This is the first year my boy is doing a 1/2 season team. I figured it would be different. Coaches would relax and focus on prepping the kids for HS tryouts. Very disappointing. Turns out to be an extension of youth.

Head coach only coaches so his kid has a spot on the team. His kid, worst player on the ice, by a long shot. Wife the team manager, makes roster and parent cards, assigns captains and wants everyone wearing their team jackets. For a joke of a league 16 game 3 month season?

Assistant coach #1. Not really there much. Knows hockey, but apparently travels a lot mid week. His kid is actually a good player.

Assistant coach #2. Total goon. All about the big hits and non-stop yelling at refs. His kid, well, apple, tree.

Assistant coach #3. Never there. Shows for games and talks about him playing junior hockey as a teenager. His doesn't even like the game and is best friends with the head coach's kid. You do the math on why he is on the team.

Is this normal or are there actual 1/2 season teams where a daddy with an agenda isn't a coach?

Things separate at the point your kid is at. The best players tend to congregate on a handful of high end half season teams and then you have Daddy Coach teams with Youth Hockey carryover influences. Where your kid is destined to be has a lot to do with ability. Also factoring in is how good his HS teams is. If it isn't Super 8 bound, you might want to look at full season, where Daddy Coaches are unheard of.

Different? It's usually worse. U14 half season is the peak of youth hockey insanity. It's all about Dad getting Jr ready for high school tryouts, and all the pretense of player and team development goes out the window. And you're really screwed if your kid is at the same school as Jr and viewed as his competition. Good Luck though.

^^^^ This 100% - especially with the lower tier organizations like Top Gun, Shamrocks....good luck.

Guess we are lucky then , my sons split season team is scheduled for 32 games in ten weeks , two leagues and three high school coaches are the staff , team is decent and competitive , not tops around but not bad .

guess we will be thankful .

My son plays on a team with two door openers and a guy who runs the same "flow" drills every practice. Lucky us. Maybe if my little bender was better he would be on a higher tier team. Then again, maybe he would be better not playing for daddy. Chicken and egg.

waa waa waa need a tissue?, if your kid was any good he would have made the non daddy coached team!! how about this next year since you know so much, get off you fat devildog eating ass and try to coach a team at the midget level. give the guy a break he's out trying to coach a team with your whiny ass on it. simple solution don't take the spot or don't tryout for a daddy coached team( some coaches are actually very good)
And next year have junior play Martian or valley league. they all end up in the beer league anyway. Jackarss

wait for it...wait... You have been a$$ clowned

Devildogs?I used to love those things! Do they still make those?? What I would really love to see is a variety pack of Devildogs, Twinkies and Yoddles! How cool would that be! To the OP. U14 is a tough year all around. Kids scatter between half stocked full season teams and newly formed half season teams, and the coaching tends to get a little thin because of it. (Just a guess, but the angry guy above was probably a hang on assistant for years that ended up the head guy this year because of the split.) But don't worry, by U16 things usually have sorted themselves out. Lots of hopes and dreams have been crushed by then, and those that can hang at the high school/prep levels play some pretty solid fall hockey in preparation for the upcoming high school season...and it really is a good preparation for Mr Jackarss' beer league so he's not all wrong. Think about it though...a Devildogs, Twinkie and Yodels variety pack!! We could all relive our childhoods eating that sugary wholesome goodness instead of driving our freakin kids around New England and beyond and telling everyone how good they are...and even more importantly, telling everyone how good we were back in the day. Devildogs Rule!!

Pretty funny. Boy the previous guy seems like an angry daddy Coach. 99% chance his kid is one of the worst ones on the team. This daddy should save the preaching about dedicating his time because his kid plays on the team for free and probably would not be able to make a club team without daddy coaching. It's really sad has some Daddys can't let it go and make it about the boys when they get older. It's very simple, at u14 and above no parent should be behind the bench.