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Hi all - just a Mom here who kid wasn't picked to play in the independent, while the powers that be are bringing in other non-program kids to play...
Is this the way it's done? Just want to know....shelling out $$$ to have him in this program. If he's not good enough to make it within the internal team roster, our tough luck, but to have him replaced by someone not part of the program? Isn't this shady dealings?

It's shady, but its the way things work in the AAA scene. People these days take AAA hockey way to seriously. It is meaningless in the long run.

HSHockeyFan08 wrote:It's shady, but its the way things work in the AAA scene. People these days take AAA hockey way to seriously. It is meaningless in the long run.

+1

Not sure what the train reference is all about from mnmade, but thanks for the reply HSHockeyFan; all we should really care about is progress over the summer.

The improvment, is a big thing to me. Just as big the fun, friends [both you and the kids]. I call AAA hockey "summer" hockey. The best thing about summer hockey is you can pick where you want your kids to skate. Not stuck w/same parents/kids from whatever town you live in. How old is your player?

old goalie85 wrote:The improvment, is a big thing to me. Just as big the fun, friends [both you and the kids]. I call AAA hockey "summer" hockey. The best thing about summer hockey is you can pick where you want your kids to skate. Not stuck w/same parents/kids from whatever town you live in. How old is your player?

He's a 98.

Is this his first "AAA" team?

Is this the way it's done? Just want to know

Yes

old goalie85 wrote:Is this his first "AAA" team?

Yes, it's his 3rd year with the program.

99% of the programs do some things that don't seem,or are not right. Hope the kid has fun and meets some new friends. Before you know it it will be time for try-outs. [and all that goes w/that]

Bottom line: my son was good enough to make the team, and good enough for them to take our $1850.00, but not good enough to be able to play with his team in the tournament?! He is not a star, and we are not whiners. But he has played "A" for 3 years in D-10. We tell all our coaches to push, yell, do whatever they think is best to motivate our young hockey player. We realize nobody can make him be the best he can be, he has to do that. But this is supposed to be his TEAM and he is ousted to have others come in and help the program win and look good?! So I just think that this is a big problem in the system. Any suggestions?

Hsymynkywicz wrote:Bottom line: my son was good enough to make the team, and good enough for them to take our $1850.00, but not good enough to be able to play with his team in the tournament?! He is not a star, and we are not whiners. But he has played "A" for 3 years in D-10. We tell all our coaches to push, yell, do whatever they think is best to motivate our young hockey player. We realize nobody can make him be the best he can be, he has to do that. But this is supposed to be his TEAM and he is ousted to have others come in and help the program win and look good?! So I just think that this is a big problem in the system. Any suggestions?

Learn from your mistake and tell anyone who will listen to stay away from this or any program that does this.

You can tell people to stay away from the programs that do this, but if everybody stayed away from the programs that do this, about the only teams that would be up and running would be the MASH and Showcase teams. The ones you think of when you think "AAA" hockey, Machine, Blades, Edge, Icemen, etc, all do this. Right, wrong or otherwise, they do it. If it is a practice that you don't care for, you should start thinking about going the direction of MASH or Showcase. Doesn't even matter now if its an open or invite tournament, as a lot of teams will have their "elite" players skate in open tournaments, either at the same age level or up a level under a different name. You see players from one summer team playing for another during the season all the time. I personally don't like the idea. After the summer is over, if the coach feels he needs to make some changes, go for it. But, bringing in players from another team, during the season, does nothing but p1ss off the players and families that have been there from the start and leads to defections. Sadly, almost all programs are guilty of this.

Deep Breath wrote:You can tell people to stay away from the programs that do this, but if everybody stayed away from the programs that do this, about the only teams that would be up and running would be the MASH and Showcase teams. The ones you think of when you think "AAA" hockey, Machine, Blades, Edge, Icemen, etc, all do this. Right, wrong or otherwise, they do it. If it is a practice that you don't care for, you should start thinking about going the direction of MASH or Showcase. Doesn't even matter now if its an open or invite tournament, as a lot of teams will have their "elite" players skate in open tournaments, either at the same age level or up a level under a different name. You see players from one summer team playing for another during the season all the time. I personally don't like the idea. After the summer is over, if the coach feels he needs to make some changes, go for it. But, bringing in players from another team, during the season, does nothing but p1ss off the players and families that have been there from the start and leads to defections. Sadly, almost all programs are guilty of this.

I guess we have been pretty lucky then. No team that my kids have been on have done this. We have added a player for a tournament, but only if someone was unable to make it. There are several programs that don't bring in ringers for tournaments. They are not hard to find. Spend your money with them.

[quote="Hsymynkywicz"]Bottom line: We tell all our coaches to . Any suggestions?[/quote]

Here maybe your problem.

council member retired wrote:

Hsymynkywicz wrote:Bottom line: We tell all our coaches to . Any suggestions?

Here maybe your problem.

I think you misunderstand? We don't "tell" coaches to do anything, and don't complain even if we feel like it, but we let it be known we don't mind if our son is pushed.....no need to baby.

Thanks for all the posts everyone...it helps to hear from others.

HERE IS MY THOUGHT PROCESS ON THIS...YOU ARE UNHAPPY ABOUT PAYING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY, YOU THINK YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE THERE BECAUSE HE AS ALWAYS PLAYED "A" HOCKEY, AND HE IS ON THE TEAM. MOST AAA TEAMS HAVE OPEN AND INVITE TEAMS, KIDS SHOULD AND USUALLY ARE PLACED AT THE LEVEL OF THEIR PLAYING ABILITY. IF YOUR SON IS NOT THERE YET, TELL HIM TO KEEP WORKING HARD. IT WILL PAY OFF. OBVIOUSLY THE SUMMER PROGRAM HAS WORKED FOR YOUR SON BECAUSE IT HAS CARRIED OVER TO HIM PLAYING ON "A" TEAMS IN THE WINTER. PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE COMPLAINING ONLY HURTS YOUSELF AND YOUR SON, AND NO ONE WANTS TO BE SINGLED OUT, ESPECIALLY YOUR SON. GOOD LUCK...

I am thankful that the Spring/Summer program my son has played for has a policy that says "if you are not at tryouts you are not on the team". Those who are at tryouts and in turn pay the "fee" are the team the coaches develop and take to the tourneys regardless of how they feel the team will fare at the tourney with those players. I understand this type of thing occurs with other programs, just thankful the one we're part of is not one of them.

IN READING JUST A FEW POSTS OF YOURS I BELIEVE YOUR SON MUST BE INVOLVED WITH LEGACY. I HAVE WATCHED A FEW OF THEIR PRACTICES AT DIFFERENT LEVELS AND THOUGHT THEY WERE VERY WELL RAN. I HAVE HEARD AN AWFUL LOT OF GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE PROGRAM. THEY HAVE PRODUCED AND WORKED WITH ALOT OF GOOD PLAYERS. AGAIN, GOOD LUCK TO YOUR SON.

HOCK84GREEN wrote:HERE IS MY THOUGHT PROCESS ON THIS...YOU ARE UNHAPPY ABOUT PAYING LARGE SUMS OF MONEY, YOU THINK YOUR CHILD SHOULD BE THERE BECAUSE HE AS ALWAYS PLAYED "A" HOCKEY, AND HE IS ON THE TEAM. MOST AAA TEAMS HAVE OPEN AND INVITE TEAMS, KIDS SHOULD AND USUALLY ARE PLACED AT THE LEVEL OF THEIR PLAYING ABILITY. IF YOUR SON IS NOT THERE YET, TELL HIM TO KEEP WORKING HARD. IT WILL PAY OFF. OBVIOUSLY THE SUMMER PROGRAM HAS WORKED FOR YOUR SON BECAUSE IT HAS CARRIED OVER TO HIM PLAYING ON "A" TEAMS IN THE WINTER. PUTTING YOURSELF OUT THERE COMPLAINING ONLY HURTS YOUSELF AND YOUR SON, AND NO ONE WANTS TO BE SINGLED OUT, ESPECIALLY YOUR SON. GOOD LUCK...

"Most AAA teams have open and invite teams..." code words for we were making a lot of money before, but now we want more...and by the way you're not allowed to have any expectations for how your children will be treated, taught, or allowed to participate. Sign up, write the check, and let us do what we do, because we're good at it. Just ask us.

I heard the Legacy advisory board is adding another page to the Legacy encyclopedia (which in itself is a faintly legible pirated scan of the minnesota made version) of how to properly coach youth hockey players into early problems with stomach issues and hair loss. It has a list of all the Blades coaches phone #'s.

HOCK84GREEN wrote:IN READING JUST A FEW POSTS OF YOURS I BELIEVE YOUR SON MUST BE INVOLVED WITH LEGACY. I HAVE WATCHED A FEW OF THEIR PRACTICES AT DIFFERENT LEVELS AND THOUGHT THEY WERE VERY WELL RAN. I HAVE HEARD AN AWFUL LOT OF GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE PROGRAM. THEY HAVE PRODUCED AND WORKED WITH ALOT OF GOOD PLAYERS. AGAIN, GOOD LUCK TO YOUR SON.

you are very loud, try gently tapping your caps lock once.

Huh, I wonder what your motivation here is ...

**edited for poor spelling

Hsymynkywicz wrote:Bottom line: my son was good enough to make the team, and good enough for them to take our $1850.00, but not good enough to be able to play with his team in the tournament?! He is not a star, and we are not whiners. But he has played "A" for 3 years in D-10. We tell all our coaches to push, yell, do whatever they think is best to motivate our young hockey player. We realize nobody can make him be the best he can be, he has to do that. But this is supposed to be his TEAM and he is ousted to have others come in and help the program win and look good?! So I just think that this is a big problem in the system. Any suggestions?

Find another team next summer. He should have no problem, since he plays A in the winter. And ask the hard questions up front before you fork out the cash. Happens all the time -- expensive lessons to learn in summer hockey --- been there, done that. In a couple of years you won't have to worry about it..........

sorry about caps, lets try all lower case. i have no motivation here, simply stating the truth. kids should and usually are placed with kids at their level in the summer, whether open or invite. disgruntled parents should find a program to suit their childs needs and not just bash everyone. not every young boy will play at invite, or open, just flat out comes down to talent and maturity at each level. some parents will be happy, others will just lash out and i think to often parents forget that summer hockey is for billy to develop and work hard, and carry that into winter season. as far as programs, i am not saying mn made, icemn, blades, legacy, etc is best. just noted i thought they ran very challenging practice when i watched. our son does play aaa hockey in the summer and i am happy for him. just wish all parents could praise their boys, enjoy the game in itself, and not pass on their own personal pet peeves about everyone. sometimes the best thing said is that is what not said.

I didn't get the sense that she was "bashing everyone". Just a parent who is frustrated at the chunk of change she just put out only to find her son wasn't going to get to play that weekend.

Agree, it's probably not the smartest idea to come on here and complain, when apparently it's so easy to figure out who her son plays for. On the other hand, not too classy to for someone who cautions her about the consequences of doing so...(HOCK84) to call out her son.