Moderators: Mitch Hawker, east hockey, karl(east)
breakout wrote:Neutron 14 wrote:Getting this back on track....Around the boards wrote:I hear there is going to be a new in-house mite program run out of Minnesota Made Hockey this winter for some of the area's top mite age kids....I guess they are going to get 100 hours of ice time during the winter for a $1000 per kid.....I think six teams.....
One common denominator amongst all kids is....
They are kids. They like to play games and hate drills. Tell me a 5-6 year old who likes to work on edges. Make drills into games? Mite coaching 101. You think your kids different/special/loves backwards russian circles with the puck? If it isn't a race, kids don't care.
ALL associations within 50 miles of this program,do a great job with kids this age. Your little "Sid" will get more out of skating shinny at the local rink with older kids than 500 hrs skating with peers. I know, CNT knows, and breakout knows that you feel that your kid is different.
Be our guest. To each their own. Snicker.... Been there done that!
Centennial Parent.
You are the modern day Confucius
Don't whine................get involed.ChanMan wrote:Breakout- Ouch! The only thing I care about is the cost of our association compared to others.
This year my son is playing in the MM mite league. Next year we'll be forced to play in our association. Unless MM starts up a Squirt league and my son make's a team.
Otherwise next year it's time to pay twice as much for less instruction.
As for the coaches and board members in our association. I give them all the credit in the world. Anyone who steps up and volunteer's is awesome in my book.
If you want to coach a team. Then coach one team and that's it. Too many coaches trying to coach multiple teams. Not fair to the kids.
Board members- Please listen to what parents have to say. The parents are the people that fund the association year in and year out. If you haven't guessed. Kids are starting to find alternative places to play. It's ok to have upper teams and lower teams. How does it benefit little Billy if he has mite ability but is forced to play mini-mites? Play the kid at the level of his ability.
Most importantly! If your association has rules. Then make sure every kid in your association plays by those rules. Don't bend the rules for some and not others.
The season is coming up fast. Let the kids have fun.
PEACE!
Chan, don't take this the wrong way! It sounds like you know nothing about Hockey and have never played hockey! first of all if you feel like paying $$$$$$ at the mite level constitutes you getting involved, then, i'm sorry there is a new reality show called "Super Hockey Nane". That is not getting involved that is a lame excuse for being a hockey parent.ChanMan wrote:Breakout- Valid point!
I feel I am getting involved. I'm sending my son to MM so he can learn to skate the right way. Please believe me when I tell you. Our association puts the kids through the motions doing drills. In three years I've never seen any coach teach fundamentals. With the exception of offsides.
No personalized training on stick handling, skating or shooting! The kids run through the motions. No one is there to teach. There's no pulling the kids aside who are doing the drills wrong. And explaining what they're doing wrong.
Parents are starting to learn that they have to send their kids to clinics, camps and now MM for a winter league. Our assocaition alone is sending 11 kids. The neighboring city is sending 12 kids.
Quacker tracker- I don't consider my son an elite Mite or advanced mite. My son is a player like thousands that want to learn to play the game the right way and have fun. That's it! I could careless if he's the best skater or not.In my eyes hockey is too expensive to run through the motions of the drills without showing a skater if he's doing something wrong.
Like I said. I'm not here to bash hockey associations. Anyone who volunteer's to help out it awesome in my book. They deserve all the credit in the world.
There's no doubt that some associations are more organized than others. I think our association is going through growing pains. Time will tell. I agree with you. Some of the coaches are new to the game. If the associations are asking for coaches. I'm sure some get parents that want to help out. I think that's great. But it's also up to the association to work with the younger inexperienced coaches. Teach the coaches how to teach.
Moving forward I plan on sending my son to whoever can show him the right way to play hockey.
You should see some associations making some changes in the next few years to adapt. Quick focusing on $$$ and start to develop the kids. Some people have figured out how to do this.
I think we all agree that the kids have to have fun.
Which best fits your childs needs?
Having fun learning hockey the right way?
Or having fun doing it the wrong way?
If I'm paying lots of $$$ then I choose having fun playing hockey the right way.
PEACE!
Puck, just a question what is JV World?PuckTime wrote:The "little or no information" comment wasn't directly to you - just to anyone who's thinking they know what's right for others and put a label on everyone they THINK is handling things wrong or is one of THOSE type parents.Can't Never Tried wrote:OK you will see..
But consider this......... especially if your a first time hockey parent with kid just starting to play.
An old friend of mine once told me that Hockey for parents is like alcoholism...it all starts out very innocent just a fun game once in a while when the kids are say 5-6 yrs old and it's great! but then, your just not getting the same good feeling anymore, you need more, so, now (we Parents) have to get them in some camps, and spring, and summer, and fall and AAA ??? Hockey! Hockey! all the time...it's just great right?
Now think of your kids as your liver
Most kids won't say no when you ask them at this point because they've become used to your need to watch them play, and don't wan't to disappoint you!
As I look back and think of those wise words, he was right, and I made many of those mistakes, so thus my point of my earlier post, let the little kids play in a low pressure atmosphere....some day some of you will look back as I have and repeat these very words.
What is the let down factor to a 6 year old "Elite" mite
Is that kind of disappointment needed at that age? No!
And if the "little or no information" comment was intended for me? all I can do is laugh at that
I am no way new to the hockey world. I grew up in a hockey family with brothers that played and a dad that coached when we were younger. Hockey was a part of my life. I loved it then and I love it now. I have seen the good and the bad, the ups and downs, the kids that work hard and made it and those that didn't. Kids that were burnt out by the time they hit peewees and the kids who couldn't get enough of it.
I have a son that will be in his first year of the varsity/JV world next season, a daughter who will be a 14U, and a mite. I have NEVER pushed them to play - only driven them where they wanted to go, whether it be to the outdoor rink for some shinny hockey, to practice & games for their hometown team, or to the cities for AAA. That's what a supportive parent does.
I see it in some faces of kids who don't want to be there - it also shows in how they play on the ice.
I wouldn't put my kids through that.
They will get my support and a ride to play a game that they love to play - as long as they love to play it.
Their enjoyment of the game is why I still love to watch it and no one can judge that.
I still believe, as I stated on page 1, that the mm mite league is going to serve as a feeder pool for mm's pride academy. However, this would only strip 24 kids away and the rest would return to their local associations for squirt hockey, hopefully realizing the goal of playing on the A team.jancze5 wrote:I just want to ask the same question I did way back on page 1 or 2 of this thread...
"what will be the LONG-term fallout for the local organizations?"
If MM gets 100 kids this year to sign up for this thing...when does it end? do they keep playing there in house until after Squirts? Pee Wees?
If money is the business motive, then the goal would be to keep the program running as long as possible?
The local organizations will really have no clue what's going on because the 1-10 or however many 7 and 8 year olds that don't show up at their tryouts won't be missed because they are unknown..no?
I'm on the fence on this one...the program is a great oppurtunity for the little boys that are instructed in it, but it pretty much goes against the mold of Minnesota hockey..doesn't it?
It appears that MM has some plans for the future. I don't think they're too concerned about the the youth hockey associations. People do realize a good thing when they see it. I know that when I grew up playing, I enjoyed playing hockey. I enjoyed playing with kids that were older/better than me because I had to work harder and play better to keep up. I understood this concept at a young age, as do many children who play hockey at the mite level. I know 8 year olds that can name most players on the NHL rosters. Some kids like hockey and they will tend to excel at it, especially at a younger age (the older kids will catch up and close the gap). Some kids like art and they work hard in that activity. The more they work at it, the better they will get. The simple truth is that some kids are better than other kids at this age. Believe it or not, some kids enjoy playing with kids their own skill level. Why is it that no one questions or opposes splitting the children up into different levels of math classes or reading classes at this age? The schools have made this decision so that similarly skilled kids are with similarly skilled kids in class so that one child isn't reading at a first grade level, while another child in the class is reading at a fourth grade level? Kind of hard to teach both children in the same class. This is acceptable because it is in the name of education. Well, the concept of MM is not much different. MM offers similarly skilled kids to play with kids or similar ability. This does not mean there is anything wrong with the association (just like there is nothing wrong with schools who split the children up in reading classes), nor does it mean that there is anythign wrong with the kids who choose to play in the association instead of MM. No one will dispute that the simple fact is that there are kids who are learning how to skate at the mite level (which is just fine), and that there are kids who are trying to perfect their backwards crossovers. How is a coach supposed to teach one child how to skate forward, while at the same time teaching another kid how to do a backward crossover. This is hard to do. I think the assocations do a great job, just like public schools do a good job of teaching the kids. However, sometimes parents choose to enroll their children in provate schools. Their motives, no doubt, is to provide their child with a better opportunity for academics, sports, activities, or just a better chance to get into college. All of these motives are for the betterment of thier child. Presumably, the parents are making a decision that they believe is best for the child even thought there is a viable, reasonable alternative in the public school system. No one questions the motivation of these parents, and they should not. If a parent believes that MM is a good fit for their own child, then so be it. No one is in a better position to do what is best for theit child then the parent. No doubt some parents will make the decision for the wrong reason. However, the parents need to be given the benefit of the doubt. I have to believe that few parents who enroll their children in the MM program believe that this assures their child of anything in the future. What it does do is put that child in a position to improve if the child wants to improve. If a parent believes that enrolling them in the MM program will make the child better, who are you to claim that it will not, or claim that the parent "knows nothing about hockey," or that the parent is simply "living through their child." These comments are meant to demean the valid opinions made by others, while trying to mask the intolerance you have to other's comments. Kids are separated by skill level in everything they do, whether it be in school, in gym, in art class, or even hockey. There is nothing wrong with this. Kids understand this, and the kids who want to be at a different level figure out they must work harder to get there!! 