puckfan wrote:That's pretty funny because that same program's Squirt A team last year had all the kids that wanted no part of it.
Are you saying "all of the kids on the squirt A team wanted no part of it" or "all of the kids who wanted no part of it were on the squirt A team"? I know the second quote is more accurate because I know a few of the kids on the STMA squirt A team last year that thought it was great.
puckfan wrote:I know that their association is not doing team training as a whole there this year so not sure what that means.........
It means that the association decided it was safer to revert to making it optional for all teams as there was a vocal minority that dissented to training at Competitive Edge.
That whole episode is just an example of a situation that I find pretty frustrating. I have from time to time helped those guys out as an instructor and, through that, they are now friends of mine. That being the case, I admit bias, but I have seen what the Crossover Flywheel can do and considering that it is a great tool for lateral movement in general it is amazing how hard it has been to get the market to give it a chance. I guess most of the market doesn't understand how important lateral movement and excellence on the outside edges are in the game. Worse yet some people give it just enough chance to not quite get past the early phase before dismissing it. In that early phase it is pretty uncomfortable and awkward to skate on, and kids who are good at hockey are not used to struggling with any hockey activity so my guess is this is exactly what happened to those STMA Squirt As last year... kids who don't normally struggle at hockey were put in a bit of a humbling position. On the other hand, you will hear a very different story from almost everybody who has stuck with it long enough to get though the challenging phase (that is when the on-ice benefit really starts to take hold).
To that point, the Crossover Flywheel has been a phenomenal tool for lots of players. I am sure it isn't universal, but if you ask people in the Rogers association you will find there are a lot of examples of kids who have dramatically improved their skating (Competitive Edge is working with Rogers for the 3rd straight season now). More pertinently, ask anybody that was around the Monopoly program last summer. Ask them about the experience that the players had in the program and in the Competitive Edge facility. Ask them how much players improved.
Also, echoing what Wildfan has already said, CCM Program is neither totally Showcase nor totally Monopoly. Showcase and Monopoly are working together specifically because they needed to in order to give CCM what they wanted for the sponsorship. Specific to the 98, 99, and 00 CCM teams, those are the exact same programs as the Monopoly program from last year other than the name of teams and some branded hockey equipment that is thrown in.
Speaking of that, why do you think the Monopoly program was able to go from 1 to 6 teams from the first year to the second? There is one reason... Monopoly players who had not been known to be elite went back after the summer to their associations and passed up players that were ahead of them the previous year... including other players that spent the summer doing AAA or a lot of other development as well. This growth to 6 teams is not a self-fulfilling prophecy, it was a response by players and families who weren't in the program last year to the improvement of the players and families who were. At the heart of that program is the facility training and the Crossover Flywheel but they are also known to run very effective ice-times.
I obviously have a lot to say about this, again because it is frustrating to see such a great program struggle to get attention (though this year's growth of the Monopoly program is very encouraging). I want to see those guys and the facility training program succeed. The program deserves to succeed on its own merit. The market just needs to give it a real chance. I suggest that those STMA squirt As from last year would benefit greatly from giving it another shot and this time sticking it out until the players get used to the wheel.