People on here are so childish.Guest wrote: ↑Tue Apr 15, 2025 8:38 am*slow clapGuest wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 7:38 pmThis is bang on. Any coach who is tampering at U10/U11/U12 is pathetic and yoh should run. Hockey at this age should be about building kids up and learning to play.Guest wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 2:18 pmDisagree with that opinion. He can make the jump, and maybe even be better for it if he gets good coaching and much more ice at A. Just my opinion and advice, my kid is entering U16AAA next season. Played select till U11, A U12-U13, AA U14 and AAA U15 and now U16.Guest wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:56 pmI hear ya. But money is not really a factor for us --- my concern is with no AA in the area, if he plays A for 3-4 years first, he won't be able to jump to AAA later on. I don't have expectations for him, just want to give him the opportunity to get wherever his talent takes him.Guest wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:53 pmDon't waste your time with AAA, unless your kid is a Superstar AAA at U10 is pointless.Guest wrote: ↑Mon Apr 14, 2025 1:44 pm For those of us who's oldest child is just entering U10 AAA next year (2026-27) - what is the norm for OMHA AAA hockey --- do we try and reach out to the announced coach in Jan/Feb and express our interest/ask to attend ID skates? Do we just attend try-outs and hope for the best? I know I've read most AAA teams are selected before try-outs, just wondering if this rings true for U10 as well since it's the first year?
Will be coming from Klevr and likely son will be 3rd liner material if he makes it. (The home rink is minutes from our door-step though and we play in an area where there AA is a 40 minute drive and the alternative is A).
Go slow, let them love the game. Not saying this is the right way, it worked for my son. What I will say is it allowed him to be a top player at every level before moving up and I think that benefitted him massively, also gave him the competitive edge to "make" that next level. Good luck and enjoy the ride!
Yes, everyone agrees that it would be better for the integrity of the game if tryouts happened with zero previous commitments. But, its never going to happen. Teams are not going to miss out on players by "taking the high road" unless there is no viable competition. So, do coaches in Kingston feel the need to make commitments? Not sure, but I could see them not bothering potentially.
That being said, you might think that it will give your kid a better "more fair shot" at tryouts, but you are just then delaying the inevitable and allowing the teams that still don't care and still provide commitments prior to tryouts an unfair advantage. Maybe its the team you are trying out for that still makes the early commits and they are one of the only ones? Now you have LESS of a shot than you would have in todays world because they can literally create a super team without any competition from other teams.
Do you not think every coach knows either personally or through a web of connections the best players anyways? With social media (not just following player accounts) but coaches being connected with each other, live barn and in the case of 2015 and younger the advent of KSL where EVERYONE plays at the same location once a month - its easy to know the names. Hockey was always a "small world" now its even smaller.
So just stop with the crying, AAA hockey is what it is - there is no requirement to even want to be involved. But to cry about it being "unfair" is silly.