I have been on our Youth Hockey Board for 8 years…VP, Pres, Past Pres, Tournaments… etc.
Listening to all of the concerns over the years has been quite a learning experience. I think I finally have it figured out. None of it matters a hill of beans.
The amount of time, money, mental effort and anguish that goes into chasing a snuff can around a duck pond is absolutely unbelievable.
Thoughts?
Who cares....
Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
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iwearmysunglassesatnight
- Posts: 314
- Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 10:07 pm
Re: Who cares....
Be careful, you'll explode the myth! Most are only hanging on by a thread!! Only sane people arrive at these conclusions and this is not a sport for sane people! Quietly move to the far corners of the rink and marvel that you survived. If you're very strong, buy your child a book for Christmas. Full recovery will likely take years, but this is the first step. Congratulations.hocmom wrote:I have been on our Youth Hockey Board for 8 years…VP, Pres, Past Pres, Tournaments… etc.
Listening to all of the concerns over the years has been quite a learning experience. I think I finally have it figured out. None of it matters a hill of beans.
The amount of time, money, mental effort and anguish that goes into chasing a snuff can around a duck pond is absolutely unbelievable.
Thoughts?
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nmnhockeydad
- Posts: 90
- Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 8:12 am
I have three son's in the sport. One had to quit due to health concerns as a PW...this might have added to my mindset. I currently have a son playing PW and one playing as a Jr. in High School.
What really sealed the deal for me was attending a meeting of squirt parents trying to decide the age old A or B problem. I mentioned that after having been through 3 squirts it finally dawned on me that I did not care either way...and that they would come to this same conclusion after it was too late. I may as well have been from the planet zoltor.
Another favorite... Your Squirt son or daughter will attend just one or two away tournaments this year and stay at a nice hotel with a pool. He will be with his buddies, memories for you and him. LET HIM SWIM and eat pizza. This is far more important to THE CHILD than winning that 2nd or 3rd game. I am done watching the kids stare at the pool because they have a game in 8 hours.
The whacked out examples could fill a book...
What really sealed the deal for me was attending a meeting of squirt parents trying to decide the age old A or B problem. I mentioned that after having been through 3 squirts it finally dawned on me that I did not care either way...and that they would come to this same conclusion after it was too late. I may as well have been from the planet zoltor.
Another favorite... Your Squirt son or daughter will attend just one or two away tournaments this year and stay at a nice hotel with a pool. He will be with his buddies, memories for you and him. LET HIM SWIM and eat pizza. This is far more important to THE CHILD than winning that 2nd or 3rd game. I am done watching the kids stare at the pool because they have a game in 8 hours.
The whacked out examples could fill a book...
who cares?
Since sarcasm rulees, here's one. nmnhockeydad, my advise to you is to not worry about where you move, just hold off on that birthing until AFTER the New Year. This way your child will be one of the oldest on his off season AAA team! Come on, that shouldn't be so hard! Very true about the pool and pizza, nice insight.
Re: who cares?
jackstraw wrote:Since sarcasm rulees, here's one. nmnhockeydad, my advise to you is to not worry about where you move, just hold off on that birthing until AFTER the New Year. This way your child will be one of the oldest on his off season AAA team! Come on, that shouldn't be so hard! Very true about the pool and pizza, nice insight.
Excellent advise.
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itsmorefun
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:58 pm
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and risk the ridicule I'll get from some of the self rightous people. The people who think there is something wrong with parents who want their kids to do well and seek out opportunities to make that happen. They forget that watching GOOD hockey is FUN!
It matters to me! I like to watch good hockey. I like my son to play hard, no matter what he does, whether it's hockey or kickball. My job as a parent is to teach my son that you have to work hard for something that you want in life - even as a kid. Letting my kid go "swimming" on a tournament weekend doesn't teach him that he has to make some sacrifices if he want to come out ahead. He can "swim" with his friends in the summer... He can stay up late next weekend when he has off... he can hang out with his friends on Wednesday, hockey practice (or baseball or dance or swimming or chess) is on Tuesday. To me this teaches my son to focus on something and care about doing his best.
Those of you whose kids just play for fun... good for you. But for some, Hockey is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to just let them screw around. He can do that for free doing something else! If I'm paying, he's gonna work hard.
Of course, if he didn't enjoy playing this game, he wouldn't play. What's so wrong with always working towards being your best no matter what you do! And truly enjoying it for as long as possible until it's over. Lots of great memories and great friends along the way.
It matters to me! I like to watch good hockey. I like my son to play hard, no matter what he does, whether it's hockey or kickball. My job as a parent is to teach my son that you have to work hard for something that you want in life - even as a kid. Letting my kid go "swimming" on a tournament weekend doesn't teach him that he has to make some sacrifices if he want to come out ahead. He can "swim" with his friends in the summer... He can stay up late next weekend when he has off... he can hang out with his friends on Wednesday, hockey practice (or baseball or dance or swimming or chess) is on Tuesday. To me this teaches my son to focus on something and care about doing his best.
Those of you whose kids just play for fun... good for you. But for some, Hockey is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to just let them screw around. He can do that for free doing something else! If I'm paying, he's gonna work hard.
Of course, if he didn't enjoy playing this game, he wouldn't play. What's so wrong with always working towards being your best no matter what you do! And truly enjoying it for as long as possible until it's over. Lots of great memories and great friends along the way.
Re: Who cares....
I wouldn`t take your job if my life depended on it,after all i`ve seen,heard over the past 9 yrs,you people are one of a kind,hats off...kudos too youhocmom wrote:I have been on our Youth Hockey Board for 8 years…VP, Pres, Past Pres, Tournaments… etc.
Listening to all of the concerns over the years has been quite a learning experience. I think I finally have it figured out. None of it matters a hill of beans.
The amount of time, money, mental effort and anguish that goes into chasing a snuff can around a duck pond is absolutely unbelievable.
Thoughts?
I have to agree with Itsmorefun on this one. When we're at an out-of-town tournament that is costing our family A LOT of money, the kids better go to bed at a decent time, use their downtime wisely, and skate their butts off. They want to play this sport, it's very expensive, and their part of the bargain is to work hard. There is always house league for those that don't want to work hard. We weren't a hockey family until our kid insisted on playing. He, therefore, has the rresponsibility to put his best foot forward, if not just for us, for the other families who are also paying A LOT of money.
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muckandgrind
- Posts: 1566
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:48 am
100% totally agree with you. Good take.itsmorefun wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and risk the ridicule I'll get from some of the self rightous people. The people who think there is something wrong with parents who want their kids to do well and seek out opportunities to make that happen. They forget that watching GOOD hockey is FUN!
It matters to me! I like to watch good hockey. I like my son to play hard, no matter what he does, whether it's hockey or kickball. My job as a parent is to teach my son that you have to work hard for something that you want in life - even as a kid. Letting my kid go "swimming" on a tournament weekend doesn't teach him that he has to make some sacrifices if he want to come out ahead. He can "swim" with his friends in the summer... He can stay up late next weekend when he has off... he can hang out with his friends on Wednesday, hockey practice (or baseball or dance or swimming or chess) is on Tuesday. To me this teaches my son to focus on something and care about doing his best.
Those of you whose kids just play for fun... good for you. But for some, Hockey is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to just let them screw around. He can do that for free doing something else! If I'm paying, he's gonna work hard.
Of course, if he didn't enjoy playing this game, he wouldn't play. What's so wrong with always working towards being your best no matter what you do! And truly enjoying it for as long as possible until it's over. Lots of great memories and great friends along the way.
That's not to say that kids shouldn't be able to have fun at the tourney's...of course they can. But they also need to make sure they are well rested to play their games...which is the reason they are there in the first place.
A nine or ten year old kid bargained for this.guilford wrote:I have to agree with Itsmorefun on this one. When we're at an out-of-town tournament that is costing our family A LOT of money, the kids better go to bed at a decent time, use their downtime wisely, and skate their butts off. They want to play this sport, it's very expensive, and their part of the bargain is to work hard. There is always house league for those that don't want to work hard. We weren't a hockey family until our kid insisted on playing. He, therefore, has the rresponsibility to put his best foot forward, if not just for us, for the other families who are also paying A LOT of money.
You pay for a motel with a pool, bring a little kid there with his friends and you can't find 30 minutes for the boys to splash in the pool.
If your kid is playing squirt hockey its becasue he has talent, has sworked hard, has got a little lucky, and has matured a little before some of his friends.
Don't rob your kid of being a kid because you bargained for traveling hockey.
No squirt player has been given a D1 scholarship. Many MANY squirt players don't play college or varsity HS hockey.
As a parent you need to remember he is not on the fast track. NOt even a track, just playing a game he likes.
I have been asked a hundred if not a thousand times, what time in bed, can we be in the pool, by parents looking to me for answers as what is the best thing to do to win.
He (sometimes she) has prents, figure it out. You should know your kid.
I tell the players, do the right thing, don't wear yourself out, come ready to do your best to help the team win.
Being in the pool for 3 hours prior to the game is wrong, being in the pool for 20 minutes, getting something good to eat, getting a bit of down time and come with your game face on (10 year olds can have it on and off pretty quick) when they don't then the COACH (not the parent) need to get them focused. At the rinki field or whatever. If htat does not happen then the parents should not throw 'YOUR END OF THE BARGAIN' in their face. You may be footing the bill, but it is their game, their time.
And I am not ridiculing, just trying to keep a perspective that puts the kid first.
Take it from a really old guy, that has gone around the block in many different vehicles.
itsmorefun wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and risk the ridicule I'll get from some of the self rightous people. The people who think there is something wrong with parents who want their kids to do well and seek out opportunities to make that happen. They forget that watching GOOD hockey is FUN!
"Self rightous" has more to do with perspective than anything else. - Could be maybe YOU sound a little self righteous. Ya think? And I don't see where anyone has said they don't want their kids to "do well" or that that watching good hockey isn't fun. Where are you getting this stuff?
All a few of us are saying is: There is a line somewhere, (has to be) and if a person steps back after some years of experience, they often see things a little more clearly. Just PERHAPS some of these "life lessons" are force-fed a little early. Just MAYBE we lose sight of what the weekend should really be all about sometimes. OCASSIONALLY it's the parents that "want it" a little more than the kids do. Just listen to some of the parents screaming at mite and squirt games. There's just something a bit out of whack. Watch for it. It's not about the money, it's about kids.
Lots of good things about hockey and the experience, just so many things that detract also. It's sad and tiring at times, that's all.
Don't get me wrong...I like to win just as much as the next person...I think we should keep score. I used to be an equal playing time person, now I am an equal play for equal effort person. I want very strict discipline focused on respect for coach, players, parents...etc.
That said, I still realize that this game game is 100% inconsequential. I don't buy the character building part. The only real growth I have seen is hair and attitude. Funny that you can pick the respectful kids based on family lives, not team involvement.
I also don't buy the money part. I payed to have a good experience, not win hockey games. Reminds me of a trip I was on years ago. It was a package deal, meals included. One fellow was sick. He quit vomiting just long enough to force his breakfast down. He said that he paid for it, he was darn well going to eat it. Not me...I paid to enjoy a trip, not to eat 3 meals a day. If eating makes me miserable I am not going to do it. Same with hockey, I am not going to pay a bunch of bucks and then grit my teeth grind away... lighten up. My kids work hard in school, I work my tail off all week. Hockey is supposed to be the fun part.
None of this means I accept lazy play, I don't, I expect my kids to work hard and do their best. BUT...it does mean that if a trip to Grandmas at Christmas comes at the same time as the tournament...well...we might go to grandmas. I have talked to mini mite parents that put off a trip at Thanksgiving because Johnny had practice...
That said, I still realize that this game game is 100% inconsequential. I don't buy the character building part. The only real growth I have seen is hair and attitude. Funny that you can pick the respectful kids based on family lives, not team involvement.
I also don't buy the money part. I payed to have a good experience, not win hockey games. Reminds me of a trip I was on years ago. It was a package deal, meals included. One fellow was sick. He quit vomiting just long enough to force his breakfast down. He said that he paid for it, he was darn well going to eat it. Not me...I paid to enjoy a trip, not to eat 3 meals a day. If eating makes me miserable I am not going to do it. Same with hockey, I am not going to pay a bunch of bucks and then grit my teeth grind away... lighten up. My kids work hard in school, I work my tail off all week. Hockey is supposed to be the fun part.
None of this means I accept lazy play, I don't, I expect my kids to work hard and do their best. BUT...it does mean that if a trip to Grandmas at Christmas comes at the same time as the tournament...well...we might go to grandmas. I have talked to mini mite parents that put off a trip at Thanksgiving because Johnny had practice...
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itsmorefun
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:58 pm
Just PERHAPS some of these "life lessons" are [b]NOT[/b] force-fed a little early,but instead are force-fed when I think they should be . Just MAYBE we [b]DON'T[/b] lose sight of what the weekend should really be all about sometimes - maybe the weekend, for us, is about working hard and playing hard. OCASSIONALLY it's the parents that "want it" a little more than the kids do - [b]but OCASSIONALLY [/b]it's the kids who want it more than the parents do.
I agree that there are whacked out parents at games too... and I wonder what life is like for them. But I also know that there are perfectly "normal" parents, who do not get whacked out at games, who just prefer to watch good hockey and want to continue to prepare their kids to do their best.
I agree that there are whacked out parents at games too... and I wonder what life is like for them. But I also know that there are perfectly "normal" parents, who do not get whacked out at games, who just prefer to watch good hockey and want to continue to prepare their kids to do their best.
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itsmorefun
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:58 pm
Elliott,
I'm not ridiculing either... I have a serious question...
You say that you ask players to "do the right thing , don't wear yourself out, come ready to do your best to help the team win". Do all of your players follow those rules? Do they even know what "putting their game face on" means? After all, they are only squirts...right? (I would imagine your better players do and your struggling players have no clue)
You say that the coach (instead of a parent) should be the one teaching them that... What if we don't have a coach that teaches them how to "focus before a game" or the importance of "getting to bed on time". What if the coach doesn't take on that responsibility? Many parents, coaches and "others" would say, "It doesn't matter, they're only squirts - let them swim, let them have fun with their friends, let them stay up late playing Playstation." When is it ok for me to help him understand the importance of focus if we don't have a coach who thinks it's time?
I think it comes down to the definition of "fun". Fun to me and Fun to my son, and Fun to some others that have kids in hockey, is focusing on the game, playing hard and trying to come out with a win.
I'm not ridiculing either... I have a serious question...
You say that you ask players to "do the right thing , don't wear yourself out, come ready to do your best to help the team win". Do all of your players follow those rules? Do they even know what "putting their game face on" means? After all, they are only squirts...right? (I would imagine your better players do and your struggling players have no clue)
You say that the coach (instead of a parent) should be the one teaching them that... What if we don't have a coach that teaches them how to "focus before a game" or the importance of "getting to bed on time". What if the coach doesn't take on that responsibility? Many parents, coaches and "others" would say, "It doesn't matter, they're only squirts - let them swim, let them have fun with their friends, let them stay up late playing Playstation." When is it ok for me to help him understand the importance of focus if we don't have a coach who thinks it's time?
I think it comes down to the definition of "fun". Fun to me and Fun to my son, and Fun to some others that have kids in hockey, is focusing on the game, playing hard and trying to come out with a win.
No one here is condemning all hockey parents. We're part of the group! Just some other perspectives and not necessarily buying into everything that's being sold. Elliott and hocmom are laying it out quite well above. It's a fact, what hocmom says about respectfull kids (and "hard working" kids for that matter), there is no corollation to involvement with hockey. Good kids come from good families.itsmorefun wrote:I agree that there are whacked out parents at games too... and I wonder what life is like for them. But I also know that there are perfectly "normal" parents, who do not get whacked out at games, who just prefer to watch good hockey and want to continue to prepare their kids to do their best.
Please click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhE1qXOeD7g. I love this...
Commitment is my favorite. We set a much higher standard for our kids than we are willing to set for ourselves. At the beginning of each season I go down and watch the mites peering through the glass, tears streaming, wanting to get off the ice while mom or dad wags a finger at them telling them that if they signed up they have to finish. "You decided to sign up Jordan...now you have to do it" I always wonder if these folks have any exercise equipment collecting dust in their basements? Our PWs practice darn near every night, my kids love it, never miss...But... what if your yoga teacher made you do board hops if you missed Tuesday night?
It is easy to put your dog on a diet.
Hotels...my favorite. Johnny... you can't swim... instead you run like indians up and down the halls till all hours... play Xbox keeping the neighbors awake until two. I will do my part in the bar. How about this idea... lets us take a nice dip together, your dad and you...all the while trying not to do a cannon ball on the toddler...then we will get a bite to eat and the the family will be in bed by 10:30...sober...
Commitment is my favorite. We set a much higher standard for our kids than we are willing to set for ourselves. At the beginning of each season I go down and watch the mites peering through the glass, tears streaming, wanting to get off the ice while mom or dad wags a finger at them telling them that if they signed up they have to finish. "You decided to sign up Jordan...now you have to do it" I always wonder if these folks have any exercise equipment collecting dust in their basements? Our PWs practice darn near every night, my kids love it, never miss...But... what if your yoga teacher made you do board hops if you missed Tuesday night?
It is easy to put your dog on a diet.
Hotels...my favorite. Johnny... you can't swim... instead you run like indians up and down the halls till all hours... play Xbox keeping the neighbors awake until two. I will do my part in the bar. How about this idea... lets us take a nice dip together, your dad and you...all the while trying not to do a cannon ball on the toddler...then we will get a bite to eat and the the family will be in bed by 10:30...sober...
That's a great series of ads. 
The other sentiment I love is that "fun is for house players". Besides the absurdity on the face of it, I've often noticed that it's at the B & C levels where the mania is most extreme - like if we don't pound on 'em theyll never be worthwhile human beings.
Again - Hockey can be a great thing in many ways, but too much adult ego has been infused. - many need to step back and look at it all again. Childhood is short.
The other sentiment I love is that "fun is for house players". Besides the absurdity on the face of it, I've often noticed that it's at the B & C levels where the mania is most extreme - like if we don't pound on 'em theyll never be worthwhile human beings.
Again - Hockey can be a great thing in many ways, but too much adult ego has been infused. - many need to step back and look at it all again. Childhood is short.
I think those of us who have the luxury of older children, can now look back and see the mistakes we might have made when the kids were littler. Just trying to help out a little, if I had it to do over again my kids would always swim a little. In fact, as the tournament scheduler for our teams, i tried to put each team in a waterpark hotel, where it was possible. Truly, especially the older kids, that running up and down the hallways is irritating and how can it not be just as tiring as hitting a waterslide? I do believe, it is in moderation and the kids should have decent meals and be in bed at a decent hour. They have a commitment to their teammates more than to the parent who pays the ice bills.
I have given my oldest the lecture about driving him to Edina at 7am for a spring game, when he could have played supermites at the local arena with his buddies. Yes, there is a commitment to not be lazy. To learn what a game face is, but I think some of us are saying, those things are not precluded by a little fun.
Believe me, the kids will not remember if they even won a tournament but they'll remember that the crane game was an easy one and gave out lots of prizes at certain hotels.
I have given my oldest the lecture about driving him to Edina at 7am for a spring game, when he could have played supermites at the local arena with his buddies. Yes, there is a commitment to not be lazy. To learn what a game face is, but I think some of us are saying, those things are not precluded by a little fun.
Believe me, the kids will not remember if they even won a tournament but they'll remember that the crane game was an easy one and gave out lots of prizes at certain hotels.
When they hit the older levels you lose control of them. You can't motivate them, they have to motivate themselves. It is my PeeWee who has given up drinking pop. It is the same kid who asks for vegetables and turns down Burger King. He even turned down subway this weekend. He wants real food, at home. He told me he "needs food to grow on" not junk. Heck, I said that for years, maybe it finally sunk in. If we go to a tournament he now says what time he needs to be in bed and decides to get out of the pool (none of his coaches have ever said no to swimming in moderation). He turns down the ten o'clock pizza run, in favor of veggies from the fridge. Mainly it has all come about due to..........drum roll please...........
a girl. A girl who doesn't drink pop, eats healthy, and is an athlete (and she's not his mother).
I don't know, it's so bad and maybe i am as burnt out as hocmom sounded in her first post of the thread, but I don't even want to spend time with my youngest child's mite parents. I can't even believe I will attend out of town tournaments with some of these people. I know what it will be like and I don't even want to sit in the stands for games. I can't stand mite jamborees because of the screaming. I know I did it with my first one, but than a wise hockeymom helped me. I'll do my part and try to steer some of them in a more positive direction with the wisdom gained from a decade spent volunteering and hauling kids to rinks all over this state, but in the end there will be just enough who don't care what they are doing to others' experiences who will ruin it for everyone. Who will cause volunteers to sit in their vehicles at the rink because they know what they'll hear in the arena. You wrote a check, that doesn't give you permission to make everyone miserable.
a girl. A girl who doesn't drink pop, eats healthy, and is an athlete (and she's not his mother).
I don't know, it's so bad and maybe i am as burnt out as hocmom sounded in her first post of the thread, but I don't even want to spend time with my youngest child's mite parents. I can't even believe I will attend out of town tournaments with some of these people. I know what it will be like and I don't even want to sit in the stands for games. I can't stand mite jamborees because of the screaming. I know I did it with my first one, but than a wise hockeymom helped me. I'll do my part and try to steer some of them in a more positive direction with the wisdom gained from a decade spent volunteering and hauling kids to rinks all over this state, but in the end there will be just enough who don't care what they are doing to others' experiences who will ruin it for everyone. Who will cause volunteers to sit in their vehicles at the rink because they know what they'll hear in the arena. You wrote a check, that doesn't give you permission to make everyone miserable.
I coach 12 year olds and HS kids.itsmorefun wrote:Elliott,
I'm not ridiculing either... I have a serious question...
You say that you ask players to "do the right thing , don't wear yourself out, come ready to do your best to help the team win". Do all of your players follow those rules? Do they even know what "putting their game face on" means? After all, they are only squirts...right? (I would imagine your better players do and your struggling players have no clue)
You say that the coach (instead of a parent) should be the one teaching them that... What if we don't have a coach that teaches them how to "focus before a game" or the importance of "getting to bed on time". What if the coach doesn't take on that responsibility? Many parents, coaches and "others" would say, "It doesn't matter, they're only squirts - let them swim, let them have fun with their friends, let them stay up late playing Playstation." When is it ok for me to help him understand the importance of focus if we don't have a coach who thinks it's time?
I think it comes down to the definition of "fun". Fun to me and Fun to my son, and Fun to some others that have kids in hockey, is focusing on the game, playing hard and trying to come out with a win.
but yes the coach should teach those things, if you do not have acoach that teaches more than coaches at teh squirt level, you have the wrong coach or a beginner. If not teaching than have a talk with him/her. If they like coaching they are willing to learn. But most parents do not have a realistic view of what is happening with their kid and sports.
Being a parent is a difficult tight rope walk.
Back later.
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Educator29
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:46 am
This is an very interesting Post. Problem with most associations is the people that really have the experience and hockey knowledge get burned out due to the inefficencies of the Local hockey board and parents. A hockey board needs to be run like a business, if you do not have the correct people in the right departments you are operating inefficient and that leads to a failing or Non profitable business. Associations also need to "Plan" Stategic Planning and set some short and long range goals and structures. I see to many assications change yearly due to the personal adgenda's of the newest board members.
There are so many models out there for assoications to follow if they go back to there original plan of developing Kids in the Game of Hockey. The Problem is to many do there observing with Blinder on. Ignoring conflicts does not make problem go away. MN and USA Hockey has done a wonderful job with there HEP program, however most associations have nothing to do with it because they continue to just spin there wheels and go No where. Put your hockey minds togather, come up with a plan (5 year Plan) and only make modifications to it. continue to monitor it, tweek it if need be. But changing things all the time gives you no way to measure your successes or failures. it just causes Blame, and turns people against each other. Just like a business, you need your key people in the right positions. Maybe hard to do, but remove the "Problem People", the ones who are there for only there personal adgend's or are there only for One specific reason. Find a president that has some backbone that knows right from wrong when it comes to developing the kids and follow the organizations policies and procedures.
Measure your successes in your own terms and your own conditions. You cannot compare a local hardware store with a Menards. so Don't compare and try to turn your small association into a Large One. Remember - Kids that have fun doing something want more of it, and thats a good thing. Parents need to work "Togather" for a common cause and remember its a Kids game that is not a game if the Smile is not there.
There are so many models out there for assoications to follow if they go back to there original plan of developing Kids in the Game of Hockey. The Problem is to many do there observing with Blinder on. Ignoring conflicts does not make problem go away. MN and USA Hockey has done a wonderful job with there HEP program, however most associations have nothing to do with it because they continue to just spin there wheels and go No where. Put your hockey minds togather, come up with a plan (5 year Plan) and only make modifications to it. continue to monitor it, tweek it if need be. But changing things all the time gives you no way to measure your successes or failures. it just causes Blame, and turns people against each other. Just like a business, you need your key people in the right positions. Maybe hard to do, but remove the "Problem People", the ones who are there for only there personal adgend's or are there only for One specific reason. Find a president that has some backbone that knows right from wrong when it comes to developing the kids and follow the organizations policies and procedures.
Measure your successes in your own terms and your own conditions. You cannot compare a local hardware store with a Menards. so Don't compare and try to turn your small association into a Large One. Remember - Kids that have fun doing something want more of it, and thats a good thing. Parents need to work "Togather" for a common cause and remember its a Kids game that is not a game if the Smile is not there.