Tier II Flight System. This is gonna make for a hell of a thread......

[4 The Kids]

My son's team dues were $3800 last year. The cheapest AAA dues I now of are $16,000. Now say the travel is the same which we all know it is not. There is a difference of $12,200 just on dues. Only 10 more games. Yes the AAA travel is to NY, Minn., Canada. etc. which only adds more to travel. In any case, I still like my economics! 

AAA dues are not $16,000 - they are $5,800 - $6,800 depending on club - All in we spent just under $14,000 for 15UAAA for a player last year including all travel , food, hotel, rental car, equipment, lessons etc.  Factoring in another $4,000 for family travel and it was around $18k all in. 

Our son played Bantam AA major before that and his team played all the way to Nationals and we spent $14k for him for a similar number of games, 1 fewer ice slot per week for practice for our player, no professional dry land and no free clinic.  With Family travel we came to just over $18k for the 14U AA season.  So cost was close similar for a top tier AA team versus a typical 15U AAA team.

For next season for 16U AAA based on club dues ($6,500) and budgeted assessments estimates we have received to date I would expect the cost to be more as we are doing more travel (10-12 trips versus 7).  So expecting all in cost of $16-18k for the player.  Family travel on top of that.

It is not cheap but the delta is not as exaggerated as people suggest.  You often hear numbers like $40k thrown around but that has not been our reality to date and I have kept track of every penny for past 4 seasons.  Included in my numbers above are all club dues, club assessments, uniforms, skates, sticks, private lessons, protective gear, tape, travel cost to all events (air, parking, rental car, hotel, food etc.) and misc. costs you get over the year.  Only thing not included is the travel cost to and from practice. 

So despite what people say we have not found the cost from a top level AA team to be much different than a AAA team, especially given the extra ice time you receive.  Either way great way to enjoy time with your player and your family!

It will be over all too soon, so be sure you have a lot of fun along the way! 

[Crash]

Thanks for posting. Truly useful.

[Puck Yeah]

Good Info

[DroptheGloves]

You forgot to mention how much school was missed.  Take the 18k. send your kid to a college prep school with ice hockey....he will get exposed to the hockey world but will also get a AAA education and priceless life lessons. IMHO

Thanks for posting. Truly useful.

[hipcheck34]

You forgot to mention how much school was missed.  Take the 18k. send your kid to a college prep school with ice hockey....he will get exposed to the hockey world but will also get a AAA education and priceless life lessons. IMHO

Thanks for posting. Truly useful.

I agree this will be the second year my son will be attending THA and his GPA went from a average 2.6 to a 3.6. Gets to be on the ice 5 days a week 2 hours a day. 55 plus games. THA had a lot of ups and downs but with the main facility and dorms completed this year and affiliation with a Jr program this year will be a huge step forward and my son is very excited about going back. This is the first summer that he has worked so hard on his off ice training program. As a 6'3 265lb defenseman and still growing I think he is going to surprise his coaches when they go back in August....

[Crash]

I have extra-ordinarily difficult feelings on this topic, so I'm going to shut up. :-)

[Racetonowhere]

Hipcheck34-Sounds like a good situation-Who does THA play against? Other prep schools?

[trans4761]

I have extra-ordinarily difficult feelings on this topic, so I'm going to shut up. :-)

.......find that very hard to believe.

[trans4761]

You forgot to mention how much school was missed.  Take the 18k. send your kid to a college prep school with ice hockey....he will get exposed to the hockey world but will also get a AAA education and priceless life lessons. IMHO

Thanks for posting. Truly useful.

I agree this will be the second year my son will be attending THA and his GPA went from a average 2.6 to a 3.6. Gets to be on the ice 5 days a week 2 hours a day. 55 plus games. THA had a lot of ups and downs but with the main facility and dorms completed this year and affiliation with a Jr program this year will be a huge step forward and my son is very excited about going back. This is the first summer that he has worked so hard on his off ice training program. As a 6'3 265lb defenseman and still growing I think he is going to surprise his coaches when they go back in August....

Having any kid on the ice that amount of time is going to make ANY kid better.  ML is a hell of a coach but he's not for everyone (no coddling there)
But come on.....gpa going up in an online school is nothing to get a hard on about.
I can home school my kid and his gpa can go from 3.5 to 4.2 also.  Doubt MIT would be breaking down my door.

[Stark]

Not trying to hijack the descussion. Sorry if I am.


How do colleges view grades from online high schools & homeschooling?  So is a kid in a tradtional HS taking IB classes and getting a 4.1 in the same position to colleges as a homeschooled HS kid getting a 4.1?


Hipchec34 - If your kid is 6 foot 3 & 265, you might want to turn him into a football lineman. Better chance at getting a football college scholarship than hockey college scholarship.

[Crash]

There is no D1 hockey west of Colorado except Arizona.


I talked to Stanford and they have D2 but you have to pay to play.


Why Kings and Ducks have not got together with this with UCLA I have no idea (anyone?) but it is ridiculous.


We were looking at Water Polo as a side sport which gives scholarships and is a fine complement to hockey until he dislocated his shoulder twice (U14).


Gonna be interesting, and this is a good topic for the doldrums.

[In The Crease]

How do colleges view grades from online high schools & homeschooling?  So is a kid in a traditional HS taking IB classes and getting a 4.1 in the same position to colleges as a home schooled HS kid getting a 4.1?

This is a question I have heard many times at USA Hockey and College Hockey seminars the last couple years.  They have all said that they do not look favorably upon the home schooled and online education.  That said, they would not turn Patrick Kane away because he was home schooled (I have no idea if he actually was or not).  But, if there are two kids with similar skill and one managed traditional schooling while balancing their hockey commitments, they would pick the traditional schooled kid.  Personally, I think this is one of those things like "Character" where they have a desire to have the best character kids and family.  Just like they want the traditional education, but will still give many chances to the poor character kid if they are skilled enough.  Sad but true....   

[WTF]

How do colleges view grades from online high schools & homeschooling?  So is a kid in a traditional HS taking IB classes and getting a 4.1 in the same position to colleges as a home schooled HS kid getting a 4.1?

This is a question I have heard many times at USA Hockey and College Hockey seminars the last couple years.  They have all said that they do not look favorably upon the home schooled and online education.  That said, they would not turn Patrick Kane away because he was home schooled (I have no idea if he actually was or not).  But, if there are two kids with similar skill and one managed traditional schooling while balancing their hockey commitments, they would pick the traditional schooled kid.  Personally, I think this is one of those things like "Character" where they have a desire to have the best character kids and family.  Just like they want the traditional education, but will still give many chances to the poor character kid if they are skilled enough.  Sad but true....

Depends on the kid and the school.  I know there is a player on harvard who received a full educational ride based on academics and he was home schooled his entire life from elementary to graduating high school.  Each situation is different.

[In The Crease]

How do colleges view grades from online high schools & homeschooling?  So is a kid in a traditional HS taking IB classes and getting a 4.1 in the same position to colleges as a home schooled HS kid getting a 4.1?

This is a question I have heard many times at USA Hockey and College Hockey seminars the last couple years.  They have all said that they do not look favorably upon the home schooled and online education.  That said, they would not turn Patrick Kane away because he was home schooled (I have no idea if he actually was or not).  But, if there are two kids with similar skill and one managed traditional schooling while balancing their hockey commitments, they would pick the traditional schooled kid.  Personally, I think this is one of those things like "Character" where they have a desire to have the best character kids and family.  Just like they want the traditional education, but will still give many chances to the poor character kid if they are skilled enough.  Sad but true....

Depends on the kid and the school.  I know there is a player on harvard who received a full educational ride based on academics and he was home schooled his entire life from elementary to graduating high school.  Each situation is different.

Good for him.  That is impressive!  There are always exceptions...  Of course every situation is different, but there are generalities.  I'm pretty sure they were talking in general terms and don't feel they (USA Hockey and more than 15 D1 colleges) had any reason to lie about what they look for.  Exceptional kids with Superior Hockey skill (like the Patrick Kane example they used), or Super Gifted Smart (like your example) are not the norm.     [/size][size=78%] [/size]

[In The Crease]

Depends on the kid and the school.  I know there is a player on harvard who received a full educational ride based on academics and he was home schooled his entire life from elementary to graduating high school.  Each situation is different.



Good for him.  That is impressive!  There are always exceptions...  Of course every situation is different, but there are generalities.  I'm pretty sure they were talking in general terms and don't feel they (USA Hockey and more than 15 D1 colleges) had any reason to lie about what they look for.  Exceptional kids with Superior Hockey skill (like the Patrick Kane example they used), or Super Gifted Smart (like your example) are not the norm.

Also, just to more information.  Harvard is an Ivy league school.  Just like Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, UPenn, etc. Ivy League schools provide financial aid to students, including athletes, only on the basis of financial need as determined by each institution's Financial Aid Office. There are no [/color]academic[/color] or athletic [/color]scholarships[/color] in the [/color]Ivy League[/color].  [/font][/color]This does not mean the example you gave did not get a "ride" due to financial need and possibly a scholarship from a 3rd party group, but they did not get from the College.  I spoke directly to the Dartmouth Head Coach who also indicated that most kids will need a couple years in Junior Hockey before advancing to NCAA.  This was noted by someone else as well.  Further he indicated for Dartmouth (he did not confirm all Ivy League, but he believed it to be true for those schools as well), any college courses taken during those say 2 years of Junior Hockey at a local college will NOT be transferable.  This is specific to IVY/Dartmouth but I found interesting.[/size]
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