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Can some of the parents of older girls share their experiences w/ this whole adv. 15,16,17 process?
My girl is playing in one of the select tourneys this weekend. Before one game, the parents, went for a cocktail. Well some parents were talking about the adv. 15 tryouts and who made it. I believe district 2.
Here is what I heard:
-one girl made it w/o even skating
-one girl made it because her dad is the pres. of his association.
-one guy was mad because his kid didn't make it and he works for d.2
-one mom questioned why her kids coach was doing the adv. 15
(problems during the season, 1st year coach, and probably picked pres.'s kid so she can coach again)
Next year my girl will be at this stage. Is it worth it? Is it all politics? Will it be different in our district, or do they all run about the same?
I welcome anyone and everyones opinion on the subject. To be honest I was looking forward to my daughter getting an oppurtunity in some thing like this, I had assumed it would be more impartial and the girls would be judged on performance alone. Sounds like I might be naive. Oh well, I still love the game and I am my girls biggest fan.

Homer wrote:Can some of the parents of older girls share their experiences w/ this whole adv. 15,16,17 process?
My girl is playing in one of the select tourneys this weekend. Before one game, the parents, went for a cocktail. Well some parents were talking about the adv. 15 tryouts and who made it. I believe district 2.
Here is what I heard:
-one girl made it w/o even skating
-one girl made it because her dad is the pres. of his association.
-one guy was mad because his kid didn't make it and he works for d.2
-one mom questioned why her kids coach was doing the adv. 15
(problems during the season, 1st year coach, and probably picked pres.'s kid so she can coach again)
Next year my girl will be at this stage. Is it worth it? Is it all politics? Will it be different in our district, or do they all run about the same?
I welcome anyone and everyones opinion on the subject. To be honest I was looking forward to my daughter getting an oppurtunity in some thing like this, I had assumed it would be more impartial and the girls would be judged on performance alone. Sounds like I might be naive. Oh well, I still love the game and I am my girls biggest fan.

Homer there are several threads on the Phase process on the forum you should read great perspective from many. My duaghter was a U15 two years ago - the process changed last year so I can't speak to what you are in right now with Distric Team tryouts, selection and festival. The process is run by MN Hockey at U15 and then for U16 and U17 by the MN Girls HS Coaches and tryouts will shift to the 8 Sectional lines and it will have 3 Phases.

I can share if your daughter wants/likes the expereince of tryouts you should pursue the process - cost to go all the way through is close to $1000 so check that amount and be ok with it. Talk to her coach and association next year or HS coach - they need to nominate her for the fisrt try out pool - once selected outside evaluators will then do the grading/selection. The top 100-107 go to a week long camp in Mankato - this camp was extremely well run and my daughter really enjoyed it - she met girls from all over the State of MN and enjoys playing them now in HS. Due to cost and time commitment all the best players won't be there but probably 80%. The process was changed when two years ago number of U15 girls were selected for the National Camp in April but opted out of Mankato. MN Hockey does the camp to try and pick the best girls for the national camp and they give the girls the rigors of the National Camp and living in a dorm before they go away - great experience/preparation.

At U15 MN getst to send 9 forwards, 6 D and 1 G to the National Camp this group is picked at the end of the Mankato Select Camp in June and go to the Naitonal Camp end of July in Rochester NY or St. Cloud - USA Hockey has camps beginning at U14 but MN does not participate - so the MN U15 girls picked are at a little disadvantage when they arrive at U15 since the rest of the courntry's top players were there and know by staff at U14. The National Camp is a great experience it is put on by top D1 coaches and players get a chance to see where they stand. Since each USA Hockey District gets a quota you won't see the 102 best players in the country you will see the 102 best players from across the country. Probably half of the 50 girls at Mankato's Select 15 would show very well at the National Camp. If she makes it your daugther will get a week of top coaching and meet great kids from across the US for just the cost of travel and $125 for room and board.

It is not a perfect process across the phase and to succeed you have to have impact and be healthy-injury free at the right time - but it can be a great experience if your daughter loves the game, is pretty good and wants to compete with other top players. Sometimes kids can be protected at the Association Level based on who their parents are or what they do or a small girls pool in an Association - but it is harder to once you go through a process like this most kids are graded out pretty well though as anyone knows it is easy to identify top third, middle third and bottom third what is tough is to pick the top 9 forwards out of final 18 - top 5 forwards are easy then it is very tough! Impact is key thing breaking up a play, starting a play, being in a play scoring or putting a player in for a goal. The kids who score can stand out but it isn't just about scoring - evaluators have criteiria but human nature if 4 people are grading they will see/value different things - this year at U16 - U17 they had legions of good hockey people (including D1 coaches) grading - I don't know U15 process but perhaps someone else can comment.

Looking back your daughter is entering a time where players get better or platuea - a lot changes from 8-10 grade and more 11-12 - kids get bigger stronger, faster and kids love and commitment of the game change some grow others plateau - which isn't good or bad - there is a lot more to life than hockey.......school - knowledge, values-life values, work experience, realtionship-teamwork are all important much of it can be learned in hockey those are skills that a player will use their whole life and hopefully stay connected and give back to the next generation in the game. Enoy the journey and don't be a parent who throws rocks at the system - if it doesn't make sense find a way to get involved and make the game better - remember all of this is driven by a lot of people some paid some not - but the pay is small compared to time required - most are trying to do their best.

I hope others give you perspective this is a big process your duaghter will compete against 360 kids or so and it is one of the unique expereinces to girls in MN. Good luck to all in the process.

Homer wrote:Can some of the parents of older girls share their experiences w/ this whole adv. 15,16,17 process?
My girl is playing in one of the select tourneys this weekend. Before one game, the parents, went for a cocktail. Well some parents were talking about the adv. 15 tryouts and who made it. I believe district 2.
Here is what I heard:
-one girl made it w/o even skating
-one girl made it because her dad is the pres. of his association.
-one guy was mad because his kid didn't make it and he works for d.2
-one mom questioned why her kids coach was doing the adv. 15
(problems during the season, 1st year coach, and probably picked pres.'s kid so she can coach again)
Next year my girl will be at this stage. Is it worth it? Is it all politics? Will it be different in our district, or do they all run about the same?
I welcome anyone and everyones opinion on the subject. To be honest I was looking forward to my daughter getting an oppurtunity in some thing like this, I had assumed it would be more impartial and the girls would be judged on performance alone. Sounds like I might be naive. Oh well, I still love the game and I am my girls biggest fan.

If she can make it to Mankato as a 15 then it is money well spent good camp lots of girls get training
But unless you believe she is one of the top 10-20 players in the state at the 16's ans 17's save your money and use it for her personal devolopment. as many others have said beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Homer

I appreciate your open comments.

It is because of comments like this that may or may not be valid led me to develop SkillFest in Grand Rapids. The reality of the different select programs is this.
It creates unrealistic expectations
Does very little to advance the actual players abilities
and is at best the slanted opinions of a very few highly achieved hockey people. Many of the programs are run by great people who love to believe they are advancing the sport by working very hard to put these programs on. Their dedication should not be discounted,
Yet there is a falicy that these programs become an entitlement for a natural progression. You made this team so you should be on this team and then on this team etc.
Reality is players develop at different rates, coaches have different opinions, and needs, evaluators like different things, and have different philosophies .
If you are considering these programs as a sure route to D-1 college dont.
If you want your daughter to play hockey and have the cash then go for it but you might do some math and see where the money goes and what programs it supports. At SkillFest you get the same exposure to college coaches, get to sit with them and ask questions, gain the experience in
practices with D-1 coaches and know what they want to see and want. No politics here because there is no next level to advnace to. You get educated , gain exposure, have fun and go home , no list to wait for to be classified (incorrectly) No feelings to be hurt only information to make yourself better. Hence the name SkillFest.

Media you run a top program and the chance for the girls to get the live in experience and at a great value August 2-5 for $395. http://www.minnesotacrunch.com/Site/forms/skillfest.pdf

Another option for those in the metro area that I would recommend (based on what we saw last summer) to those who want to gain exposure, meet college coaches and be exposed to wide variety of skills and drills is the OS Propects program put togehter by Winny Brodt and Chris Peterson which runs 2-3 times a week late May to August and has a revolving group of D1 coaches from all over the country I think 20 different schools were involved last summer to give players insight to coaches and programs - the coaches did a great job re-enforcing to all the players grades, grades, grades and skills, skills, skills with a healthy dose of if you want to play at the next level you have trade offs in HS and College on what you can do versus what kids who don't have those goals can do. 2009 8 Week Summer Training Program. Os Hockey Training:
June: July: August:
Week of 15 - 18 Week of 6 - 9 Week of 3 - 6
Week of 22 - 25 Week of 13 - 16 Week of 10 - 13
Week of 20 - 23 Week of 17 - 20

Sunday & Tuesday Prospects (PM) - Richfield/Fogerty (they did multiple sessions week of Junior Festival last year)
2009 Levels and Costs
• PREP I: 1st year U10 or Younger: $560
• PREP II: Played U10A - U12B: $560
• PREP III: Played U12A - 1st year U14: $560
• PREP IV: Played U14A - JV: $560
• ELITE : Played Varsity Hockey: $560
• PROSPECTS : Top rated players in the state: $650
• ELITE /PROSPECTS COMBO: $850
*(Skate in Prospects and any Elite Session offered)
http://www.oshockey.org/09/index.php?op ... &Itemid=29

Media I agree lots of changes U15 to U16 to U17 - I pulled some old posts from forum - NDP has some correlation but is not absolute as to D1. Last year the U16 list changed like 54% so if you make it U15 it doesn't guaranttee to carry forward each year is new. Here is the U17 list of 16 from 2008 and the 29 D1 committments (some of these players are '90 DOB and weren't eligible for NDP last summer) to date for fall of 2009 I am sure some of these kids were in Skillfest and OS Prospects.

U17s to NDP 2008 16 Players - and where they are going to be fall 2009
Name Position School Comment
Laura Bellamy, G, Duluth, Harvard
Janessa Haller, D. Anoka, RPI
Erika Magnusson, D, Fergus Falls, MSU
Lisa Martinson, D, St. Louis Park, SCSU
Kelsey Romatoski, D, Academy of the Holy Angels, Harvard
Wheelhouse Erika, D, Crookston, Bemidji
Domass Lindsey, Benilde-St. Margaret's, BC maybe? (at large)
Jessica Christofferson, F, Bemidji, Mercyhurst
Callie Dahl, F. Stillwater, SCSU
Gilbert Megan, F, Andover, UND
Sally Komarek, Blake, Dartmouth
Kortum Rebecca, F, Hopkins, Minnesota
Sadie Lundquist, F, Cloquet, Bemidji
Gina McDonald, F, Irondale, class of 2010
Alexandra Nelson, F, Andover, SCSU
Zrust Lauren, F, Blaine,MSU (at large)

Complete MN Recruits to D1 - 29

OntheEdge - Adds in Bold

Bemidji State University*
Sadie Lundquist........F........Cloquet/Esko/Carlton HS
Erika Wheelhouse.....D........Crookston HS

UConn
Casey Knadjek.......D......Hill-Murray School.....Woodbury, MN

Dartmouth College
Lisa Berremen...........D..........Eagan HS
Sally Komarek...........F..........The Blake School

Harvard University
Laura Bellamy............G........Duluth Northern Stars
Margaret Chute..........F..........The Blake School
Hilary Hayssen..........D...........The Blake School
Kelsey Romatoski.......D.........Academy of Holy Angels

Mercyhurst College
Jessica Christofferson........F.......Bemidji HS

Providence University
Nicole Anderson..........F.............Shakopee HS

University of Maine
Kylie Smith......G.........Apple Valley HS/Minnesota Thoroughbreds

University of Minnesota (*denotes confirmed by the school)
Rebecca Kortum......F......Hopkins HS*
Katie Frischmann......D.....Minnesota Thoroughbreds (Rochester Century HS)
Samantha Downey......F........Proctor/Hermantown/Marshall

University of Minnesota Duluth
Gina Dodge......F......Duluth Northern Stars

Minnesota State University*
Lauren Zrust........F.........Blaine HS
Erika Magnusson.......D........Fergus Falls HS

University of North Dakota*
Mary Loken..........F.............Roseau HS *
Megan Gilbert.......F.........Andover HS................Andover, MN
Jessica Harren......F............Hill-Murray School.....Woodbury, MN

St. Cloud State University*
Callie Dahl............F......Stillwater HS
Kylie Lane............F......Roseau HS
Lisa Martinson......D......St Louis Park HS
Alex Nelson..........F......Andover HS
Haylea Schmid......F......St. Francis HS
Ellie Sitek.....F/D......Edina HS
Lauren Charpentier...F...Stillwater Area HS


RPI
Janessa Haller.....D.......Anoka, HS-

Total Minnesota commitments to date = 29

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agree, as a U15 if your daughter makes it to Mankato it is well worth it. My daughter learned alot and had a great time. Met alot of kids from all over the state and maintains some of those freindships. Don't get caught up in the so called politics, if your daughter brings her "A" game, hustles, and has your support good things will happen. Good luck to your daughter. For a parent it can be a learning process and the only way to find things out is to ask questions; my experience with the people running these prorams has been great, they are very helpful and want this to be a great experience for the players.

Homer. I think it is definitely worthwhile going through these try-outs. It gives you and the player a much better idea of where she stands when competing with better players. Youth hockey and HS hockey are not a realistic yardstick when trying to evaluate talent. The best test is going against the best. It can be a real eye-opener.

Regarding politics, rules not followed, etc.; probably never going to go away. But it seems like the majority of selections are correct.

Regarding advice to any player for these try-outs is to be super aggressive and really hustle. These characteristics really stand out in girls hockey. The good evaluators also recognize good hockey sense... moving the puck, good first passes, etc.

One key thing is to make sure your daughter gets nominated; either by association or HS coach when older. Several years ago there was a player who made several Lake Placid NDPC's and the U18 National team who was not even nominated by her HS coach. So, you may have to be pro-active regarding getting your daughter nominated if she wants to give these try-outs a go.

when is the mankato camp and who is running it? When does MN hockey post rosters?

in the zone wrote:when is the mankato camp and who is running it? When does MN hockey post rosters?

Here is the whole U15 process from the MN Hockey website - it was posted previously - the Mankato Camp Phase 5 will be picked after Phase 4 April 25 – 26, 2009 U15 Minnesota Hockey Spring Festival: SchwanSuper Rink - so teams likely will be known end of April or early May.

U15 Program
girls.http://www.minnesotahockey.org/assorted ... rogram.pdf

Phase 1 March 23 – April 11, 2009 District Trials/Team Selection (Cost $70 per candidate)
Each MH District (12) will invite a minimum of 40 candidates to participate in the trials to determine the 20 players to be selected to represent each district at the Advanced 15 Spring Festival. Each candidate will receive 4 hours of ice time and a participant jersey. Total number of players invited 480.

Phase 2 March 23 – April 11, 2009 District Team Selection/Preparation
20 players selected from trials to district team
Each team is allowed two hours of ice time for pre- event practice/preparation.

Phase 3 Completed by April 18, 2009 Seeding Round
Four divisions of three teams each play a round robin preliminary two game schedule. The top two finishers in each division are seeded into an eight-team event with each team playing three games. The third place finishers are placed in a four- team round robin event also playing three games each.

Phase 4 April 25 – 26, 2009 Minnesota Hockey Spring Festival: SchwanSuper Rink (Cost per player $125, includes Phases 2, 3, & 4)
One 8 -team event (1st & 2nd from each preliminary division). Each team plays three games. One 4- team event (3rd place team from each preliminary division). Each team plays three games. Player Evaluation: A team of knowledgeable coaches and scouts will evaluate all participants, consult with team coaches and select the top 102 players for participation in the Minnesota Hockey Summer Advanced 15 Festival. Alternates will also be chosen and placed if there are participant turndowns.

Phase 5 June 13 - 18, 2009 Minnesota Hockey Summer Camp, Mankato
(Cost per player $525) Expense of this festival is shared equally by the participants and is based on actual cost less grants received from Minnesota Hockey (MH) and USA Hockey. 102 selected players participate in a weeklong training camp at Minnesota State University Mankato and All Seasons Arena. Housing and meals are provided. Six teams play a round robin schedule of games, attend dry land training sessions, and classroom sessions daily. The staff at the Summer Festival will be
headed by Jeff Vizenor, Head Coach of the Minnesota State University Mankato Girls Hockey (Not sure if still involved in camp??) and will include prominent college and high school coaches teamed with current and former college hockey players to serve as coaches, role models, and counselors for each team. Player Evaluation: All staff members evaluate each player and develop a watch list on the second day of the festival. Players are continually evaluated and added to the watch list. Nightly meetings are held to discuss player performances. Each team staff plus the Festival coaching staff then ranks their top 20 players. Numerical values are attached to each rank position. Final player rankings are then calculated according to their total numerical values from all evaluators. The players with the highest numbers for each position are selected to represent Minnesota Hockey at the USA Hockey National Select 15 Development Camp. USA Hockey will inform Minnesota Hockey of the number of slots we were awarded for both position and team numbers. We will pass those numbers along when they become available.

Phase 6 USA Hockey National Girls Select (Advanced) 15 Development Camp July 22-28 ESL Sports Centre Rochester, N.Y.

thanks for the information Joe hockey....Does anyone know if former Maverick Coach Vizenor is still going to be running this program or has someone else taken over?

Homer,

You bring up many good questions and concerns with the process. I am close enough to the district 2 process to assure you that what you heard was untrue.

- nobody made the team that didn't attend and skate at tryouts.
- nobody made the team because their father was the president of the association.
- the girl that didn't make the team whose father is a D2 rep was not upset. In fact, the father never expected her to make the team but thought it would be a good measuring stick for her. By the way, did I mention that one of the evaluators was her older brother.
- it's true that one of the evaluators was a 14U coach during the season. If she was the only evaluator, the issue could ring true. Did I mention that another evaluators coached 9 of the girls during the season....and not all 9 made it.

There were 8 different evaluators, including 3 coaches that coached the team last year and had 18 of the 20 players make it to Mankato. It's normal to have bubble players/parents question the process but I can assure you that it was straight forward.

The evaluators spent numerous volunteer hours rating and ranking the girls because they do want the best players to make the team.

I would certainly not let what you heard determine your daughter's experience next year. It's a great opportunity for the girls to measure themselves against each other, make new friends, and have fun playing hockey.

so how does it work that girls can miss some try-outs and still make the team- just curious

rink rat,

To my knowledge, the girls that made the team didn't miss any of the 4 hours/3 days of tryouts. There were two girls who were sick and didn't attend any of the tryout sessions. There may have been someone that arrived late but they were there all 3 days.

The D2 team played their first play-in game last night and beat D1 by a score of 4-1. After the first 10 minutes (2 halves of 25 minutes each), the D2 squad dominated play and outshot D1 by a very large margin.

D2 has some skilled players and overall, it looks like the evaluators picked the right girls. Nobody looked out of place.

no, some were not at all of the try-outs and still made it

sorry- this is the d6 try-outs i'm talking about, not d2

Anyone have the list of the Select 15 district 6 team?

rink rat - How many girls are you talking about?

does anyone have the schedule of games for the 24,25,25 April games yet? we are looking ahead for scheduling hotels.

thanks in advance, and GO MINNESOTA GIRLS

Yet another question.

Do all girls at the current birth year get an invite for the first phase at the district level? Assuming of course that they have enough talent to compete w/ the majority of skaters? I would think that an ankle skater wouldn't be invited. No offense to those types of players.

77 said the girls dad didnt expect her to make the team. I wonder then, did he get her an invite? Do they only invite the top 50 and she landed in that category, but near the bottom. Or is she good but just not top 20 good?
just trying to figure it out, not that situation, but the whole process in general. Heck I don't know if my kid would get an invite unless all 95's are invited.

Homer wrote:Yet another question.

Do all girls at the current birth year get an invite for the first phase at the district level?

Each MH District (12) will invite a minimum of 40 candidates to participate in the trials to determine the 20 players to be selected to represent each district at the Advanced 15 Spring Festival. Total number of players invited 480.

Your daughter would have to be nominated by her coach to be receive one of the 40 invites.

Hi Homer

This is our first time going through the process and so far it has been a really good experience. The tryouts are by position which is where I think it gets a little trickier. In our district they took only 6 D and 12 F so there were D that were awesome that did not make the team. And in my opinion 12 F is quite a few...

But in spite of a surprise here and there, the coaching has been quality for the girls.

I would recommend participating - even if it is just as a barometer in the tryouts to see what one might need to work on. Just be sure to express your interest to your coach. The squeeky wheel...

Great insight everybody. I appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge and experience.

If my daughter is fortunate enough to earn an invite, I would let her participate, if she wants to. I always give her the final say.

I was curious as to how much of it was who you know and not how you play. It seems to be as fair as possible. Of course in youth sports there is always a little bit of the buddy system. Always has been always will be.

Okay, one more question, Why do they list the rosters at the 16 & 17 levels but not at the 15's?

Might be an opportunity for WCCO Good Question Segment......

It may be as simple as a philosophy difference that the MGHCA that runs the U16 and U17 put together a list for Phase II and Phase III and send to be posted by the webmaster and MN Hockey who puts on the U15 never submits a list to the webmaster - not sure who oversees the U15 process - I know Kevin Dicke runs the Select 15 process at Mankato not sure he does the earlier Phases?

The MN Hockey website is a great tool and listing information is one of its best uses.

Does anyone know the results of the play-ins? Which 8 teams made it to the festival?

Homer wrote: Okay, one more question, Why do they list the rosters at the 16 & 17 levels but not at the 15's?

Check the individual district websites. You can get that information from the MH website. Below is the roster for District 6.

Megan Armstrong (D) Edina
Allie Austin (D) Blake
Taylor Feinhage (D) Eastview
Anna Kubes (D) Shakopee
Lizzy Otten (D) Edina
Tess Roehl (D) Eden Prairie
Anne Arnason (F) Edina
Laura Bowman (F) Minnetonka
Lauren Bren (F) Eden Prairie
Kylie Earl (F) Bloomington
Leah Gefroh (F) Kennedy
Courtney Kukowski (F) Eastview
Sara Lind (F) Minnehaha
Kelly McGarvey (F) Edina
Sarah Nielsen (F) Edina
Amy Peterson (F) Minnetonka
Kaitlin Storo (F) Chaska
Karis Volk (F) Burnsville
Delaney McKay (G) Eastview
Clara Westall (G) Holy Angels