At some point in the 16-17 age range, you (parents) and your son will have a huge decision to make if they are anywhere decent on the ice. By decent, i mean capable of playing juniors or college. I see so many kids playing juniors that frankly have no hope at playing college hockey, so they are just holding off starting college and onto adult life. I really scratch my head at those kids and their parents. Some juniors only have the skills to play DIII (no money) or college club hockey, which equates to 2-3 years of putting their college on hold and the sad thing is that a lot of these DIII schools aren't even in the top 300-400 academic colleges in the country. I see a number of juniors moving to DI (Yea! $$), but there are no full ride scholarships and many of these DI colleges are terrible academically as well. I think we all see the best kids (USHL level and equivalent) go onto some really good colleges, but that number is incredibly low and they are competing with kids around the world. If you really want your son to play college hockey, you really don't choose the college....you have to see who wants you which is why your choices are often terrible in terms of academics and location. What I don't want for my son is to have no option other than to become a youth hockey coach, pressuring parents to pay for your clinics with no medical benefits and no retirement. If you have a bright kid, who isn't going to turn pro, I would consider going to a good school to and play club hockey. Some of the better schools have really top notch club teams that would give DIII hockey a run for their money and if they focus on their academics in high school, there is much more academic money out there than athletic scholarships. Then, you kid starts college as a true freshman and will be in their senior year, with internships and travel abroad opportunities while their peers in youth hockey are just starting and old, 21-22 year old freshmen. In the end, some 95%+ of all youth hockey players will not play pro, not get a DI scholarship, and wind up in the same place...the beer league. Some will have great jobs while others not so great. Think about your kids future when you make these difficult decisions...not yourself. [size=78%] [/size]