T1E showcase at TSC

[Strawman]

All you have to do is look at the roster of your favorite D1 college team. Pretty much all players come from USHL and a few from NAHL. Those teams draft kids from prep schools and AAA programs. It's simple really. The AAA environment is so political and limited, very few of us from the "outside" can get in. Prep school is our best shot. My son went to Tahoe and he is killing it up there. That kind of development would not have been possible for us if we had stayed local.

How many USHL/NAHL players are actually drafted out of Prep schools (as distinct from AAA and a few hockey academies like Shattuck/SKA/Delta)? I've heard all the marketing, but in reality, is it more than single digits nationally each year?

[Hockey05]

Something’s got to give or change, how are the ‘02 & ‘03 AAA teams performing?  The feeder system is broken.
They’d be better off opening it up with the hope kids would eventually want to play for a superclub. 
It would create more local games and keep more kids in the state in the long run.  Otherwise just about everyone is forced to consider the elsewhere option.

[Nowhearthis]

The main issue with so cal tier hockey is the lack of local games.  Our teams get on planes for expensive long weekends several times per season and parents have become very keen to the negative educational trade off.  Kings are doing a good job of attracting out of state teams to their tournaments, Ducks not yet but have a good opportunity to with their new facility opening.


IMO more high level tournaments locally will go a long way to mend the problems.  Many teams back east have already played over 20 games.  The tradition and momentum is/still will be back there, but who there doesn't want an excuse to come to Southern California in January? 

[Hockeykid]

I used to think THA would sink after a few years, but it’s only getting better/stronger.

I know lots of THA kids and their parents, and know the program well.
There a lot of kids with big hockey dreams, and parents willing to spend big $ to send their kids to a program geared strictly for hockey. Lots of players go there because they want a better hockey experience than they get with their current clubs. THA is like Jr Hockey for HS kid. The coaching staff and program are great, and the kids love that hockey lifestyle. I don’t blame them for joining the THA program. It sounds fun! That’s probably what I would do if I was that age.

In the first couple of years, THA was giving away big scholarships to get kids there. Now THA is able to get more $ from the parents and give out less $ in scholarships as there is more demand. I think THA will be around for a while. They have backers with big $, a great program, and more people are sick of their current club and seeing that THA is a great alternative.

One of the problems with THA is that the dorm is far from town or anything else, and sometimes the kids get bored hanging around the dorm. I’m not a fan of the education THA provides, but I won’t get into that because I’ll get flamed for hurting somebody’s feelings.

My son had no desire to go to THA. He wanted a great HS education which prepared him to transition straight into an awesome Private or UC college. He’s realistic in the fact that he has no desire to go play junior hockey after HS, then hoping he gets one of the few D1 ice hockey scholarships out there. My son will be starting his master’s degree while a lot of the THA kids are just getting done with their junior hockey careers and starting their first year in Junior College or state college year & playing ACHA hockey.

Reality check – Check out these links showing the realities of the D1 rosters & the lack of D1 hockey scholarships. Most played USHL, NAHL, BCHL, or other Canadian league.
http://www.scholarshipstats.com/hockey.html
https://bceagles.com/roster.aspx?roster=399&path=mhockey
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/almanac/funfacts-ageavg.php
https://www.neutralzone.net/mens/2016/06/25/college-hockey-landscape-study-21-year-old-freshman/(from 2016)

[hipcheck34]

I used to think THA would sink after a few years, but it’s only getting better/stronger.

I know lots of THA kids and their parents, and know the program well.
There a lot of kids with big hockey dreams, and parents willing to spend big $ to send their kids to a program geared strictly for hockey. Lots of players go there because they want a better hockey experience than they get with their current clubs. THA is like Jr Hockey for HS kid. The coaching staff and program are great, and the kids love that hockey lifestyle. I don’t blame them for joining the THA program. It sounds fun! That’s probably what I would do if I was that age.

In the first couple of years, THA was giving away big scholarships to get kids there. Now THA is able to get more $ from the parents and give out less $ in scholarships as there is more demand. I think THA will be around for a while. They have backers with big $, a great program, and more people are sick of their current club and seeing that THA is a great alternative.

One of the problems with THA is that the dorm is far from town or anything else, and sometimes the kids get bored hanging around the dorm. I’m not a fan of the education THA provides, but I won’t get into that because I’ll get flamed for hurting somebody’s feelings.

My son had no desire to go to THA. He wanted a great HS education which prepared him to transition straight into an awesome Private or UC college. He’s realistic in the fact that he has no desire to go play junior hockey after HS, then hoping he gets one of the few D1 ice hockey scholarships out there. My son will be starting his master’s degree while a lot of the THA kids are just getting done with their junior hockey careers and starting their first year in Junior College or state college year & playing ACHA hockey.

Reality check – Check out these links showing the realities of the D1 rosters & the lack of D1 hockey scholarships. Most played USHL, NAHL, BCHL, or other Canadian league.
http://www.scholarshipstats.com/hockey.html
https://bceagles.com/roster.aspx?roster=399&path=mhockey
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/almanac/funfacts-ageavg.php
https://www.neutralzone.net/mens/2016/06/25/college-hockey-landscape-study-21-year-old-freshman/(from 2016)

Im not here to defend THA schooling program as its not for everyone. My son has excelled in school since he has been there and this year his senior year up at THA is carrying a 4.0 GPA with his AP classes. Scored pretty well on his first try on SAT and will take it again to try and better his score. His goal and I hope he achieves it, is after high school play 1 year of Juniors then goto college. He knows he has only a few years left and is planning his future. He had many Junior offers last year and Im sure after this year have many more. Its what HE wants to do and as any parent why wouldn't we try and give are kids what they want.

[randywatson]

THA is making all of the right moves to be a solid west coast hockey alternative to AAA and back east/Canada prep going forward.


One might notice that 15AAA Pacific has no team in the MHR top 20, just SJ at #24.  So. Cal has weakened due to the exits and then AA caliber back filling.   Same news every year.

Had the "superstar" Kings remained on the 15u team they would be in the Top 5. Plus a handful of those Kings players moved on to Prep School. SJ 15u is 11-2, has already beaten a top 10 team, and is only not ranked higher due to playing AA teams, which they have to do in order to get any games in. Take the AA games off the list and the MHR math puts them in the Top 15. The SJ 16AA team is undefeated and was ranked in the top 10. The Ducks 15u AAA team is a "backfill" team but recently went 2-2 at their last Tier One event.


Point is there is plenty of talent being home grown here in CA both in SoCal and NorCal. Development is way more important than exposure. The fact that the Shattucks of the world are recruiting here in CA is indicator that the Kings/Ducks/Sharks are doing a decent job developing the players.

[Nowhearthis]

So in lyrical summary....


There's a lady who's sure[/size]All that glitters is goldAnd she's buying a stairway to heaven....


Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on...


Happy Friday everyone!!

[/color]

[Hockey sophist]

THA is making all of the right moves to be a solid west coast hockey alternative to AAA and back east/Canada prep going forward.


One might notice that 15AAA Pacific has no team in the MHR top 20, just SJ at #24.  So. Cal has weakened due to the exits and then AA caliber back filling.   Same news every year.

Had the "superstar" Kings remained on the 15u team they would be in the Top 5. Plus a handful of those Kings players moved on to Prep School. SJ 15u is 11-2, has already beaten a top 10 team, and is only not ranked higher due to playing AA teams, which they have to do in order to get any games in. Take the AA games off the list and the MHR math puts them in the Top 15. The SJ 16AA team is undefeated and was ranked in the top 10. The Ducks 15u AAA team is a "backfill" team but recently went 2-2 at their last Tier One event.


Point is there is plenty of talent being home grown here in CA both in SoCal and NorCal. Development is way more important than exposure. The fact that the Shattucks of the world are recruiting here in CA is indicator that the Kings/Ducks/Sharks are doing a decent job developing the players.

What about the other, smaller, clubs like Bears, GSE, OC, Wave, Saints, and Gulls and with young kids, Ice Dogs and Gold Rush.    The 3 big clubs may get the credit but they may depend on the smaller clubs and the smaller clubs may also be a narrow pipeline to the Shattucks of the world.   I wonder what the data says?

[randywatson]

Development is way more important than exposure.

Excellent observation.
Now, how many hours per week does your kid spend on the ice, how many hours driving to/from the rink, what's the cost per hour . . . and how does that compare to dozens of programs back east (or north)?More than a hundred families over the past two years have decided the value is better elsewhere.


What are the local clubs doing to compete? I think a lot fewer kids would leave if ice was more affordable and there were programs and a circuit here like the CSSHL (less travel/less missed school). Parents really do not like that the only options for most at tier 1 are missing dozens of school days or transferring to an online education. ALL kids need to keep their grades up if they want to go to college, regardless of whether or not they will play hockey when they get there.  just my two cents.

Agree with you. But if we wanted to pick a sport that made more sense from a practical standpoint we would have picked water polo or swimming or any one of the other sports that California excels at. But we picked hockey, arguably the greatest sport in the world. And with that comes some inherent downsides that those sports don't have.

[/size][size=78%]That decision comes some facts that should not be surprises. California is expensive therefore it is difficult to build enough rinks. We do not have nearly enough ice. That is never going to change. I saw a study that showed if California were to have the same amount of ice per capita as Minnesota we would need to build nearly a thousand more sheets. Never going to happen. Another fact is that we are simply too far from everyone else. We have to travel. Teams from Boston, Chicago, and Detroit have the benefit of geography. That's never going to change. We don't have frozen ponds or the ability to have temporary outdoor rinks as well. [/size]


I believe California as a whole does a decent job, given our limitations, developing players. And yes, developing them till they are 15/16/17 is still development. California will probably never have the equivalent of Little Caesars and that may be a good thing. For the most part, especially in NorCal, our teams cater to the local population. If we had a team that had kids from all around the country came to try out for there would be way fewer Californians on those teams. In other words, our teams service the locals. Is there something wrong with that? Now if a local wants more, they have options. Prep School. Billet. I don't think California "fails" at hockey because some players need to leave anymore than Michigan fails at water polo because those kids come to California.

[Knuckle Puck]

Obviously Cal will never be Minny, Mich or Mass, but it can do a lot better.  Much griping comes from sense that CAHA is heading in opposite direction of something that could work at the midget level: academy programs in a SW USA circuit similar to CSSHL in BC/Alberta. If most Californians/Arizonans stayed home, a decent circuit of 10-12 clubs could be established. Most clubs within driving (or cheap/short flight) distance. High quality 3-4 rink facilities in SJ, Irvine, Scottsdale for showcase weekends that could attract scouts + northern teams looking for a break from the winter.  Align the programs with in-person schools that allow flexible schedules for hockey players (examples: BWC Academy/Burnaby School; OHA/Penticton HS, etc.). There already are numerous sports academies in So Cal for tennis and soccer, how hard would it be to partner with their academics? Top topic of convo for bantam/midget parents for several years has been "why don't we have this?"  Why? That's easy.  Instead of expanding circuit, JK (mainly) and JD turned up nose at growing programs and actively worked to push them out of AAA (Titans/Wave/Wildcats/Avalanche). Wrong approach for the long term. Now even the top 2 programs declining as many kids (often the best ones) leave state in droves. And not changing soon: JK&JD already have lost several of their best 04s/05s; more to come. Sad. Could have been different.

[randywatson]

Obviously Cal will never be Minny, Mich or Mass, but it can do a lot better.  Much griping comes from sense that CAHA is heading in opposite direction of something that could work at the midget level: academy programs in a SW USA circuit similar to CSSHL in BC/Alberta. If most Californians/Arizonans stayed home, a decent circuit of 10-12 clubs could be established. Most clubs within driving (or cheap/short flight) distance. High quality 3-4 rink facilities in SJ, Irvine, Scottsdale for showcase weekends that could attract scouts + northern teams looking for a break from the winter.  Align the programs with in-person schools that allow flexible schedules for hockey players (examples: BWC Academy/Burnaby School; OHA/Penticton HS, etc.). There already are numerous sports academies in So Cal for tennis and soccer, how hard would it be to partner with their academics? Top topic of convo for bantam/midget parents for several years has been "why don't we have this?"  Why? That's easy.  Instead of expanding circuit, JK (mainly) and JD turned up nose at growing programs and actively worked to push them out of AAA (Titans/Wave/Wildcats/Avalanche). Wrong approach for the long term. Now even the top 2 programs declining as many kids (often the best ones) leave state in droves. And not changing soon: JK&JD already have lost several of their best 04s/05s; more to come. Sad. Could have been different.

One caveat I would throw in there is we simply do not have enough talent to fill more than 3-4 AAA teams in the state, especially in NorCal

[1hockeydad]

Yep.  So jd kids went back with displaced 02s from jk 16aaa team

[Pop]

How many kids has THA moved on to the WHL,USHL,NAHL, or BCHL?

[hipcheck34]

How many kids has THA moved on to the WHL,USHL,NAHL, or BCHL?

Not to sure were  alot of kids have gone since the program is only in its third year. I know one kid is in WSHL. A few left to AAA programs back east. A defense man is playing USHL. Another kid is up in Toronto playing Midget AAA.

[HockeyPop2297]

Looks like 7 of the Kings 03 went to 15’s; at least 2 went back east to Shattucks; remainder went to 16 team.