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I wanted to post on the other thread....not sure why these things get locked.

This might be my first post in a year or so -- so yeah wanted to chime in. I think my last one was a few years back when I was asking for advice between Minn Made or Association when my son was 5...I see the same old haters are here, so I had to get my password sent to me so I could give an update -- our family decided to take a ride on the "B" train, for his first two years and I'm glad we did -- now we play both Association and Minn Made.

We make the games / practices when we can, and nobody seems to care at the Mite level -- both MM and/or Association. Neither coach has hassled my family for missing practices or the "big game". In fact, both VOLUNTEER coaches are totally awesome. I have met great families in both and total weirdos as well (shocking huh?).

and believe me Minn Made haters out there, I think some of the Associations mom's are even more CRAA CRAA than some of the Minn Made moms I've met thus far. That's just my take. I've also read that only the rich play MINN MADE, child please. Take a look at my bank statement and you know that isn't true. or maybe that is why my bank statements looks like it does! hahahaha

But yeah, this was our first year at the Association and its been great. He loves it b/c he plays with his buddies from school -- It's all cross ice games so working in small spaces helps him with stick handling and working in traffic, etc. The nice way to put it is he contributes. He knows to pass often and no celebrating after goals. What he probably hates the most is they don't keep score. I think his first two years at Minn Made put him heads and shoulders above the rest. Either that or its my DNA, so trust me, it was Minn Made.

..at MM I would say he is a "B" player. He knows to skate hard and when he "contributes", he has my permission to break out the "Archer" and do some celebrations. He was invited to the Machine Program this Spring, but again he is not in the TOP 10% of the league. Obviously it is a ton more competitive for him, full length, running scores, off-sides, etc.

I also never understood why ppl bash the coaches at Minn Made. Ours is awesome. Rolls the lines, has fun, generally likes the kids. I couldn't even tell you what our record is. Maybe I am lucky so far -- I'm sure I will run into a bozo soon enough. But I hope not.

Too many haters on both sides of the aisle.

Do what you like, like what you do. But for us, starting out at MM was the right choice. gave him the skill set that he will take back to the city association and hopefully help them out down the line...

oh yeah, someone spoke to running into former minn made families when we hit the Association games -- couldnt agree more, it is fun for both the kid's and the dads (I imagine).

I think some of the Associations mom's are even more CRAA CRAA than some of the Minn Made moms I've met thus far

Actually not surprising and here is why IMHO. When you go to a place like MN Made let's face it, for the most part you are getting alot of 'like minded" people in one place. When you are like minded you are alot less likely to find those big huge gaps in understanding between eachother. Now I am not saying this is 100% across the board but it's the same with Tier 1. Those who go Tier 1 down in WI and IL tend to find themselves amongst people who are more in line with their thinking and they find alot less "trouble" than they found in their associations where the thinking is all over the map. I am not saying one group is more crazy than the other or that one way is right and the other is wrong, but rather it's usually the large gaps in what you value or you feel about the sport and your expectations for your children in it etc... that lead to the disputes and arguments and some of the craziness you see in association hockey, at the Made or Tier 1 you probably find alot more people who think like you do hence less "craziness" in your eyes. Again not saying one is right and the other is wrong, they are just different, and differences cause tension, likeness causes "less" tension is all, not zero tension but less .... hope that makes sense without offending anyone

B team players and parents are awesome compared to most A team players and parents.

JSR wrote:Those who go Tier 1 down in WI and IL tend to find themselves amongst people who are more in line with their thinking and they find alot less "trouble" than they found in their associations where the thinking is all over the map.

Very good observation.

Jancze doesn't post here anymore, but he said A, AA, AAA was just how many lines you had. Single A teams tended to have a line worth of good players. AA had two. Triple A had three.

So the fight is that the parents of the good players in an A environment are under self-imposed pressure to climb the ladder for better competition in order to get away from the masses with a recreational mindset.

O-townClown wrote:

JSR wrote:Those who go Tier 1 down in WI and IL tend to find themselves amongst people who are more in line with their thinking and they find alot less "trouble" than they found in their associations where the thinking is all over the map.

Very good observation.

Jancze doesn't post here anymore, but he said A, AA, AAA was just how many lines you had. Single A teams tended to have a line worth of good players. AA had two. Triple A had three.

So the fight is that the parents of the good players in an A environment are under self-imposed pressure to climb the ladder for better competition in order to get away from the masses with a recreational mindset.

That post just made complete sense and I hear angels...counseling starts tomorrow.

O-townClown wrote:

JSR wrote:Those who go Tier 1 down in WI and IL tend to find themselves amongst people who are more in line with their thinking and they find alot less "trouble" than they found in their associations where the thinking is all over the map.

Very good observation.

Jancze doesn't post here anymore, but he said A, AA, AAA was just how many lines you had. Single A teams tended to have a line worth of good players. AA had two. Triple A had three.

So the fight is that the parents of the good players in an A environment are under self-imposed pressure to climb the ladder for better competition in order to get away from the masses with a recreational mindset.

That is one potential problem area. There is another problem parents of good players in A associations are sometimes fleeing from though. And that problem is basic jealousy and pettines, basically even if a parent of a good player is comletely grounded and level headed and doesn't even want to chase "better" opportunities sometimes they are literally forced out by some petty parents who overtime grow increasingly jealous over their little "superstar". I've literally heard comments like "can't Johnny ever let anyone else score", or "why don't they just leave and play Tier 1 so my son has a chance" and trust me those are actually some of the nicer thigns said, I've heard much worse that I won't post here. So it's not always self imposed pressure to find better competition and levels of play, sometimes it's just them trying to get away from the jealousy and scrutiny so their kid can just "play the game"

JSR wrote:

O-townClown wrote:

JSR wrote:Those who go Tier 1 down in WI and IL tend to find themselves amongst people who are more in line with their thinking and they find alot less "trouble" than they found in their associations where the thinking is all over the map.

Very good observation.

Jancze doesn't post here anymore, but he said A, AA, AAA was just how many lines you had. Single A teams tended to have a line worth of good players. AA had two. Triple A had three.

So the fight is that the parents of the good players in an A environment are under self-imposed pressure to climb the ladder for better competition in order to get away from the masses with a recreational mindset.

That is one potential problem area. There is another problem parents of good players in A associations are sometimes fleeing from though. And that problem is basic jealousy and pettines, basically even if a parent of a good player is comletely grounded and level headed and doesn't even want to chase "better" opportunities sometimes they are literally forced out by some petty parents who overtime grow increasingly jealous over their little "superstar". I've literally heard comments like "can't Johnny ever let anyone else score", or "why don't they just leave and play Tier 1 so my son has a chance" and trust me those are actually some of the nicer thigns said, I've heard much worse that I won't post here. So it's not always self imposed pressure to find better competition and levels of play, sometimes it's just them trying to get away from the jealousy and scrutiny so their kid can just "play the game"

Agree!

It's amazing the evil that comes out of people.

I had 4 kids who played hockey. two played assoc/highschool.
two played assoc/summer aaa. one of those played assoc/summer aaa/winter aaa. Of all the pages of assoc. vs.aaa
drivel I have seen on here over the years (since 2007) this is the first time I have agreed with a whole page worth of comments. Either people are figuring it out or the sun the moon and the stars just aligned.

Yeah, just when the forum is starting to get on your nerves, a breath of fresh air comes along and gets it right again.

Now, cue the inevitable backbiting that sends us down the tubes.

Now, cue the inevitable backbiting that sends us down the tubes.

I see the Brick thread has started. That should do it.