Spring Hockey

[Guest]

I have a 2012 player. I have spoken to multiple coaches, directors & scouts about Spring Hockey. We skipped Brick Tryouts because a lot of people said Brick is worthless, individual/hot dog hockey played in a mall. I was also told Brick is kind of useless as a gauge for what a player may become because so many kids flame out after puberty hits. I was also told way more kids that play Quebec go on to play College or Pro than players who played Brick.

Any way, question I have is is Spring Hockey worth it? Lot of differing opinions on this. Rink directors and coaches love Spring Hockey but I suspect this is for money-grab reasons. Scouts and College coaches I know say Spring Teams/Tournaments are a waste. They say paying for privates or clinics is a better bang for your buck and more productive. They also said after mid-June get your kid off this ice, play other sports, do off-ice training and allow your kid to have fun and recover. I am asking this as I was approached about joining
a Spring team for tourneys. i am not sure what to do as my kid wants to play, but as the adult I tend to follow advice from experts. And by experts I mean College coaches and Scouts. Thoughts?

[Guest]

Every youth is different.  Some kids can play all year round and more importantly they want to play and are not coerced to play.  Some should not play all year round.  Try to avoid the burn out sadly happens to so many.  What you heard is the same that we all have heard.  Off ice is huge as it time off for younger years.  Playing multiple sports is also beneficial for many reasons.  Skill development is the key but they can skate all they want for $80 an hour in the long run they don’t have the drive to compete what is the point.   Again every youth is different.  If you have the type of kid who REALLY wants to keep playing and is having fun why hold him back.  Good luck.

[Guest]

Every youth is different.  Some kids can play all year round and more importantly they want to play and are not coerced to play.  Some should not play all year round.  Try to avoid the burn out sadly happens to so many.  What you heard is the same that we all have heard.  Off ice is huge as it time off for younger years.  Playing multiple sports is also beneficial for many reasons.  Skill development is the key but they can skate all they want for $80 an hour in the long run they don’t have the drive to compete what is the point.   Again every youth is different.  If you have the type of kid who REALLY wants to keep playing and is having fun why hold him back.  Good luck.

No kid should be on the ice year round and no kid should just play hockey. Get off the ice and play other sports. 70% of kids will burn out around 13-15. There is a 98% chance if your kid plays in PA orNJ they wont play beyond HS. If your kid loves it let him have fun and play. My post is for the crazy "my kid is great" parent. Invest in a 529B instead! Parents are delusional!

[Guest]

Brick has about a dozen teams.  PW Quebec has about 100+ teams so it is surely true that more players will progress from one to a higher level than another.  Brick is much more selective.  Almost any local AAA player can find a spot on a Quebec team if they want to spend the money.  Neither has scouts.

Do some spring hockey if you want.  Don't take too many more days off school.  It won't make your kid any better, but it can be fun and an opportunity to make new friends.  Just be wary of those slimeballs out there, SM 1494.  Anyone charging more than $250 for 4 games is way out of their mind. 

[Guest]

Brick has about a dozen teams.  PW Quebec has about 100+ teams so it is surely true that more players will progress from one to a higher level than another.  Brick is much more selective.  Almost any local AAA player can find a spot on a Quebec team if they want to spend the money.  Neither has scouts.

Do some spring hockey if you want.  Don't take too many more days off school.  It won't make your kid any better, but it can be fun and an opportunity to make new friends.  Just be wary of those slimeballs out there, SM 1494.  Anyone charging more than $250 for 4 games is way out of their mind. 

don’t forget the mandatory uniforms that change slightly every year that cost as much as the program…

[Guest]

I too have a 2012 player who is doing two Spring/summer tournaments with different teams. The purpose is to give him a total of six days out of 5 months of competitive hockey to try out some of the things he’s learning in skill development clinics and to stretch his hockey legs a bit because he plays lacrosse and wrestles during offseason. I think a LIMITED Spring/Summer hockey schedule is beneficial especially if hockey is their main school year sport. The 2012s will also be doing District/PW Quebec tryouts in June so clinics, privates, and some limited game play seemed like a good way of preparing for season and Districts.

[Guest]

Kids burnt out at 13-15?! As a parent of a 16uAAA player, I am burnt out.

If I had to do it all again, I would maybe allow 1 summer event and that is it.

The in house summer program at Hatfield is fun for the kids. No pressure, no one cares, makes it fun again for the kids if that is what you are looking for.

[Guest]

I have a 2012 player. I have spoken to multiple coaches, directors & scouts about Spring Hockey. We skipped Brick Tryouts because a lot of people said Brick is worthless, individual/hot dog hockey played in a mall. I was also told Brick is kind of useless as a gauge for what a player may become because so many kids flame out after puberty hits. I was also told way more kids that play Quebec go on to play College or Pro than players who played Brick.

Any way, question I have is is Spring Hockey worth it? Lot of differing opinions on this. Rink directors and coaches love Spring Hockey but I suspect this is for money-grab reasons. Scouts and College coaches I know say Spring Teams/Tournaments are a waste. They say paying for privates or clinics is a better bang for your buck and more productive. They also said after mid-June get your kid off this ice, play other sports, do off-ice training and allow your kid to have fun and recover. I am asking this as I was approached about joining
a Spring team for tourneys. i am not sure what to do as my kid wants to play, but as the adult I tend to follow advice from experts. And by experts I mean College coaches and Scouts. Thoughts?

If you kid wants to do spring/summer camps or clinics, then there really isn't anything that is going to hurt the player by doing that. Especially if THEY want to do it. Lacrosse is a great sport for hockey players as its pretty similar and helps with their stamina. Golf is also another choice I'm seeing more and more of with hockey players young and old. We do spring/summer but the one team hes playing for is 6 practices total with 2 local tournaments. Nothing crazy. And then he's doing one in the summer with his friends that he enjoys playing and loves the hotel hahaha.  If the spring team is limited, I wouldn't be opposed to it especially if your child wants to do it.

[Guest]

I agree. Limited practice and local tournaments are ok. My kid does this. We were asked to join one of those Elite teams that gets to travel to Chicago, Nashville, Florida, Las Vegas, Mass & Canada. We turned them down. Hockey season has enough travel. My opinion is why travel far to go 0-4. Even the V Young Kings will do ok but in the end get killed in semi-finals. It is a money grab to make the kids think they are playing "Elite" competition. Some of the best players in the age group do not want to travel and paly in these so called "Elite" tournaments. If you have the money, want to waste and your kid wants to play, go for it. If you want to think like the elite players then don;t do it. Elite players spend the offseason the following ways: reviewing their games to find out what they need to improve, working off-ice to improve strength and agility, playing other sports and most importantly working on the mental part. In my opinion getting off the ice, allowing your kid to relax after a long season and training the body but most importantly the mind will pay bigger dividends in the overall development, as a player and human being, than playing on some so called "Elite" team or money grab Spring Team.

[Guest]

Unless you are connected, don't fool yourself into thinking the District PeeWee Quebec "tryouts" are anything more than a donation.  Each team is already 95% selected.