My kid played local Tier1 Elite, now for NAHL. He trying to decide on what Hockey East team to play for...Don’t let facts get in the way of the discussion though

Totally insane discussion. Not even close. High school hockey is dead.

No comparison. A reputable fs program all the way. The only better option is very high end Prep (isl). It’s a shame watching the one or two good players on town high school teams suffer through their seasons when they could be playing with much better coaches and players

This is right on -

"If the goal is to play serious D-3 or D-I college hockey then D1 Town HS is fine for freshmen & sophomore players but after that 90% of the kids are wasting their time. No one cares anymore and few scouts care because the level of play has gotten to be so weak. Coaching is usually a bit 'dated' and the systems the kids play in their select teams often leave the high school coaches heads spinning."

Be realistic and honest with who is chasing who / what. A good 02? is he being recruited by a prep or a good U16 team or are you hoping he makes it. If you're hoping things work out then you're chasing and probably spending time and $$ that in a few years you'll back on and say WTF was I thinking. Freshman and Sophmore years in a GOOD D1 HS will give you time and enough exposure to make a better decision, they will find the good ones in HS and ask you to move. If a player can light it up in HS as frosh or sophomore you're in wrong place. IF he's just another player and doesn't stand out then you have your answer. Again, be honest and ask your kid what he wants.

U16/U18 Hockey is a Joke Every org has a team. All you hear is HS hockey is dead. The only people saying this are people running FS teams They will tell you anything to get your money. Your kid should play Prep if he can make it otherwise HS.

Keep your money...

Play High School! Have your kid enjoy the experience with his friends. College is a pipe dream for almost everyone. Only 140 college hockey programs in the country. If they all have 5 openings (which they don't) you need to be a top 700 player in the world!

Stop eating the non-sense the U18 and other full season teams are feeding you.

What if your kid actually want to improve and play with kids who can catch and make a pass?

If that were the case then we would be the ones on here promoting crappy high school hockey

How is choosing HS hockey over U16 or U18 analogous to dropping out school? A more appropriate metaphor would be "My kid really wants to go to Harvard but he's only ever been a C student despite hiring tutors so I'm going to write a check to their endowment for 10K to help the enrollment process." Of course 10K is a nice donation but it doesn't even register at Harvard and your kid isn't getting accepted, it's time to set more realistic goals. If you believe your kid can develop into a top player than that's great, just remember many of those at the top are also continuing to develop.

I'm not telling you or any parent that chooses full season over HS that you're wrong, I'm just taking a contrarian view because we have different opinions, nothing wrong with that.

I have the means to pay for my kid to play full season U16 but I choose not to. I made a decision that if my son wasn't being recruited by two or more preps before HS, the chances of him playing even D-III after graduation were slim so I steered him towards high school hockey. It doesn't make me any more right or wrong than you are.

The only thing that I will say is wrong is to put down HS hockey as somehow being beneath any player.

I have never seen this posted here ever -

" But, honestly, as a prep hockey parent, there is a lot of crappy prep hockey. "



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If your kid is good enough to play on a good full season u16 or u18 team playing with and against some of the best players in the state, and country for that matter, why on earth would you opt for HS?

Been through it. The posts about development are right on and h.s. hockey isn't about development.

So my oldest boy is a pretty good player, he got to high school age and the local U-16 f.s. team coach sat him down and asked him what his goals were. Then he asked him if he really wanted to play college hockey - and I think the question kind of caught the kid off guard because he never thought of himself playing college hockey. Kid said, "no not really, I've never really thought about it." The coach said, "O.K., I'd say go and play for your high school."

The high school systems and coaching were pretty laughable for most of the more advanced kids, coaches playing favorites and not really knowing which player could actually play and especially in which situations but in all fairness they had not seen these kids in 40+ games per year over many years so how could they be expected to figure it out.

Many of the U-16 kids are now playing college hockey, some D-1 and only a handful of the high school kids are playing D-3....so I guess it all depends on what the kid wants to do.