12U or 13U

Discussion of Minnesota Girls Youth Hockey

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13U or 12U

13U
2
33%
12U
4
67%
 
Total votes: 6

elliott70
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Location: Bemidji

12U or 13U

Post by elliott70 » Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:08 am

There is discussion at MN Hockey about changing the levels of play?
Would you support leaving it at 12U or change to 13U?

InThePipes
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: 12U or 13U

Post by InThePipes » Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:29 pm

It's not exactly that simple, the current proposal is it's either 12U/15U or 13U and then the 15U leagues are gone.

The reality is like almost everything in the world today it's binary. If you're a mid/large metro district you want to keep 12U, because you already have a viable 15U program and why would you want to kill that, it would make no sense to do so. On the flip side, if you are an outstate program like Warroad or a small metro association with no 15U program, why not have a 13U program, it would make complete sense to those associations to give girls an extra year of youth hockey before HS.

I will be curious to see how this turns out because I suspect they will pilot 13U next year for associations that want to opt in. To date this change has largely being championed as a way to save 8th graders from needing to join the HS ranks...my question is, how many of those 8th graders actually WANT to be saved from needing to join the HS ranks. We'll find out shortly.

Lace'emUp
Posts: 359
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:37 am

Re: 12U or 13U

Post by Lace'emUp » Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:32 pm

InThePipes wrote:
Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:29 pm
It's not exactly that simple, the current proposal is it's either 12U/15U or 13U and then the 15U leagues are gone.

The reality is like almost everything in the world today it's binary. If you're a mid/large metro district you want to keep 12U, because you already have a viable 15U program and why would you want to kill that, it would make no sense to do so. On the flip side, if you are an outstate program like Warroad or a small metro association with no 15U program, why not have a 13U program, it would make complete sense to those associations to give girls an extra year of youth hockey before HS.

I will be curious to see how this turns out because I suspect they will pilot 13U next year for associations that want to opt in. To date this change has largely being championed as a way to save 8th graders from needing to join the HS ranks...my question is, how many of those 8th graders actually WANT to be saved from needing to join the HS ranks. We'll find out shortly.
I agree, it's a numbers game, especially at bigger AA schools and smaller A schools. Also, if MNH and HS's have declining numbers at 15U and above, then 13U might come into play. If those numbers are growing, then keep it as-is. I do not know those numbers. If anyone has knowledge, please contribute. But from seeing more HS co-ops, and HS teams without JV teams, I would be willing to bet that participation is dropping at older age groups.

I'm with you, if you have a bigger program, keep your 7th graders at 12U or PW, and probably most 8th graders should play a year of 15U (or 13U). In our HS program this past year, we took two 7th graders who are gifted players at their respective ages and age groups. But one contributed only 2 points in her last 16 HS games (when she was set to play PW-AA), and the other was hurt most of the season. It's all about "what ifs" but in this case, would've they been better off staying at the youth levels? To go with that, it would be interesting to see what the point totals were for the top 7th and 8th graders at bigger AA schools. (bat signal to j4241)

InThePipes
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: 12U or 13U

Post by InThePipes » Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:19 am

Lace'emUp wrote:
Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:32 pm
InThePipes wrote:
Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:29 pm
It's not exactly that simple, the current proposal is it's either 12U/15U or 13U and then the 15U leagues are gone.

The reality is like almost everything in the world today it's binary. If you're a mid/large metro district you want to keep 12U, because you already have a viable 15U program and why would you want to kill that, it would make no sense to do so. On the flip side, if you are an outstate program like Warroad or a small metro association with no 15U program, why not have a 13U program, it would make complete sense to those associations to give girls an extra year of youth hockey before HS.

I will be curious to see how this turns out because I suspect they will pilot 13U next year for associations that want to opt in. To date this change has largely being championed as a way to save 8th graders from needing to join the HS ranks...my question is, how many of those 8th graders actually WANT to be saved from needing to join the HS ranks. We'll find out shortly.
I agree, it's a numbers game, especially at bigger AA schools and smaller A schools. Also, if MNH and HS's have declining numbers at 15U and above, then 13U might come into play. If those numbers are growing, then keep it as-is. I do not know those numbers. If anyone has knowledge, please contribute. But from seeing more HS co-ops, and HS teams without JV teams, I would be willing to bet that participation is dropping at older age groups.

I'm with you, if you have a bigger program, keep your 7th graders at 12U or PW, and probably most 8th graders should play a year of 15U (or 13U). In our HS program this past year, we took two 7th graders who are gifted players at their respective ages and age groups. But one contributed only 2 points in her last 16 HS games (when she was set to play PW-AA), and the other was hurt most of the season. It's all about "what ifs" but in this case, would've they been better off staying at the youth levels? To go with that, it would be interesting to see what the point totals were for the top 7th and 8th graders at bigger AA schools. (bat signal to j4241)
To each their own and everyone should have the right to make the choice they feel is in the best interest of their child, each situation is different. That being said, I think that people have this glamourous idea of what HS hockey is and don't get me wrong, there are some very positive aspects of it. However, I'm not sure that anyone needs to play 6 years of it, just my 2 cents.

InThePipes
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: 12U or 13U

Post by InThePipes » Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:24 am

Lace'emUp wrote:
Wed Apr 06, 2022 1:32 pm
InThePipes wrote:
Fri Apr 01, 2022 8:29 pm
It's not exactly that simple, the current proposal is it's either 12U/15U or 13U and then the 15U leagues are gone.

The reality is like almost everything in the world today it's binary. If you're a mid/large metro district you want to keep 12U, because you already have a viable 15U program and why would you want to kill that, it would make no sense to do so. On the flip side, if you are an outstate program like Warroad or a small metro association with no 15U program, why not have a 13U program, it would make complete sense to those associations to give girls an extra year of youth hockey before HS.

I will be curious to see how this turns out because I suspect they will pilot 13U next year for associations that want to opt in. To date this change has largely being championed as a way to save 8th graders from needing to join the HS ranks...my question is, how many of those 8th graders actually WANT to be saved from needing to join the HS ranks. We'll find out shortly.
I agree, it's a numbers game, especially at bigger AA schools and smaller A schools. Also, if MNH and HS's have declining numbers at 15U and above, then 13U might come into play. If those numbers are growing, then keep it as-is. I do not know those numbers. If anyone has knowledge, please contribute. But from seeing more HS co-ops, and HS teams without JV teams, I would be willing to bet that participation is dropping at older age groups.

I'm with you, if you have a bigger program, keep your 7th graders at 12U or PW, and probably most 8th graders should play a year of 15U (or 13U). In our HS program this past year, we took two 7th graders who are gifted players at their respective ages and age groups. But one contributed only 2 points in her last 16 HS games (when she was set to play PW-AA), and the other was hurt most of the season. It's all about "what ifs" but in this case, would've they been better off staying at the youth levels? To go with that, it would be interesting to see what the point totals were for the top 7th and 8th graders at bigger AA schools. (bat signal to j4241)
The 15U (or 14U before that) numbers have been up and down over the past 10 years, team numbers across MN have ranged from the mid-40's to mid-60's during that time, I believe we've had 65 and 61 teams at 15U the past 2 seasons, so on the upper end of that spectrum recently and hopefully that continues to grow.

To each their own and everyone should have the right to make the choice they feel is in the best interest of their child, each situation is different. That being said, I think that people have this glamourous idea of what HS hockey is and don't get me wrong, there are some very positive aspects of it. However, I'm not sure that anyone needs to play 6 years of it, especially with the potential drawbacks on the social side of it.

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