We have only been in SoCal for a couple seasons now so I am not all that familiar with the inner-workings of CAHA or SCAHA. As I read some of the posts here I thought is very interesting that we can all look at the same issue and see it so differently. For example, Skates said, "Let's call the 2nd Bracket, "The Desperate Parent Bracket". Your kids team isn't really a AA Team but we will let you keep that extra A for status!"
I can see how some might see it that way but I don't. As a matter of fact, most of that parents on my kid's AA team would rather drop to A than play "2nd tier AA" if that's where we find ourselves come Labor Day. Desperate parents? Hardly. Our group is quite down-to-earth and logical.
My guess is that the CAHA decision-makers got in a room and said we need to find a way to keep the AA division strong and to weed out the weaker teams. Fine. They initially decided they would be more proactive and force the weaker teams to drop to A.
A few club presidents probably argued that, dropping a team to a lower division would void the LOI and they did not want to do that. They did not want to run the risk that kids would leave if the team dropped.
In response, CAHA came up with this "unconventional" flight-within-a-tier scheme to address the fears of the club presidents. Their reasoning was that being placed in the 2nd tier of AA does not really constitute a drop in divisions so the LOIs remain valid. Nobody gets a release.
I would also suspect that there are clubs out there with AAA teams, or clubs that are trying to get AAA teams, that have been told by CAHA that they must have a certain number of AA teams before they can have a AAA program. This, in my limited view, is yet another reason why the clubs don't want to drop an AA team.
Additionally, and I could be wrong on this, but when did CAHA announce this scheme? Was it before of after tryouts? If I had more time I could do some research, but the announcement on the CAHA website is dated July 12th. It seems to me this was well after tryouts. Perhaps parents on the bubble teams would have made different choices had they been made aware of the new scheme.
I am also concerned about the evaluators. Maybe I am being a simpleton here, but perhaps the scoreboard should be the evaluator. Would it be a reach to suggest the teams that actually win games are better than those that lose games? This isn't figure skating. We actually have points in our sport. My guess is the evaluators will be there to make sure no team has an opportunity to keep an NHL-affiliated team out of Flight 1.
Bottom line, I feel stuck. I have no problem with my kid playing A in his first season of checking. I actually suggested he play A but he wanted to tryout for the AA team with his buddies and he ended up making it. I could have over-ruled him but it was a tough evening. He made the team and was very happy. I didn't want to take that from him. If the team decided to move to A I would be thrilled.
Bottom line, playing is A is fine if that's where the team needs to be. CAHA demands clubs have a certain number of AA teams to keep or be granted an AAA team. Clubs would probably consider dropping the team but can't because it could jeopardize AAA status as well as void the LOI of all the players.
If CAHA had the will, and the strength to stand up for what is right, they would drop these silly rules and simply place teams where they rightly belong. Without the AAA implications and the LOI issue, we'd have a much better way of being honest about a team's real ability.
Just my two cents.
