Everything that is Wrong with Youth Hockey

[mdamson 0]

Take a gander at the website link below and see what we have to deal with in the Seattle area. It is funny how a game that is supposed to be fun for kids has turned into such a fiasco of parents and association officals acting like the children they are supposed to represent.

http://skahatruth.blogspot.com/

[jeffw 1]

I always take these things with a grain of salt.

I coach in a small organization & every year there's a small (but vocal) group of disgruntled people who aren't happy with this or that. Invariably their kid is usually the guy on the team who is the biggest pain in the ass.

They gut out the season, bitching & crying all the way, then the next year they take their kid to the next town & bad mouth the organization with the handful of other a-holes who left. Two years later, they're back.

Grass is always greener........

[biff44 0]

The sad part about such parents is that they are really hurting their kids chances in the future. Word will follow this kid for the next 5 years about what a crazy set of parents he has, and no coach will touch him.

If you do not like a team, camp, or organization, then simply do not attend. Get off of your duff and find a better program for your kid.

[fastbrother7 0]

I always take these things with a grain of salt.

I coach in a small organization & every year there's a small (but vocal) group of disgruntled people who aren't happy with this or that. Invariably their kid is usually the guy on the team who is the biggest pain in the ass.

They gut out the season, bitching & crying all the way, then the next year they take their kid to the next town & bad mouth the organization with the handful of other a-holes who left. Two years later, they're back.

Grass is always greener........

Yeah, I agree, its like this pretty much everywhere you go. It was liek this when I was growing up. Most parents think thier kid is the best thing since sliced bread. I got cut from a team once and I was better than a good chunk of guys who made it ( by the way I wasnt an @$$hole either lol ), but my parents didnt whine and cry about it, my dad just told me that I did well, and you'll just have to convince them they made a mistake from the other team, and of coarse I did. lol

[Lufria 1]

Ugh hockey politics. There's nothing worse then that.

There's always politics around kids and hockey. Heck, i play Adult roller hockey and even in the adults, there's a insane amount of politics. Just last week one of the guys on my team wanted us to pay for half of his league fee cause "he was worth it."

So that was the end of him.

[fastbrother7 0]

Yeah, its pretty silly, politics and all. Its a shame that its really not until you get to the NHL level that politics kind of ween-out. Because if you are good, you play, even if you are an @$$hole lol.

[M-Cohen 0]

HA!

You complain about that in Seattle? Your lucky, if you had to deal with what we do in the GTHL... Egads.

We have terrible players on AAA and top AA teams because the parents go out and buy the coaches brand new Porsches/Hummers/Benz's/BMW's. We have paid coaches in AAA, we have a team called the Toronto Redwings that in the 92' age group paid for 3 families from the states to move here and fully relocate because their kids were good at hockey, and the team wanted them on it. We have an average cost in (A) apx: $1,750 plus tournaments, (AA) apx: $2,500 plus tournaments (AAA) apx $4,000 plus tournaments, and it's easy for that to reach over $10,000 per season.

Plus, as players we have to pay to get into our own games. You have kids parents paying off refs in playoff games with straight cash, refs who obviously only call for one side, people siphoning off money from clubs, crazy parents who start fights with kids....

And all this happens in the biggest league in the world, with over 100,000 kids in it...

[/End Rant]

[Powerfibers 8]

That hurt me head reading that stuff, but I really loved the organization stating ...

"Whether pursuing a dream of college-scholarship and possible professional career or simply playing for the joy of the game, we at KVHA have set out to provide the resources & flexibility that players at every level need to fulfill their goals."

Hockey would be better served if they just worried about having a good healthy time.

Bob

[RadioGaGa 162]

It's reading stuff like this that kinda makes me glad I didn't really start playing until I was 24.

[badsk8ter 0]

T.J. Oshie grew up in the Seattle area. Anyone know what youth organization he played in?

[Law Goalie 147]

HA!

You complain about that in Seattle? Your lucky, if you had to deal with what we do in the GTHL... Egads.

We have terrible players on AAA and top AA teams because the parents go out and buy the coaches brand new Porsches/Hummers/Benz's/BMW's. We have paid coaches in AAA, we have a team called the Toronto Redwings that in the 92' age group paid for 3 families from the states to move here and fully relocate because their kids were good at hockey, and the team wanted them on it. We have an average cost in (A) apx: $1,750 plus tournaments, (AA) apx: $2,500 plus tournaments (AAA) apx $4,000 plus tournaments, and it's easy for that to reach over $10,000 per season.

Plus, as players we have to pay to get into our own games. You have kids parents paying off refs in playoff games with straight cash, refs who obviously only call for one side, people siphoning off money from clubs, crazy parents who start fights with kids....

And all this happens in the biggest league in the world, with over 100,000 kids in it...

[/End Rant]

It's not even just restricted to big-shot TO teams - one of the kids I played with was poached by Whitby's AAA team in Peewee. It was insane - they lured him like the guys who drive the "Free Candy" panel-vans. That was over a decade ago - I can only imagine what goes on now.

There was a time in my life when I avoided Junior hockey like the plague because I thought it was a bad atmosphere. If and when my kids come into the sport, I'm getting them out of the minor amateur leagues and into lower-tier Juniors ASAP. At least the attitude there is *vaguely* sporting, if a little primitive. Still, from what I hear these days, a kid will get less grief for keeping his school and life in order while playing Juniors than in one of the more insane AAA associations.

[hockeytim18 0]

I always take these things with a grain of salt.

I coach in a small organization & every year there's a small (but vocal) group of disgruntled people who aren't happy with this or that. Invariably their kid is usually the guy on the team who is the biggest pain in the ass.

They gut out the season, bitching & crying all the way, then the next year they take their kid to the next town & bad mouth the organization with the handful of other a-holes who left. Two years later, they're back.

Grass is always greener........

Yeah, I agree, its like this pretty much everywhere you go. It was liek this when I was growing up. Most parents think thier kid is the best thing since sliced bread. I got cut from a team once and I was better than a good chunk of guys who made it ( by the way I wasnt an @$$hole either lol ), but my parents didnt whine and cry about it, my dad just told me that I did well, and you'll just have to convince them they made a mistake from the other team, and of coarse I did. lol

Good God if that's not the same situation I'm in right now. We just started pracitces for the season here and I can beat almost every single kid on the team above me. Same thing with my dad he tells me just to stick it out. I've already proved to the coach on the team above us I can play at a better level than the kids on his team (and I can tell he knows it).

I talked to my coach and he told me the teams were already made before tryouts. I hate to see this kind of crap happen. Lots of my friends who are great players don't play highschool hockey due to politics.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

speaking of whats wrong with youth hockey

a budding marty mc sorley

[crazykeeper3317 0]

There is so much wrong over here in the UK aswell. because hockey isnt a big sport everyone who runs the club are volunteers and so if your face fits you get to play no matter how good you are, so of course you have the coaches son and his best mate, the managers kid, the teams treasurers kid and so on and that would make up our first line and starting keeper then the rest of us get sat on the bench and are told that we dont have enough game experiance to play, where they expect us to get it from god only knows.

[sabre09923 0]

speaking of whats wrong with youth hockey

a budding marty mc sorley

That was horrible.

[mdamson 0]

T.J. Oshie grew up in the Seattle area. Anyone know what youth organization he played in?

TJ played with Seattle Junior Hockey Association (SJHA) through Bantams at which point he moved to Warroad MN to play High School Hockey.

[Law Goalie 147]

You folks in the US are lucky to have a robust HS hockey system - it's a joke up here.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

You folks in the US are lucky to have a robust HS hockey system - it's a joke up here.

That's just MN.

MN has HS, Michigan/rest of Midwest has AAA, and New England has prep schools.

[Patrick67 1]

That kid on the youtube video is a disgrace to his parents!!! :-(

3 slashes that were all uncalled for....

1st is over the opponents stick, then the defender pushes him away.

2nd is at the opponents feet, totally uncalled for.

3rd is still "retribution" because the other guy pushed him (since his first retribution slash wasn't a success..)

That has to be one of the worst non-kicking incidents I've seen in junior hockey. makes me sick to my stomach.

[Lufria 1]

Jesus, what the hell was the kid thinking in that video? Definitely think that's the worst youth hockey incident i've ever seen by a long shot.

[Hawes_4 0]

Maybe they should kick him out of hockey for the rest of his life....

[hockeyplaya97 0]

...Or spank him and give him a time out.

[Jason Harris 31]

That kid on the youtube video is a disgrace to his parents!!! :-(

3 slashes that were all uncalled for....

1st is over the opponents stick, then the defender pushes him away.

2nd is at the opponents feet, totally uncalled for.

3rd is still "retribution" because the other guy pushed him (since his first retribution slash wasn't a success..)

That has to be one of the worst non-kicking incidents I've seen in junior hockey. makes me sick to my stomach.

Oh, I see that all the time -- between two brothers who go at it in the program I coach. :D The 13-year-old is mellow as a mouse, but he knows how intense his 9-year-old brother is, so he plays him tightly just to get a rise. Sure enough, the 9-year-old swings his stick and off they both go to the box.

Actually, I was going to add to the thread that I really like the non-profit program i coach in. The kids won't turn into best players, because they aren't on the ice 3-4 times a week, but it's a great value at $120 for 8 90-minute sessions. We spend about 45 minutes working on drills and 40+ minutes in a scrimmage. The coaches pick new teams for each scrimmage, so there aren't built up rivalries between players or between parents. We split the rink into thirds, with one third for kids about 4-6, the middle third for kids about 5-8, that last third for kids about 7-11 -- we try to keep them together by skill, more so than age. We also have a full-ice program for kids about 10-14.

Overall, it's very low key but the kids are learning the game, and we've had some with us for all four years, so I know they're having fun.

[Patrick67 1]

Thought this was kinda funny, since smyth is supposedly a classact, and somewhat related to the slashing incident from the mite game.

[hockeyplaya97 0]

He looks like he is having a tantrum.