OK...it's your last year of midget hockey and you really want to continue on. Here are several avenues of opportunity that one could follow.
College Hockey Opportunities
Division III (35 programs): no sports scholarships, can find ways to help players monetarily ($5-7K/yr); average age 1st year players: 20-21 yr.; What look for: a few yrs. in Jr. B program; good academic record; good character; good player.
Club Hockey (200+ programs): cost $200-500/yr; 20 game schedule; Division 1,2,3; carries 25 players; average age of 1st year players: 18 -19 yr.
Junior Hockey Opportunities
Next step: College Hockey
Leagues:
USHL 12 teams; Div I colleges pull from here
NAHL 12 teams; North American
AWHL 9 teams; North Western States
Hockey South 5 teams; basically non-existent; financially unstable
Junior B: $4,000/yr max.; age 16-21; supply pants, jerseys, socks, and maybe gloves; host family $250/month.
Next step: Junior A, some to Div III or Club hockey
Leagues:
WSHL 7 teams; in trouble avoid this one
CSHL 11 teams; Central Coast, Ohio area; good one
MJHL 8 teams; Minn. Jr.; good one
EJHL 13 teams; Empire Jr.; East Coast, prep schools;
IJHL 8 teams; International; East Coast, Syracuse area; OK
NORPAC 6 teams; Northwest, Oregon & Washington; good one
EJBHL 10 teams; Metro area, Philly, Detroit area
Junior Team Commitment
If in high school, will not trade player until after semester is over. Players can be traded without parent consent. During the season, players cannot tryout for other teams.
Some teams have affiliates and they have first refusal of players. Check to see what the team commitments are, they can be very restrictive. If you quit a team you might not be able to tryout for another team if they don't release you to do so.
Youth Hockey Programs
High School: next step for good high school programs some go to Jr. A, most to Jr. B
A & AA Bantam or Midgets: up to $10K/yr; next step high school or Jr. B
AAA Bantam or Midgets: up to $10K/yr; next step Jr. B or Jr. A
How to market your player:
Best: Your current coach goes to bat for you and promotes you to programs. Personal letter from the player with player resume of statistics, awards, and academic record.
What to consider when looking at Jr. Programs:
Is your child mature enough to live away from home?
Coaches will say anything to get a player, so ask for lots of references and talk to them; players and parents. Ask their opinion of coach and program.
Check the longevity of coach and the program; know the coach's history.
Check stability of program and league.
What is competition in the league look at alumni list for the league.
Is age of players on team young and the program concentrates on moving players along or is the team mostly older players and the coach more interested in winning than developing players.
What is coach's focus and what do they do to promote players, develop them and move them along.
What contacts does the team have to assist players in moving along.
Ice time: How often does the team practice? Practices will account for 80% of improvement in the players skill.
When are practices? Early AM; late at night these make it difficult for high school students.
Season is typically 7-8 months.
Housing situation: Avoid programs that put players into apartments or player houses with minimum supervision. Best situation is with a family involved with hockey and the program participating in. Speak up if not happy with the living arrangements. DO NOT be shy.
If the program or the prospective billet family avoids questions, then be suspicious.
Does program help players financially; part-time work opportunities?
Does team require full-time school, full-time work or combo? They should. You don't want your player just doing hockey, too much extra time to get into trouble.
Type of league/program: pushes players on to high-level opportunities.
Where have players moved?
Get list of last 3 years of where players are now.
Look for track record of moving kids up and not keeping them in program when should move on.
Does team/program help with finding opportunities to improve?
Facilities: Is there an opportunity for off-ice training/weights, work out facility for players.
What coaches look for in players:
Look at off-ice person: grades, character, behavior as the coach does not want to be a babysitter. Good grades and character will help in getting $ in college programs (hard worker, team player, coachability). Good grades are extremely important and the most helpful thing in getting into a college program.