Did ya miss me????
It is October 6th 2014. This past weekend the first real chills of winter fell upon us, and that means hockey is here! In force.
So whats been going on. Seems a lot, and well, it is. Im going to hit as much as I can, and will clearly much to write about over the next few months.
1. The AAA Mi landscape is changing. Changing for the good of players, families and teams. Up to now each team has been allowed 6 players from outside of that organizations district. District's which are zip codes, and state lines. The change is to 10 per franchise, and a reduction in AAA to about a dozen.
Oh NO...you mean Billy from the Compuware district can not play for Bell Tire 02, or Stephan from Toleodo cant make the Compuware team he has been with? No, just that your kid had better damn well be the real deal ..and get over it...look what this is doing. It is saving you and your kid time, helping his education, helping him be well rounded. Do not give me the bull crap, "my kid loves it" , I have seen to many kids who love it, get burnd out. The USA adm model...really does work. It develops talent, properly and gives kids time to be kids. There is NO reason you need to be driving sub 15 year olds 3 hrs 3-4 times a school week to hockey, its stupid. This will also boost the LCAHL teams and remove the water from AAA. 2. MI is advancing HS hockey ! Fucking genius, allowing kids to play travel and for their HS at the same time! My hat is off to MI for adapting to the modern game. Seeing that some kids develop to strong HS level, and others excel beyond that. This allows all players to come together and play for their school. Why some states, are discriminating against HS athletes, especially in the Pay to Play era, is beyond me. At a time when states like Ohio, where the Ohio School board has been breaking the law for almost two decades. BREAKING THE LAW! Ordered, by the Ohio Supreme Court in 1996 to stop using the UNCONSTITUTIONAL method of personal property tax to fund public schools, the state still has not made the simple move to a fair and equal income tax %. Why? Because the administratiors have no clue how to operate under a real budget, and big union reps, do not want to loose acess to the endless supply of other peoples money. So they use fear and intimidation tactics on tax payers. Threatening to take away from education, while their exorbitant, unsustanable, nonesense pension plan grown. The state, still does nothing...while the schools use strong arm tactics , the state does nothing, like simply suspending the collection of those taxes...the same state, where if you dont pay your income tax, will size everything a person has right down to the short curlies!...
3. The parent tool box-
" all i want is for my kid to go Boston College or U of M and play hockey..."
guess what...That is awesome. But just how that happens is out side of your control. Your kid needs to be among the best in the world. Johny average on the most super terrific happy time team, wont get him there. It wont. Every year, every kid in HPHL thinks they are going to play in the BCHL, USHL or the NA as a back up. Your home work, seek out the USA hockey JR protected lists and count the number of HPHL kids in the USHL, and the NA this year. Then do the math based on MM, Mn and bantam teams. divide the number of kids who made it, by those who did not. write that percentage down. memorize it. Dont bother your kid with it. You memorize it. You are your childs guide, like it or not. Knowing that number will help explain what I am about to.
When xyz scout asks..." Johnny, wow heck of a game, your having another great season....WHAT ARE YOU PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR?" Johnny does not say..."well ...I looking at playing in the U..." He says...I intend to play at the highest I am able to play. JR, AAA, it doesnt matter, I just want to play.
Let his love of the sport drive him and you forward. You do not get to pick where you play. You may and hopefully will be fortunate to have choices...of you follow this simple tool.
Look- look at what level your son is at...Look at that percentage...compaire to your sons performance
Listen- to Johnny ....is he burned out, ( looking to go on spring break over try outs, or talking about just going to school) Listen to those who are contacting you...and what levels. if your bieng contacted regularly all year by U teams...then guess what...he is likely a U player. If you get a dear johnny come to open try out letter...not so much. How many people have said what he needs to work on? Have you been invited to go skate with a team? did you go? WHY not? Its so funny how many people will drop everything for one level, but not another. Sure you need to skate for every U team that calls. But you should also go to NA and Tier 3 skates...if your LOOKING at your kid objectively and Listening and learning.
Learn- Learn how to help your son develop on and off ice. Learn about all levels of JR hockey, good teams move kids, bad dont. Not every kids is Patrick Kane, or the next greatest thing. Some are players people never hear of, some are D1(1500 ish) some are d3( 3500ish) some are ACHA. some are done.
more to come
