So, the first regular season is in the books, since Waconia split off from Holy Family. They went 9-16-0, but 1-11-0 in Wright County Conference play.
What are the Waconia faithful thinking about the season? Good start? Disappointing? Was the split from Holy Family wise?
The feeder system is still looking pretty light. The only bantam team (B1 level) finished with the worst record in D6.
Top scorer (Lievermann) leaves the program, this year, taking a big chunk of the scoring punch out of a lackluster offense. (8 team goals in the last 6 games, all of which were losses.)
What is the prognosis for next year?
From the cheap seats, it is still looking like 3-4 years before this program has any chance to compete in Wright County.
Three to five years minimumis about what you would expect from a program being built from the ground up. It could take longer, depending on the rate of growth in the Waconia school district.
Parents should not get impatient. Don't look at the wins-losses as a sign of improvement. Look for increased number of players, more competitiveness and improved skills. If the program improves, the wins won't necessarily follow immediately because the coach and AD will hopefully change the schedule to improve the level of competition as time goes on.
Support the coach, support the players, support the program and be positive.
hockeydad wrote:Three to five years minimumis about what you would expect from a program being built from the ground up. It could take longer, depending on the rate of growth in the Waconia school district.
Parents should not get impatient. Don't look at the wins-losses as a sign of improvement. Look for increased number of players, more competitiveness and improved skills. If the program improves, the wins won't necessarily follow immediately because the coach and AD will hopefully change the schedule to improve the level of competition as time goes on.
Support the coach, support the players, support the program and be positive.
Well, the Waconia Hockey Association isn't exactly "being built from the ground up." It has been around for quite awhile and the high school team has been a coop with Holy Family Catholic H.S. for a number of years, as well. There is some history there.
The numbers are the puzzling part. The high school has enough kids to play in 4AAAA in H.S. football, but they struggle to throw together a hockey team.
The feeder system is still pretty light, in numbers and talent. There isn't a team playing at the A level at any developmental level. It appears as though this might really be a long term project.
At the core of the issue, however, is lack of interest. An area the size of Waconia should be drawing bigger numbers of kids to the rink. There were hopes that the newly built rink would do the trick, but the early returns are showing otherwise. There just isn't much cookin' in Waconia, in the hockey realm.
Wayoutwest-You must have some issues with Waconia. I must admit, every time I read a post from you about Waconia; it's with a negative view point. Anyways, let me try to put a little focus on several of your questions/statements:
“Was it a good start” or “was it disappointing”?
-I think the season was a successful one. The community this year now has a rink, right across from the high school. Before, they had none and had to drive to other communities to buy ice. Also, for the first time, Waconia fielded a varsity high school hockey team. Before, they had none, but were part of a co-op program in another community. Yes, they had a losing record, but I don’t think anyone was expecting them to have a winning record their first year out of the gate. They won some games, which is better than not winning any.
“What is the prognosis for next year”?
Wayoutwest is correct, they lose most of their offense this year, with forwards Lieverman, Eiden and tender Hanson graduating. They also do not have a strong talent pool coming up from bantams next year, so next year will not be as good as this year. They’ll take another big hit the following year with Genz, Smothers, Burmiester, Brettingen, McAvoy and Tolzman graduating. The high school program is going to get a lot worse in the short term, before it gets better. Very little that the high school coach or ad can do, other than considering a JV schedule for a couple of years.
“Future?”
Wayoutwest- Yes the feeder system is still looking pretty light. I think that has a lot to do with the associations focus (or lack of) up until this point. They have always had this plan, of the hockey program being like an “arrow”. Their focus over the last several years has been on the “tip”, or what I call “broad head” which was to get a high school team and building a rink. They have not made “growth” or broadening their talent base (the shaft of the arrow) a priority, which is why their numbers are still low. Remember, the hockey program leaders believe that “if you build it, they will come”. Well they built it, they have a rink and a boy’s high school hockey team, but it going to take a lot longer than what people think for them to develop a competitive program. It will be more than 3-5 years and realistically, you are looking at about a 10-12 year plan that needs to start at the bottom in their mite program.
Hockeydad, the school districts rate of growth will not have a significant impact on the hockey program. Families in which hockey is important are not going to be moving to Waconia. The numbers growth the association needs at the mite level is far greater than “all” the new move ins into the community, which the association will only get a small percentage of. You are correct in saying that parents should not get impatient, looking at the wins-losses as a sign of improvement. They need to look for increased number of players in their mite program and this should be their primary focus right now. The Waconia community has enough families to get a competitive hockey program going.
The bigger issue is convincing new families to play hockey in a community that is extremely focused/supportive of basketball, band and show choir. The current economy problems are not going to help them right now either.
High Flyer wrote:Wayoutwest-You must have some issues with Waconia. I must admit, every time I read a post from you about Waconia; it's with a negative view point.
Please point to the "negative view point", from me, in this thread.
I assure you, I have no "issues with Waconia."
All that being said, I agree with most all of your assessments, and I believe that they are in line with mine, if not LESS positive.
I was truly just looking for other viewpoints. Thank you for providing yours.
