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Hockey Discussions => Midget Hockey => Topic started by: Xfactor_56 on May 12, 2017, 12:52:03 PM
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Good luck to all the players at tryouts this weekend!
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Good luck to all the players at tryouts this weekend!
Yes, good luck indeed! Especially to the players who made teams without even showing up to the tryout! What a sham So Cal hockey is!
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Also heard today that on a JK team, not only did a player not try out, but his DAD's name was on the list of players making the team!
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ducks and kings are making Trump look like mother Teresa. the Ducks midget tryouts last night was a joke. I think it was a cover up for CJ's shenanigans. Really! why the hell would you combine the arguably the two most important tier division and have 100 kids out there knees and elbows bumping into each other, unless you were covering something up. How the hell do you evaluate under those conditions. I know the teams are basically picked before the tryouts through their clinics, but to do what they did last night was an insult.
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ducks and kings are making Trump look like mother Teresa. the Ducks midget tryouts last night was a joke. I think it was a cover up for CJ's shenanigans. Really! why the hell would you combine the arguably the two most important tier division and have 100 kids out there knees and elbows bumping into each other, unless you were covering something up. How the hell do you evaluate under those conditions. I know the teams are basically picked before the tryouts through their clinics, but to do what they did last night was an insult.
What the hell does Trump have to do with any of this? Please, no masked Antifas in the stands this season, please.
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It's simple math. 20 man rosters. Coaches have already picked at least 15 skaters and one goalie before tryouts start. That leaves 3 skater positions and a goalie spot for bubbles and a surprise that shows up at tryouts.
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Crazy weekend!! BIG changes at the 16UAAA JD! A bunch of long term JD boys told to wait 48 hours before the coach decides which one because he is trying to recruit others?? Wow! Those other boys must be really "special". I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing. Any news at the JK? I hope this weekend didn't put any dampers on Mother's Day weekends, but I'm sure it did. Lots of $$ and lots of missed school. Perhaps a blessing for those moving back to AA when you read other posts in another Midget thread.
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This was a 3 ring circus.
One has to wonder, why they even hold the tryouts. Coaches switching clubs and kids getting cut and scrambling to find another place. As a result kids with better abilities got cut to accommodate the kids following the coach. The goalie situation was even worse
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Why is this a surprise to anyone?
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So here is probably the most stupid question ever...but here I go anyway. How do you get on a Tier 1 team? We aren't exactly close to any of the big clubs, but maybe we need to start attending their pre tryout clinics to at least get in front of the coaches. We had one tryout this weekend and the coach liked what he saw, but wanted to keep his options open. Hmmm.
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Why is this a surprise to anyone?
It's not a surprise, but it's so disheartening for the kids, especially doesn't show up for the first day of the tryouts, shows up the next day and nails the spot.
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So here is probably the most stupid question ever...but here I go anyway. How do you get on a Tier 1 team? We aren't exactly close to any of the big clubs, but maybe we need to start attending their pre tryout clinics to at least get in front of the coaches. We had one tryout this weekend and the coach liked what he saw, but wanted to keep his options open. Hmmm.
Take lots of privates from the coach
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I see how that would be helpful for most positions, but what if the kid is a goalie?
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I see how that would be helpful for most positions, but what if the kid is a goalie?
You take privates from the goalie coach. Who do you think "wags the tail" when it comes to these decisions?
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So here is probably the most stupid question ever...but here I go anyway. How do you get on a Tier 1 team? We aren't exactly close to any of the big clubs, but maybe we need to start attending their pre tryout clinics to at least get in front of the coaches. We had one tryout this weekend and the coach liked what he saw, but wanted to keep his options open. Hmmm.
Take lots of privates from the coach
That is no guarantee either. My son has been taking lessons from the coaches he wanted to play for over the last two years. Still cut. Meanwhile, my wife overhears a conversation of kids a year older. They all know my son, and comment on how good he has been playing. He has spent a bunch at clinics with the kids. They also say it's sad, because they know he won't make the team. "Yeah, ##### sucks." They all said he should try out for another team. "Yeah, because #### likes him." Sad state of local AAA hockey.
Good luck finding a coach that appreciates your kid.
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What the hell does Trump have to do with any of this? Please, no masked Antifas in the stands this season, please.
Must be some miss understanding???? Who does not like Trump??? Make America Great Again.
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What the hell does Trump have to do with any of this? Please, no masked Antifas in the stands this season, please.
Must be some miss understanding? ??? Who does not like Trump??? Make America Great Again.
People who hate America.
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So here's some advice for all of you from someone who's out of the hockey life. My son is off to college next year and is not playing anymore. The amount of $ I spent, goalie coaching I gave him, and time invested in coaches, programs, and more is immeasurable. I would still do it again but here is the bottom line: these programs, coaches and rinks do not care about your kids one iota when it comes to tryout time on AAA and AA levels. There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99. Fortunately he found another place to play that year. He had a good year. As a senior, he decided not to play and focused on school. He's off to Cal Poly this year. Maybe he'll play again, maybe not.
My point is that if your kid is a superstar amazing player, then the extra A matters. If not, AAA doesn't matter that much. AA is fine. Have fun. Enjoy the ride and don't let these psychopath tryouts ruin your kid. There's too much else in life. I wish you all the best journeys and enjoyable hockey seasons.
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I see how that would be helpful for most positions, but what if the kid is a goalie?
Find a goalie coach who your kid respects and has fun learning from. (They have to enjoy their time on the ice). Make sure that the coach is always pushing them in competitive scenarios and it helps if they are in the lesson with kids of similar or better skill. 1 on 1 private for goaltenders is not a great situation. Goalies need rest when working on skills, you want to push repetitions at their peak performance so doing repetitive skills when tired is not exercising the explosive movements that a goalie must develop.
If you don't want to spend a lot of money on lessons, take your kid to a couple of lessons and take notes on the drills the coach works on with your kid. Find a couple of your kids teammates and setup shooting scenarios that the goalie coach worked on with the teammates as the shooters during stick times. Get the other goalie on your team to participate so your kid can rest. This gives your kid the repetitions that they need while also giving his teammates passing and shooting development time. Win-Win. Return to the goalie coach and get the next skill that needs to be worked on.
Keep working, on and off ice and your kid will be noticed. It doesn't matter which goalie coach your kid works with as long as they get them to work hard and have fun. With that achieved and some natural athletic ability teams will come to find them. Attend all the pre-tryout skates you can make after the season ends, these are the real tryouts and are where any open slots on the roster are selected.
Don't know where you are based but if you PM me, I can give you some names of goalie coaches who I know personally or have heard good things about who can assist you in your kids development.
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It will never change! Its who you KNOW!!!!
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There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99.
Funny, how some things never change. This time around it was a mad shuffle between them & another club.
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So what is the latest scoop? Who wound up the stronger team between the JD and the JK? Sounds like the Gulls won't have a leg to stand on....many of their best jumped ship. Will it be like in years past? JD and JK down to the finals at States? What about No. Cal? Heard some kids came down here while the Titans picked up some JK players. So sorry about those left hanging by the JD for "48 hours". How nuts was that? Good luck to all!
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ducks and kings are making Trump look like mother Teresa. the Ducks midget tryouts last night was a joke. I think it was a cover up for CJ's shenanigans. Really! why the hell would you combine the arguably the two most important tier division and have 100 kids out there knees and elbows bumping into each other, unless you were covering something up. How the hell do you evaluate under those conditions. I know the teams are basically picked before the tryouts through their clinics, but to do what they did last night was an insult.
What the hell does Trump have to do with any of this? Please, no masked Antifas in the stands this season, please.
Comrade Trump has everything to do with it!
https://i1.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-uAG1DTgMrXo/V6lPxO4YEUI/AAAAAAAAHOU/oKzk-BK8KpAM4NS3PttVDadiNRaTC_e6QCLcB/s1600/comradetrumpweb.jpg?zoom=1.5625&resize=591%2C764&ssl=1
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What the hell does Trump have to do with any of this? Please, no masked Antifas in the stands this season, please.
Comrade Trump has everything to do with it!
https://i1.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-uAG1DTgMrXo/V6lPxO4YEUI/AAAAAAAAHOU/oKzk-BK8KpAM4NS3PttVDadiNRaTC_e6QCLcB/s1600/comradetrumpweb.jpg?zoom=1.5625&resize=591%2C764&ssl=1 (https://i1.wp.com/3.bp.blogspot.com/-uAG1DTgMrXo/V6lPxO4YEUI/AAAAAAAAHOU/oKzk-BK8KpAM4NS3PttVDadiNRaTC_e6QCLcB/s1600/comradetrumpweb.jpg?zoom=1.5625&resize=591%2C764&ssl=1)
Really? You are going to turn a Tier Tryout thread in to a Left Wing whack job political rank? Go sell crazy someplace else. We are all full up here. Don't you have some windows to break at a college anti-free speech riot?
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Easy tiger. Your going to blow an aneurysm!
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So here is probably the most stupid question ever...but here I go anyway. How do you get on a Tier 1 team? We aren't exactly close to any of the big clubs, but maybe we need to start attending their pre tryout clinics to at least get in front of the coaches. We had one tryout this weekend and the coach liked what he saw, but wanted to keep his options open. Hmmm.
Take lots of privates from the coach
This is correct. Coaches have to get to know the player somehow after all. It's not a perfect system but I am not sure anyone has a better idea or I haven't heard it.
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So here's some advice for all of you from someone who's out of the hockey life. My son is off to college next year and is not playing anymore. The amount of $ I spent, goalie coaching I gave him, and time invested in coaches, programs, and more is immeasurable. I would still do it again but here is the bottom line: these programs, coaches and rinks do not care about your kids one iota when it comes to tryout time on AAA and AA levels. There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99. Fortunately he found another place to play that year. He had a good year. As a senior, he decided not to play and focused on school. He's off to Cal Poly this year. Maybe he'll play again, maybe not.
My point is that if your kid is a superstar amazing player, then the extra A matters. If not, AAA doesn't matter that much. AA is fine. Have fun. Enjoy the ride and don't let these psychopath tryouts ruin your kid. There's too much else in life. I wish you all the best journeys and enjoyable hockey seasons.
Amen Brother... Thanks for the post and perspective.
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There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99.
I know first-hand that it is 100% factual, because my son was there as well. These are kids after all, our kids, and we allow clubs and coaches to manipulate and lie to them.
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There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99.
I know first-hand that it is 100% factual, because my son was there as well. These are kids after all, our kids, and we allow clubs and coaches to manipulate and lie to them.
I don't doubt it for a minute, especially after witnessing the tryouts personally
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There is no allegiance whatsoever. My son tried out for Simi AAA (yes I said the rink and don't care), one year and there were 12 goalies there, 12. After tryouts, we were informed that one goalie was already signed and being brought in from Finland. Finland? Really? We live 10 miles away. Then he tried out for AA there. 5 goalies. He was the best of the five. He was not signed, even though he had been called by one of the coaches the week before to come out. Their explanation was they had to sign their goalie from the past year who decided to come out and they had to sign a 2000 instead of a 99.
I know first-hand that it is 100% factual, because my son was there as well. These are kids after all, our kids, and we allow clubs and coaches to manipulate and lie to them.
I don't doubt it for a minute, especially after witnessing the tryouts personally
For goalies especially, it does have a lot to do with who you know and where you played last year and did you show an interest in a new team during the season and even in the off season. As a parent, you have to be pro-active - way more than you think to get a goalie on a coach's radar. This means (politely) talking to other coaches during the end of one season and finding out where their heads are at for next season. That's how we got on a team once, just based on a 5-minute conversation I had with a coach at a tournament where I said "we're not sure where we'll end up, but we'd like you to consider us if we show up."
Now we're at Prep School and it's just as true there about 'who you know' to get to the next level (jrs or college) - if you want to know how to get into prep school PM me separately. We're emailing JRs and Colleges and having some limited success in getting responses, but when our school coach emails someone, it's almost 100% response. And our goalie coach has been helpful, he's a NAHL scout as well so he has a lot of connections. But before you go to a NAHL camp, make sure you know the situation - do they have returning goalies? how did they do last year? If you want to go just for the experience, that's cool, but coaches have very unpredictable ways of selecting their goalies. We went to a camp earlier this month and there were 12 goalies. At the end they narrow it down to top 4 and those get invited back to main camp. We were there for 4 days and he played in 8 periods of play and let in 5 goals, by far the fewest of any goalie (and I watched every game and every goalie). Other kids were telling him he was by far the best goalie out there and was a shoo-in to get invited back. In the end, they picked 3 local kids who were awful and 1 kid who was pretty good. Later we found out that they expect both of their goalies from last year to return so they just didn't care who they picked because it was already decided who they wanted.
At least we got 8 games in and had a pretty good time being together. We have a few more camps to attend, and we're doing our homework now. Our prep-school coach is helping us with a few colleges and those seem promising.
Just let me remind everyone who is thinking of playing beyond 16 or 18AAA - it is a huge commitment! Every kid who has gotten into the NAHL, USHL, WHL or other Tier2/Tier1 league has to make tremendous sacrifices. Money, time away from home, missing school, missing girlfriends missing family. All of it. Your kid must be 100% committed to the end goal or it won't work. I have incredible respect for any kid that makes it that far as I know how much my kid has given up and the discussions around the family table about college and family. But he wants it so he's willing to work incredibly hard to make it happen and so he has my respect and admiration.
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I read this entire thread. The drama never ends. I only just started to look ahead as my kid is just starting his 2nd year of Bantam, but I was shocked to learn that there is no College Division 1 hockey west of Colorado except Phoenix.
He wants to go to Stanford, and they have Div 2 hockey but you have to pay. No hockey scholarships but they have 500 other athletic scholarships. He can probably get a swimming or WP scholarship but then have no time to play hockey which is his first sport.
Does anyone else find this shocking, that there is no college hockey in the west above D2? And that I have to worry about it when he's 14! Yikes.
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Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks have D1 Programs
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Don't sweat it Crash. You have to sit out college and play juniors for 2 years before D1 anyway. Stanford will look much better on his resume, guaranteed, and he will graduate 2 years earlier.
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The ideal "fair way" to run tryouts would be, to be 100% transparent. But to be that way, a lot of things from the players side would have to be transparent too. In the end, there is no such thing. Some tryouts are more fair than others, but none of them are totally fair. The coach has to look out for his team's interest. If he has a kid in mind, but the kid decides to go somewhere else, then he needs to have a plan B. But if tells the kid from plan B what's really going on, then the kid may not show up either. So, he has to play both sides sometimes. He also needs to compare his top picks to others, who are close enough, but not quite there. Just in case he needs to change his mind. So, he needs more kids at the tryout, than just the 20 that he picks. The ideal would be to have at least 50% more, so he can make comparisons. But he can't tell you "hey, your kid is just cannon fodder, I just need him on the ice as an extra".
This is why, a parent needs to do the leg-work before the tryout. Talk to the coaches. Ask the right questions, so that, if they are not 100% committed to you, you can still read them "between the lines". Do that with several teams, and then play the numbers game, to give yourself a good chance. We are talking about kids who are not "super-stars", of course, they are in a different category.
I was lucky in this regard, my kid never had to "really" try out, because I always got the "Yes" from the coaches before the tryouts happened. In fact, more often than not the coach called me before I called him. I guess, he is a good enough player to rise to the top 10% among his peers. Not quite a "stud", but not too far from them either. But I've been around all kinds of tryouts and combines (including the USHL combine), and talked to enough coaches, from AAA to A, to see how it works. If you go to a tryout without having a solid talk with the coach, then your kid better be one of the top ones. Otherwise, it's your fault if you get blind-sided.
I am also aware that if your son is a goalie, that's an entirely different universe. Almost like a "twilight zone". My comments are about skaters, not goalies.
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Tryouts for goalies suck plain and simple....goalies are almost ALWAYS picked before tryouts and that's why the skates and clinics are so important.
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It kind of makes sense....imagine a great team, where the coach is relying on the goalies that show up on the day of the tryout. It could easily end up in a disaster. A potentially great team wasted a season, because the coach didn't secure a good goalie ahead of time, and all the good goalies signed with teams that secured them a spot.
So, yes, one must get the goalies before the tryout. You make a great point, it's all about the clinics and private lessons.
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Does anyone else find this shocking, that there is no college hockey in the west above D2? And that I have to worry about it when he's 14! Yikes.
Very simple: travel costs.
It's not about how much hockey talent is born in California, or the entire west coast. If there were D1 teams around here, players could come here from other parts of the country. Plenty of people would love to live in this climate and play hockey here. And we have two NHL teams in LA alone, so it's not like there is no market for hockey down here. But there must be a conglomerate of colleges located within driving distance, all of them having D1 teams. So, that the teams don't have to board a plane for every game.
I asked the same question from a scout at the USHL combine in Chicago, last month. All the 17 USHL teams are within driving distance, so they don't waste time traveling.
At some point, californians need to bite the bullet and start D1 college teams, by giving them a generous endowment to cover travel costs. Once we have a few teams close to each-other, it will be easier to add more and more to the group.
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It kind of makes sense....imagine a great team, where the coach is relying on the goalies that show up on the day of the tryout. It could easily end up in a disaster. A potentially great team wasted a season, because the coach didn't secure a good goalie ahead of time, and all the good goalies signed with teams that secured them a spot.
So, yes, one must get the goalies before the tryout. You make a great point, it's all about the clinics and private lessons.
We learned that valuable lesson trying out for 15UAAA this year. We got a great lead on a great team with a great coach who needed an 02 goalie. We didn't get an offer at tryouts because the coach had never heard of my son. As he succinctly put it "I don't even know if he can skate or not." OK. Definitely a lesson learned. Do all the clinics you can. Do all of the 3 on 3s you can. Build a resume with accomplishments (this is big on the east coast I am told). Get in front of the coach early and often. My poor kid lost a valuable year at AAA, but he can be that much more impressive (I hope) next year. Lesson learned.
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Private lessons! Buy his attention the old fashion CAHA way. Line the coache's pocket a few times a week, and promise to continue after he makes the team.
"60% of the time, it works every time"*
*Bonus points if you can name the movie!!!!
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Private lessons! Buy his attention the old fashion CAHA way. Line the coache's pocket a few times a week, and promise to continue after he makes the team.
"60% of the time, it works every time"*
*Bonus points if you can name the movie!!!!
No guarantees here either. My son has skated with a coach for years. He was always complimentary and good with him, until the last skates before tryouts. Then it started to change. Ultimately, the team has another handler who didn't care to have my son on the team. Guess what happened.