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Would you want to play your 2nd year of Bantams on a pretty strong team that could go far at the end of the season or would you rather tryout for a really weak HS (1 conference win in 2.5 years) ?

We have a real strong bantam group and we stand to do pretty well this year but we have 3 or 4 players that will be trying out for the HS school team. This HS is really weak and not to many current players like the coaching staff very much. What is the lure for these guys to leave and woould any of you? What are your thoughts?

Tryout for the varsity. If the kid makes it, whether the team or decent or not, he will definitely be better prepared for the year after this one. If the kid doesn't make it, pick the chin up and have the best experience possible as a bantam.

I think most kids prefer to go JV because in their minds it is one step closer to the Varsity team. They get to play with the "big boys", get cool school sweats/jackets, ride a bus to games and take one more step closer to adulthood (or away from childhood).

I don't think they fully understand that High School rules are different and that sitting on the bench most of the game because they are on the 4th line really isn't any fun. Logic should tell them that they would get much more ice time on Bantams, but at 14/15 years old logic doesn't always come into play.

The timing on Bantam and JV team tryouts is unfortunate, but on a positive note......if a few kids move up to JV, it opens the door for a few "A/B bubble kids" to have a chance to excel.

My vote is to stay on Bantams.

I think making the move to HS only makes sense if you are one of the top players and you genuinely have a shot to make varsity. When I say top players, I don't mean just at your association level. You should stand out in your district maybe going far in select 15 or something like that. The top players are usually well known in the district because they get respect from other teams and coaches.

I also think size is a huge factor. If you haven't hit maturity yet, wait a while and let your body size start to build. Playing on a good HS team at the AA level is going to take a lot of strength and endurance for a 9th grader and making the jump early makes no sense if you haven't got some size.

Going to a weaker HS team or A level where they are desparate enough to take smaller 9th graders doesn't sound like a very good prospect for most players. Most likely you will end up on the bench for most games because they'll want to develop their sophmores. If you stay bantam and make the top team you'll play more games, get more minutes and develop with players at your level. There is plenty of time to go to the next level...don't rush it.

it doesnt make sense at all to skip 2nd year bantams and a great experiance, to go play jv.. last year our bantam team had 55+ games, our jv probly had like 14. if the kid is good enough to play varsity, then its all up to him. personally id choose bantams, to polish up on some basics and to have a much more fun of a time.

id probably take the weak high school just because if your good enough you will stand out and maybe someone will find you but id pick the bantam team if you honestly thought they have a chance at making it far like to state

Question to the MYH Forum:

Would you lean towards playing High School Hockey if Coach "highly" recommends that the player tryout in November, makes the team and plays 2nd line?

Should he play Bantams as a 2nd year, be a solid contributor, play with his friends, dangle and snipe?

FYI, both teams have very good potential for postseason success.

id personally play high school because youll get better than by the time your friends come up to high school youll be with them and you will probably be on first line

From my point of view, had my son had the opportunity I would have encouraged him to move up. Even if that meant he played less than 20 games in JV. The reason simply being the amount of ice time difference. I am not talking about game time difference, but ice time. The Bantam program of the association he was in had two 1 hour practices a wekk before the games began and then often 1 or no practices during a number of mid-season weeks. The JV on the otherhand, practiced 90 minutes every day for nearly 3 weeks and then averaged 4 days a week for the entirety of the season.

Of course, this reasoning only applies if a) you believe 3 to 1 practice to game time is important for young players and b) your bantam program is limited in its ice time.