Anyone have any advice on good ways to handle balancing multiple contract offers, some of which come with 48 hour decision deadlines?

At least in the E9, contracts are offered 'around' tryout time. My son has an offer with an ok team (current team), which in theory expires in 48 hours, after which they offer the next kid in line a spot. His favored team finishes callbacks next week.

Ideally we wait until all tryouts are over, then decide, of course it never lines up like that. To avoid not having a spot next year, what would you do?

So your kid plays for an ok team. Your kid was prob and ok player(at least last year). Have you told the coach that you are entertaining other offers?

Contact the coach of your son's preferred team and explain the situation. Sometimes they will be honest with you and if your son is good enough they will tell you he has a spot. Good luck

You have the situation right, he's not a stud otherwise the 48hrs thing would be moot, but he's someone they want back and had a good year, but have others in line. Have not told the current coach about other offers, but not sure what that would do to help.

I have considered talking to the coach of the preferred team and discussing the situation. He knows my son well enough by now post shadow skate, open skate, 2 tryout sessions that he would probably be able to give a yes or no. Might be the safest route.

How did youth hockey get so insane, I have no idea.

Crazy parents, greedy owners and coaches with friends/family..

there you go..

listen to yourself and you can answer the question how youth hockey go so insane. but keep telling yourself it is everyone else....

Why would you say that? He admitted his kid wasn't a superstar. Usually Parents have a higher opinion of their kid than where they realistically fall and think they are Elite. And when we left our first org to switch to another, we went to an E9 tryout prior to the FED tryout that was out first choice. We were given the same pressure 24 hrs. Then 48 hours. Multiple phone calls. We were very upfront that he was attending another tryout the following week. They want to get those contracts signed so you don't go to "next weeks" tryout and they have to move down the list

I admit that I know nothing about the guy and his kid. But Contract Decision Strategies?? Why are people always chasing the next big thing, the better team, the better league? As you said, he admits the kid is no stud so he should be plenty challenged? This is what hypes this whole youth hockey thing up and makes it crazy - that is what I am saying. Are you not happy the way your kid is developing and/or the coach? Or why the desire to move from E9 to FED move. Not my business, just thought I'd ask.

To the OP, you don't sound half as insane as some people I have met, but what I wanted to point out with my post is that you are contributing to the craziness. Also if you want an answer to the question - in my opinion talk to EHF coach, tell him what's going on, and see if he can make some sort of commitment. Depending on the answer it depends what kind of risk-taker you are.

I am a coach and here is something me honesty. If I offer your player a spot and you can not sign immediately after being coached by myself and coaching staff the previous year you are dead to me. End of story

Please clarify:

Did you offer him the spot after making him try out so you could be sure no one better was available?

Or was the offer made before tryouts based on your and your staff's observations of the player over the past year?

And regardless of your answer, isn't "you are dead to me" a bit extreme given this is youth hockey we are talking about?

Be honest with your answers!

He was turning a phrase. Lighten up, Francis.

No, this is 'turning a phrase': "I am a coach and here is something me honesty."

Well Coach? What sayeth you?

Lighten up Francis.

Plus, it's kind of shi**y to not tell the current coach that you're shopping around.

All good feedback to get some different views. We are not chasing EHF (it's E9), or even a better team. It's simply a better fit for him mostly from the coaching point of view and the things the preferred team stresses are things that would help him grow.

I'm sure we are not helping the insanity, my point was simply how to get a good fit for your kid while not putting yourself in a bind with no team.

No one is trying to pull a fast one here.

You are clearly not the "chasing the elite dream crazy Parent " another poster was referring to. And it is not always easy to decide, especially based on some feedback you can receive here. Not every coach offers contracts at pre skates, not ever program offers pre skates, some coaches are nieve and think they should do the right thing and evaluate all players at tryouts (hard to get a good picture with 60 kids on the ice, coaches aren't honest, parents aren't honest.... the list goes on. As I mentioned above. We went to the E9 tryout which always falls before EHF. We wanted an EHF team as first choice for several reasons that were important to us but this coach was only in his second year and didn't know players and we skated at a practice of his. But you need an alternative plan in case you are not reading the coach correctly. We were not offered a contract at his practice skate. We were offered one at tryouts and quickly notified the E9 team that was aware we were attending another tryout. He is on the first line, one of the higher scorer and is not missing any play time. We found out during the year that not one player from the previous year had a signed contract before going into tryouts with this team. That's how this coach does things. My point: just because one poster will tell you how it's done, they all do it slightly different

The blip on the screen is caused by aliens invading our minds

Also please continue to eat Cheerios for dinner

That is one somewhat egotistical and probably misleading way of looking at the situation. Most teams that are reasonably stable and competitive don't give a rat's a** if you sign or not unless your kid really is a superstar. They aren't pushing the 24 or 48 hour thing because they want to keep your kid from attending other tryouts. They are doing it because they want an answer quickly. They don't want to make the next kid down the list who was virtually the same as your kid in every way but some tiny detail wait for two weeks while you decide. They don't want that kid and the next kid to also go attend another tryout because they think they didn't make the team when they weren't offered a spot due to you not making a decision quickly. They want to know if you are committed or not period. They want their first choice but more importantly they want an answer. Coaches (normally "daddy coaches") often act irrationally and try too hard to give people the time they need even if it's not in the team's best interest. If someone doesn't sign in that 24 hour window I have always just moved on and the coaches that don't should. If there is a particularly good player I may reach out with a phone call to let them know I am moving on but that is all they get. If your coach isn't a daddy coach or is a good daddy coach then odds are his primary concern is the team and you can expect him to move on when you don't sign.

That's great. And your crazy if you don't think players are running from tryout to tryout for a variety of reasons. So the way you handle it just leads to Parents not being forthcoming to the coach which is what leads to this vicious cycle. And we sit in the stands and watch all the Lovell kids coming into the FED tryoyts knowing they let their coach know the week before they would be committing to their team all the while knowing they were going to try to break in to that Elite team. Never fear, once they get told by the Elite coach they should talk to the tier 1 coach, they usually don't come back to the 2nd night of tryouts

Here's what's going on. Hockey has become a business. The business has achieved significant growth over the last 10 years (maybe more) probably even double digit growth. In doing so, Hockey (A.K.A ... the business) has not invested in training management on how to professionally deal with many of the situations that come up. Mainly, the hiring and terminating of employees. Therefore, instead of clear and transparent guidelines, you get a mixture of results. Add to that, many of the "managers" are have no idea how to handle it and it's a recipe for disaster.
Therefore - do the right thing. Logic dictates if you're in a situation where you are considering another product, you should be upfront. "Currently, little Timmy will be looking at clubs". To which the response should be, "Best of luck, please keep me informed. We really like Timmy, but do need to fill our roster. If I find another player I will more than likely offer him that spot."
You have every right to look around, but you should understand the economic principles of supply and demand. As should the organizations.
My grandfather put it best ...there's an a$$ for every seat.

Keep us posted!

Good points. Not to hijack the thread but what is mentioned above is the biggest issue around this time of year. Coaches may be able to communicate with the players on the ice but they can be horrible communicating (managing) with/to parents. If coaches were up front with the parents on why their kid may be on the bubble, a lot of this back and forth would go away.

Rather than telling a parent, "I don't have room for little Johnny," tell them the facts. "Look, Johnny is a good player, however, he's in the bottom half of the team this year. I'll continue to update you during the season but if I don't see an improvement, he will likely need to wait until after tryouts to be offered a spot, if any." Or, "Johnny is great player, I'm having a problem getting him to focus, perhaps another coach would be better for him, so you may want to explore your options after the first of the year."

I'm amazed at how many parents are shocked during this time of year but it primarily comes down to a lack of communication between coaches / parents and players.

Mid-year evaluations would help a lot. Wouldn't you be surprised if the teacher came to you at the end of the year and said, "Johnny failed all his classes this year, he needs to be held back..."

I digress... and no, my kid wasn't cut!

This ^

Simple honesty and communication goes a long way, 3+K money should get you that.

Most of us can't get this type of honest communication at work. I think we're dreaming if we expect it from an unpaid youth hockey coach. If you find it, you should take that into consideration when you are looking at options.

Years ago my nephew played for an MBHL team. The coach actually told my sister and her now ex-husband words to the effect "Johnny is great player, I'm having a problem getting him to focus, perhaps another coach would be better for him, so you may want to explore your options after the first of the year."

This was the wake up call they needed. Rather than trash the coach and give up on the team, they put him on Adderall and the turn around was amazing. He stayed with the team a few more years and went on to play in high school. More importantly, the Adderall also helped him to focus on his academics; he went from being a mediocre, disinterested student to straight As. From there he went to an Ivy and played intramural ice hockey. His passion since college has been golf.

While they couldn't agree on much by the time their marriage ended, both of his parents credit that Metro coach for his honesty and making my nephew the success he is today.

^^Good point.

Which leads us to the other discussion...daddy coaches. It's a circle. It's a circle.

Daddy coaches can be just as upfront as non-daddy coaches can't they? So I'm not sure what point your making.

If you read the post which is discussing a training issue it should make more sense. Doesn't apply to everyone, but it's applicable to a large enough percentage to create a big problem in youth hockey. The first training issue is communication, the second training issue is coaching.

Yep, you have to sign my contract in 24 hours
Yet, how often are there no contracts before tryouts for current team because they will have to wait to see what tryouts look like
Hmmmmm.
So you see why games are played on both sides?
Unless you can tell me you have let every player on your current teams know they have a contact, are cut, or are on the bubble (which should also include: make sure to have a back up plan than you are no different than the parent struggling to decide what team is best fit for their kid

If they didn't sign him after the open skate and made you go to tryouts, he is definitely on the bubble, so be careful with that. I think an honest conversation with the EHF coach is in order. If he can't be straight with you now, you are probably better off staying in your current situation.

I know there's a lot of hype on here about how great EHF Elite is, but it doesn't magically make your son better. I would suggest trying your best not to consider the league implications and focus on coaching, location, and teammates.

+1