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http://www.startribune.com/local/east/235501011.html

"National Sports Center operators have been told Northern Educate is ending programs there on Friday"

"The city of Eagan, meanwhile, was told that Northern Educate also will cease operations there on Friday"

"Northern Educate officials also said that Shawn Black, Northern Educate’s president and co-founder, had stepped down"

barry_mcconnell wrote:http://www.startribune.com/local/east/235501011.html

"National Sports Center operators have been told Northern Educate is ending programs there on Friday"

"The city of Eagan, meanwhile, was told that Northern Educate also will cease operations there on Friday"

"Northern Educate officials also said that Shawn Black, Northern Educate’s president and co-founder, had stepped down"

Consolidation at Vadnais Heights?

Black stepping down has to be a result of the push for financing. Maybe they were successful and he has to cede control to a financier? Or he wasn't successful.

Either way - what happens to Achiever Academy and to those kids in Eagan / Blaine? And 3 kids in Blaine with all that ice time? Three? LOL!!

It’s a matter of sheer mass (reference to 3 Blaine kids) with this deal, not enough families are joining to support the ice time purchased and the educational component. One has to wonder if Breakaway will suffer the same fate in a year or two? Capitalism will surely tell us if this can be sustained over the long haul.

They will certainly make every attempt to get this concept off the ground but to be like a Shattuck you need time and lots of money.

To be like Shattuck is impossible. The reason Shattuck works, in addition to the fact it is a real, sit down, classroom school with a long history and great campus area is because they had the original vision and were able to draw the very best athletes there. Shattuck doesn't make the players great - they arrive great. The problem with Northern Educate and Breakaway is the people will realize that the kids aren't "getting that much better." It's just not as simple as more ice time and training. If you aren't like Shattuck who gets the best kids, you will not create some superhuman hockey players out of good but not great players. I've seen the kids who have been at Northern Educate for a year or two. They really aren't coming out of there "great" players. It's something of a dog-and-pony idea. There will always be the parents who believe that is the answer - "that's all Billy needs is a hockey intensive school and he'll be a D1 player for sure!" Ah, no. BTW, it's the same with other sports, music, art, even education (math in particular). There are great ones. You can get better by training. But you won't get great by training alone.

redtundra wrote:To be like Shattuck is impossible. The reason Shattuck works, in addition to the fact it is a real, sit down, classroom school with a long history and great campus area is because they had the original vision and were able to draw the very best athletes there. Shattuck doesn't make the players great - they arrive great. The problem with Northern Educate and Breakaway is the people will realize that the kids aren't "getting that much better." It's just not as simple as more ice time and training. If you aren't like Shattuck who gets the best kids, you will not create some superhuman hockey players out of good but not great players. I've seen the kids who have been at Northern Educate for a year or two. They really aren't coming out of there "great" players. It's something of a dog-and-pony idea. There will always be the parents who believe that is the answer - "that's all Billy needs is a hockey intensive school and he'll be a D1 player for sure!" Ah, no. BTW, it's the same with other sports, music, art, even education (math in particular). There are great ones. You can get better by training. But you won't get great by training alone.

Spot on

Hermhawkey wrote:

redtundra wrote:To be like Shattuck is impossible. The reason Shattuck works, in addition to the fact it is a real, sit down, classroom school with a long history and great campus area is because they had the original vision and were able to draw the very best athletes there. Shattuck doesn't make the players great - they arrive great. The problem with Northern Educate and Breakaway is the people will realize that the kids aren't "getting that much better." It's just not as simple as more ice time and training. If you aren't like Shattuck who gets the best kids, you will not create some superhuman hockey players out of good but not great players. I've seen the kids who have been at Northern Educate for a year or two. They really aren't coming out of there "great" players. It's something of a dog-and-pony idea. There will always be the parents who believe that is the answer - "that's all Billy needs is a hockey intensive school and he'll be a D1 player for sure!" Ah, no. BTW, it's the same with other sports, music, art, even education (math in particular). There are great ones. You can get better by training. But you won't get great by training alone.

Spot on

I agree completely with this. The problem remains that parents tend to see greatness potential in the things they choose to see it in. They choose early and based on their own preferences. While a child that may not have great hockey or even athletic potential is pushed through the system, often their true greatness is missed. I believe everyone has the potential to be great at something. Life has to be lived to discover what that might be, and it has to be by the person that possesses the potential greatness. Too often today people are seeing false potential and then doing everything in their power to maximize it, only to find out later, that the eggs were in the wrong basket.

Nice point SECoach. There are a lot of people making a living (some may even get rich) off that parent's hockey dream.

Off season can go back to one or two weeks of local summer skating camps. No spring leagues, AAA, fall leagues ...

The same athletes will still likely rise to the top.

Yep (to both comments above). In fact, the spring/summer AAA boom actually helps the kids who would be the top kids anyway far more than the others. It gives the best kids much more ice time and training than we had 20-30 years ago, thereby getting them ready for the higher levels - much of it financed by all the other kids' parents! Lots of vicarious living going on in the hockey world. To SEC's point, the passion and dream BETTER be the kid's - and not the old man's... I would argue the only metro school/facility that could rival Shattuck if they wanted to put the time and money into it is Blake. They have the land, the campus, the national reputation for education, and the money to make it happen (particularly to hire the right coach/director). They choose (wisely) to just be a top educational facility (albeit WAY past my pay grade...)

redtundra wrote:To be like Shattuck is impossible. The reason Shattuck works, in addition to the fact it is a real, sit down, classroom school with a long history and great campus area is because they had the original vision and were able to draw the very best athletes there. Shattuck doesn't make the players great - they arrive great. The problem with Northern Educate and Breakaway is the people will realize that the kids aren't "getting that much better." It's just not as simple as more ice time and training. If you aren't like Shattuck who gets the best kids, you will not create some superhuman hockey players out of good but not great players. I've seen the kids who have been at Northern Educate for a year or two. They really aren't coming out of there "great" players. It's something of a dog-and-pony idea. There will always be the parents who believe that is the answer - "that's all Billy needs is a hockey intensive school and he'll be a D1 player for sure!" Ah, no. BTW, it's the same with other sports, music, art, even education (math in particular). There are great ones. You can get better by training. But you won't get great by training alone.

Please don't forget that Shattuck had a HORRIBLE hockey program until JP came on board and started "building" teams full of extremely talanted players. I can remember in the 80's and 90's when their teams were flat awful.

NE (AA) or even Breakaway are going to need time to draw the top end players. Parents are going to have to feel secure in the classroom as well as the ice before they send their kids. I give the current group of parents some credit for taking a chance on what appears to be something special. It takes some guts to be a pioneer. This is the state of hockey....right? Actually, I am a bit supprised it took this long for this kind of school to pop up. Hopefully things work out and we (MN) can have another option for the kids.

I have been to three boys and two girls HS games and I am impressed by what I see so far. The girls are obviously having a little bit more success right now (as expected) but the boys are very impressive. It is easy to see that they spen a great deal of time on the ice. The entire team appears to be much more "polished" skaters than the teams they are playing. Will that translate into wins....maybe. Will that translate into better prospects after HS....absolutely.

I was at the game at SCSU when AA boys lost 3-2 last week to a very good SC Tech team. The AA boys were dominant all game. They out shot, out chanced, and really outplayed SC T all game but lost on the scoreboard.

I know the thought of another private school in MN is not popular with the "old guard" but I am seeing this type of hockey will be here in a big way in the not to distant future.

Marty wrote:Nice point SECoach. There are a lot of people making a living (some may even get rich) off that parent's hockey dream.

Off season can go back to one or two weeks of local summer skating camps. No spring leagues, AAA, fall leagues ...

The same athletes will still likely rise to the top.

Especially when playing other sports Marty like the California kids are doing. Knock from many scouts today is that the Minny kids playing year round by time they reach junior they are burnt out.

SC Tech is horrible!

northwoods oldtimer wrote:

Marty wrote:Nice point SECoach. There are a lot of people making a living (some may even get rich) off that parent's hockey dream.

Off season can go back to one or two weeks of local summer skating camps. No spring leagues, AAA, fall leagues ...

The same athletes will still likely rise to the top.

Especially when playing other sports Marty like the California kids are doing. Knock from many scouts today is that the Minny kids playing year round by time they reach junior they are burnt out.

I've seen kids get burned out from playing to many sports too, hockey or not.
Football, then hockey, then baseball.............never get a chance to not play something.

Some times, surprise, it's not something they particularly want to do, as much as their parents, for some really strange reason, coveting the "my kid played three sports every year in hs" recognition.

puckbreath wrote:

northwoods oldtimer wrote:

Marty wrote:Nice point SECoach. There are a lot of people making a living (some may even get rich) off that parent's hockey dream.

Off season can go back to one or two weeks of local summer skating camps. No spring leagues, AAA, fall leagues ...

The same athletes will still likely rise to the top.

Especially when playing other sports Marty like the California kids are doing. Knock from many scouts today is that the Minny kids playing year round by time they reach junior they are burnt out.

I've seen kids get burned out from playing to many sports too, hockey or not.
Football, then hockey, then baseball.............never get a chance to not play something.

Some times, surprise, it's not something they particularly want to do, as much as their parents, for some really strange reason, coveting the "my kid played three sports every year in hs" recognition.

northwoods oldtimer wrote:

Marty wrote:Nice point SECoach. There are a lot of people making a living (some may even get rich) off that parent's hockey dream.

Off season can go back to one or two weeks of local summer skating camps. No spring leagues, AAA, fall leagues ...

The same athletes will still likely rise to the top.

Especially when playing other sports Marty like the California kids are doing. Knock from many scouts today is that the Minny kids playing year round by time they reach junior they are burnt out.

College coaches and scouts complaining about kids playing year round is a load of hooey. They may knock them, but they keep picking them.

How many Minnesota kids are "picked" for USHL and/or D1 roster sposts from the Mite class that started 12-13 years before ?

A sixteen year old narrowing down to one or two sports and training year around is much different than an eight year old skating year around.

Off-season hockey is "big business" in Minnesota.

Is yuro still there ???

Marty wrote:How many Minnesota kids are "picked" for USHL and/or D1 roster sposts from the Mite class that started 12-13 years before ?

A sixteen year old narrowing down to one or two sports and training year around is much different than an eight year old skating year around.

Off-season hockey is "big business" in Minnesota.

I don't dispute that. Few mites out there right now will play D1 hockey - completely agree. However, only a small fraction of the kids playing D1 hockey ten years from now, will hang up their skates this Febuary and strap them back on again next October.

jg2112 wrote:

barry_mcconnell wrote:http://www.startribune.com/local/east/235501011.html

"National Sports Center operators have been told Northern Educate is ending programs there on Friday"

"The city of Eagan, meanwhile, was told that Northern Educate also will cease operations there on Friday"

"Northern Educate officials also said that Shawn Black, Northern Educate’s president and co-founder, had stepped down"

Consolidation at Vadnais Heights?

Black stepping down has to be a result of the push for financing. Maybe they were successful and he has to cede control to a financier? Or he wasn't successful.

Either way - what happens to Achiever Academy and to those kids in Eagan / Blaine? And 3 kids in Blaine with all that ice time? Three? LOL!!

Any more information, consolidation to VH?

InThePipes wrote:

jg2112 wrote:

barry_mcconnell wrote:http://www.startribune.com/local/east/235501011.html

"National Sports Center operators have been told Northern Educate is ending programs there on Friday"

"The city of Eagan, meanwhile, was told that Northern Educate also will cease operations there on Friday"

"Northern Educate officials also said that Shawn Black, Northern Educate’s president and co-founder, had stepped down"

Consolidation at Vadnais Heights?

Black stepping down has to be a result of the push for financing. Maybe they were successful and he has to cede control to a financier? Or he wasn't successful.

Either way - what happens to Achiever Academy and to those kids in Eagan / Blaine? And 3 kids in Blaine with all that ice time? Three? LOL!!

Any more information, consolidation to VH?

Here is some more information, it looks like consolidation at VH and Eden Prairie is the plan:

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_ ... ne-schools

Notice the other tidbits in the article: they want to give a $6 million mortgage on the Sports Center, and then secure $7 million in financing from private parties.

They went from 12 kids in Blaine in the fall to 6 right now.

They signed a five year deal with the NSC this past summer, and spent $100,000 on outfitting that room above SR #8 into a classroom.

They are laying off staff.

They let go of the co-founder.

I'll be interested to see how this program continues down the road, especially if they don't secure financing for the VH Sports Center.

Wait, so the article states they had close to 100 kids enrolled at the end of the 2013 school year and now they only have 6??

WHAT happened?

It is not the doom and gloom many are hoping for.... Moved Eagan staff/students to EP. Moved Blaine staff/students to Vadnais. Still approx. 150 daredevils in the program. No other inside scoop as my wife was one of casualties of consolidation.

imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:It is not the doom and gloom many are hoping for.... Moved Eagan staff/students to EP. Moved Blaine staff/students to Vadnais. Still approx. 150 daredevils in the program. No other inside scoop as my wife was one of casualties of consolidation.

Not that you can rely on much the paper typically says, but it states there are only 6 enrolled and you are saying 150?

Sats81 wrote:

imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:It is not the doom and gloom many are hoping for.... Moved Eagan staff/students to EP. Moved Blaine staff/students to Vadnais. Still approx. 150 daredevils in the program. No other inside scoop as my wife was one of casualties of consolidation.

Not that you can rely on much the paper typically says, but it states there are only 6 enrolled and you are saying 150?

The 6 they mentioned are the kids enrolled at Blaine...Not total number. Hope this helps

imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:It is not the doom and gloom many are hoping for.... Moved Eagan staff/students to EP. Moved Blaine staff/students to Vadnais. Still approx. 150 daredevils in the program. No other inside scoop as my wife was one of casualties of consolidation.

Getting fired right before Christmas sounds like doom and gloom. Sorry to hear that, tough for your family. I hope the severance they offered her was in the form of tuition.
But seriously, I was one of the many huge doubters on this board about your program. I surely don't count them out for having to reorganize - much bigger companies do it every day. And even though its hard on the families, girls included, I give them credit for cutting loose the two sites and not watching them falter til years end and bringing down the top two.
Don't think AA will be where my daughter lands, but I hope you and others like you keep trying. Girls hockey needs more opportunities and novel thinking. I thought what they were trying up in Duluth might be the wave of the future. Well.... Enough said. Maybe online/high intensity broad based open enrollment will change things. Interesting to see where these AA kids head to college. Hockey or no.
Here's to a new job in 2014 and AA successfully quieting the doubters (but not the haters!)

ez2bcheesy wrote:

Sats81 wrote:

imlisteningtothefnsong wrote:It is not the doom and gloom many are hoping for.... Moved Eagan staff/students to EP. Moved Blaine staff/students to Vadnais. Still approx. 150 daredevils in the program. No other inside scoop as my wife was one of casualties of consolidation.

Not that you can rely on much the paper typically says, but it states there are only 6 enrolled and you are saying 150?

The 6 they mentioned are the kids enrolled at Blaine...Not total number. Hope this helps

Got it. Thanks. My bad.