Orono Youth Hockey

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:09 am

What's going on with Orono Youth Hockey? It looks like it's being run into the ground by a bunch of parents on the board that know nothing about hockey!

mnticketbroker · Post by **mnticketbroker** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:57 am

any examples or perhaps it is the group involved with their travelling baseball program.. then it is understood.

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:48 pm

Every team at the B1 and above level is lucky to win 20% of their games.

The people that are running this assn. stand for nothing more than self interested mommy's and daddy's that have mediocre skilled players.

Cowboy · Post by **Cowboy** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:29 pm

Run for the board.

Why is it the boards fault that teams only win 20% of their games? Are you saying they are placing the teams at too high of levels? Are they not finding good coaches?

nahc · Post by **nahc** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:53 pm

I can't speak for any other team/levels but one of the boys Pee Wee A coach is pretty darn good and gets the most out of the kids. The Orono Pee Wee A's lost last night 3-2 and were eliminated from the playoffs. I believe the kids truly progressed throughout the year and this team was a lot better than in the beginning of the year........which is pretty darn positive. There are a lot of teams that cannot make this claim. Very positive reflection on the kids, coaches and parents.........

nahc · Post by **nahc** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:54 pm

I can't speak for any other team/levels but one of the boys Pee Wee A coach is pretty darn good and gets the most out of the kids. The Orono Pee Wee A's lost last night 3-2 and were eliminated from the playoffs. I believe the kids truly progressed throughout the year and this team was a lot better than in the beginning of the year........which is pretty darn positive. There are a lot of teams that cannot make this claim. Very positive reflection on the kids, coaches and parents.........

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:49 pm

Are you serious? Thanks for your opinion coach or coach's wife...that's not at all what people are saying inside and outside of this association. It's a very different story and not just at the peewee a level - absolutely no development or progress, no support for coaches that actually discipline players, favoring players that are less skilled and don't deserve power play and short handed ice time - I could go on and on.

This entire association is being run by 3-4 people that have kids with no skills - so the entire association is now about being mediocre.

They lost 3-2 - wow, big deal.

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:05 pm

Cowboy wrote:Run for the board.

Why is it the boards fault that teams only win 20% of their games? Are you saying they are placing the teams at too high of levels? Are they not finding good coaches?

I don't have kids that play in Orono hockey any longer - I had both a boy and a girl at different times and they're through high school.

It is 100% the current board's fault - period. Maybe a board or 2 in the past as well. I've heard several comments about specific people on this current board - if what I hear is remotely accurate then these folks are the most self serving people I've ever met.

I don't know if the teams are placed at the right level. You bring up a great point, though. If winning isn't a big deal, then who cares. I suppose there are some requirements for teams to play at certain levels so I'm not sure if they have a choice.

Finding the right coaches - I have no idea, but based on how Orono has been known to treat coaches at the high school level, maybe that's the way they treat coaches at the youth level.

puckeyone · Post by **puckeyone** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:09 pm

Maybe its a conspiracy to back into D-5, they found out that they cannot compete in D-3, so lets go somewhere where they think they can WIN,,,,

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:03 am

Orono moving to district 3 was pushed by 2 people. one being the president of the booster board at the time and the other a dad who I think was on the coaches board.

Why did Orono ever leave district 5 in the first place? Prior to leaving, they were competing well, not always winning, but at least being competitive.

Take a look at Orono's website (www.oronohockey.org) to get a glimpse of their culture - some of the benefits they mention to join D3 - shorter drive times and better facilities to play in.

Let's see. The Orono hockey kids will have an awful experience when they lose virtually all of their games, they won't get any good coaches, they'll be the laughing stock of the District - but they'll be close to home and the rinks they play in will have good coffee for mommy and daddy.

hockeyguy09 · Post by **hockeyguy09** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:45 pm

Orono had one talented group of kids. that is the class of 2009 (they are juniors now). Even that group of kids went just above .500 in the season. The age groups that we have now are getting destroyed. It is embarassing for Orono hockey.

They also will never find any good coaches because of Orono's reputation of not playing to win. Any coach that will play to win will get banned by the board. They'll get banned because some housewife that doesn't do anything for the family will complain because they dont get to see little jake play enough.

Papa Bergundy · Post by **Papa Bergundy** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:14 pm

They would be fine if they stayed in D5. Barring D6, i think D3 is the most competitive youth hockey district around. They had the class of 08 and 09 that did very well in youth hockey but now they are back in the slums. So it goes.

slapshot88 · Post by **slapshot88** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:23 pm

orono sucks.

council member retired · Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:58 pm

I had a colleague whom had a daughter or son move there with family in tow. He was serving his 2nd term on council. He said " do not move here if you are going to play hockey or travel baseball"

inthestands · Post by **inthestands** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:15 am

Primed wrote:
Cowboy wrote:Run for the board.

Why is it the boards fault that teams only win 20% of their games? Are you saying they are placing the teams at too high of levels? Are they not finding good coaches?
I don't have kids that play in Orono hockey any longer - I had both a boy and a girl at different times and they're through high school.

It is 100% the current board's fault - period. Maybe a board or 2 in the past as well. I've heard several comments about specific people on this current board - if what I hear is remotely accurate then these folks are the most self serving people I've ever met.

I don't know if the teams are placed at the right level. You bring up a great point, though. If winning isn't a big deal, then who cares. I suppose there are some requirements for teams to play at certain levels so I'm not sure if they have a choice.

Finding the right coaches - I have no idea, but based on how Orono has been known to treat coaches at the high school level, maybe that's the way they treat coaches at the youth level.

Perfect scenario for you. No kids in the program so your decisions can be based soley on what is best for the system.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone that knew what the youth hockey problems were, and who was responsible for them, took at least one season to work on fixing them?

That action would probably shut down hockey message boards...

tomASS · Post by **tomASS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:15 am

inthestands wrote:

Perfect scenario for you. No kids in the program so your decisions can be based soley on what is best for the system.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone that knew what the youth hockey problems were, and who was responsible for them, took at least one season to work on fixing them?

That action would probably shut down hockey message boards...

Well Stated - thank you.

A lot of effort going into discrediting the association and its board members.

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:02 pm

tomass -

Let's be clear. My comments are not directed at the association as a whole. They are directed at the self serving parents that are running the assocation. I don't need to discredit the board members as they seem to be handling this all by themselves.

Board members that can't remove themselves from their personal, self serving situations shouldn't participate in leadership (or remove themselves if already involved.)

In Orono, these people are currently setting the tone and direction of the association.

Interesting choice of words hockeyguy09. You must be closer to the situation than I....althougth I've heard numerous comments that have echoed this exact scenario - to a T.

A testiment to the success of the association - 'don't move here if you are gonig to play hockey or travel baseball' - nice.

tomASS · Post by **tomASS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:32 pm

Primed - are there other options or solutions for you to take up that would affect change rather than post your concerns about the board here that basically creates anonymous discord about the situation?

I think it is great for someone that is no longer involved in their community hockey program that wants improvement for it. There must be better solutions or is that what you are looking for from us?

Also, if they are doing a good enough of discrediting themselves is this thread then necessary?

How long are their terms? When is the next board meeting so you can voice your concerns to them in a public forum? Do rules prevent non-parents from serving on the board? Sounds like you want to make a positive impact. I say go for it if you can.

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:06 pm

tomass -

it appears that you may be relatively close to the situation and maybe even personally involved.

The ability to change this self serving and mediocre culture takes more than a non-parent voicing their concerns. You should know all too well that a parent or a group of parents with the right whining abilites has far greater affect in orono.

Anonomys discord - it didn't start with this forum topic.

tomASS · Post by **tomASS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:31 pm

Primed wrote:tomass -

it appears that you may be relatively close to the situation and maybe even personally involved.

The ability to change this self serving and mediocre culture takes more than a non-parent voicing their concerns. You should know all too well that a parent or a group of parents with the right whining abilites has far greater affect in orono.

Anonomys discord - it didn't start with this forum topic.

I am from Chaska. The closest I have gotten to Orono was last summer when I had a soccer team play an Orono team. Last hockey team from that area that I saw was over two years ago. I know of no one from Orono that plays hockey.

But now I could use an Oreo Double Stuff right about now

Primed · Post by **Primed** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:39 pm

If this is true - your distance to the program - then I stand corrected.

Feel fortunate. It's an abolute mess from what I've been able to gather from folks.

I don't understand the cookie comment - but, enjoy your cookie.

tomASS · Post by **tomASS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:44 pm

Primed wrote:If this is true - your distance to the program - then I stand corrected.

Feel fortunate. It's an abolute mess from what I've been able to gather from folks.

I don't understand the cookie comment - but, enjoy your cookie.

Just look under my location on the left-hand side.

most Oreono residents would miss the cookie reference. Just a bad play-on words or word association.

inthestands · Post by **inthestands** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:01 pm

Hey TA, don't forget about a nice big glass of cold white milk to go along.....

oronohockey · Post by **oronohockey** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:44 pm

go orono

tomASS · Post by **tomASS** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:56 pm

oronohockey wrote:go orono

wheww, bold statement young man!