive 2 hours for a better team and organization becomes a viable option. Moving to the St James was the right move for them. They should have done everything in their power to make that work. You cannot have a sustainable program in a sh*tty rink. Haymarket is crap and Ion is literally disintegrating. Any investor who would consider investing in Ion at this point must like trying to lose money.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Little Caps are no longer appearing on the STJ website

I think it's safe to say our dream of WLC in a well maintained rink in a central location is dead.

Anonymous wrote:The Little Caps are no longer appearing on the STJ website

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had a player at both TM and WLC. We’ve invested a lot of time and money to both of these organizations over the years. Both of these organizations have been run into the ground and it’s really a shame. The kids are the ones to lose out. There is simply no reason why the DMV can’t have better Tier 1 options. The reason the teams always suck is because anyone with talent feels compelled to leave the area to get better coaching and a better organizational structure ( our family included). It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s embarrassing.

It doesn't have to be that way is absolutely right. Just need leadership with will and vision. They absolutely can build something special here and there is far more talent here than there was 10 or 20 years ago.

But it's also families driving crazy distances from this area to join other teams in PA, etc. because they think their kids are something special beyond what the DC area offers. I would argue that most don't have the talent to warrant this.

It is crazy. The kind of time and sacrifice that takes is impossible to justify even if your kid is THAT good. But to do that you have to really believe you are getting something better for your kid or else why would you do it. If WLC got its stuff together and moved to a great facility that didn't require people making the hellish drive to Rockville or all the way to Haymarket or Loudoun those kids all probably come back. Will you have a minority that still go to PA anyway? maybe but they'd be legit crazy and you can't fix crazy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WLC would players needing to billet if the WLC move to Haymarket.

Why? It's approximately 36 minutes drive from Ashburn. 45 mins from Potomac. I'd love to see boundary restrictions so that MD kids have to play in MD, VA players have to play in VA.

Anonymous wrote:WLC would players needing to billet if the WLC move to Haymarket.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had a player at both TM and WLC. We’ve invested a lot of time and money to both of these organizations over the years. Both of these organizations have been run into the ground and it’s really a shame. The kids are the ones to lose out. There is simply no reason why the DMV can’t have better Tier 1 options. The reason the teams always suck is because anyone with talent feels compelled to leave the area to get better coaching and a better organizational structure ( our family included). It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s embarrassing.

It doesn't have to be that way is absolutely right. Just need leadership with will and vision. They absolutely can build something special here and there is far more talent here than there was 10 or 20 years ago.

But it's also families driving crazy distances from this area to join other teams in PA, etc. because they think their kids are something special beyond what the DC area offers. I would argue that most don't have the talent to warrant this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had a player at both TM and WLC. We’ve invested a lot of time and money to both of these organizations over the years. Both of these organizations have been run into the ground and it’s really a shame. The kids are the ones to lose out. There is simply no reason why the DMV can’t have better Tier 1 options. The reason the teams always suck is because anyone with talent feels compelled to leave the area to get better coaching and a better organizational structure ( our family included). It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s embarrassing.

It doesn't have to be that way is absolutely right. Just need leadership with will and vision. They absolutely can build something special here and there is far more talent here than there was 10 or 20 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had a player at both TM and WLC. We’ve invested a lot of time and money to both of these organizations over the years. Both of these organizations have been run into the ground and it’s really a shame. The kids are the ones to lose out. There is simply no reason why the DMV can’t have better Tier 1 options. The reason the teams always suck is because anyone with talent feels compelled to leave the area to get better coaching and a better organizational structure ( our family included). It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s embarrassing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Have you never seen a press release before? You think they are going to tell their paying customers their real thoughts?

1. It wasn't from a press release but a SM post. 2. Yeah, I understand how this works, and anyone with a sense for how business works knows deliberately lying to your paying customers isn't a bright strategy either.

I get that there are lots of people here from competing T2 programs that don't want say anything nice about STJ or from the other T1 program that competes with WLC for players or even parents whose kids have been cut by one or both of those teams who have an axe to grind. But if people were honest with themselves and were thinking about what is best for WLC and for hockey in the area this is the easiest call of all time. STJ is an outstanding facility and is centrally located in the NOVA population. It puts everyone from Leesburg to Waldorf to Dale City within a comparable drive. No other location comes close to offering that. It is right at the highway juncture with access to express lanes in multiple directions. Making the top program more geographically accessible **to everyone** will make hockey stronger at every level because the kids that deserve to be there most but couldn't access it will now make the top teams and the kids that end up getting cut will be the top players on the T2 teams and so on. Now I get if maybe your kid is a bubble player this might be intimidating but people can't complain about the quality of AAA hockey here in the DC area AND not want to see it improve. This is a huge decision for WLC, STJ and PVAHA and it will shape the future of the program and youth hockey in this area for years. Any move of a program will be tough in the beginning but if decision makers are thinking about growth and success over the long term, not just for WLC but for hockey in the whole area, this is a slam dunk.

There are downsides - we saw in the recent WLC peewee tryouts the influence SJ had over team selections. Not sure the central location will override the future bias towards SJ players.