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very true, i saw Warriors, Adv ice, rangers, dual state/islanders tyngsboro and seacoast players at multiple age groups...
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No you didn't. Pot stirrer.
Also saw similar....no reason to pot stir, the OP was asking a question of why would players already signed with other clubs go to the tryouts. Wondering the same?
Ever stop to think that perhaps those Warriors, Dual State, Rangers, Adv Ice, etc etc kids at the IHC tryout might've already signed with IHC?
My favorite is the free tuition to get kids.
What about signing contracts before you even have try-outs. What's the point. Just for the money. It's all about the business now. No longer the kids. Turning way to much into an elitist sport.
Here's a new one for 2017 - offering some kids a spot on a lower team within the organization that they weren't even trying our for, in the middle of tryouts. Heard about this one last night.
My guess is they don't have numbers on the lower team, and are hoping this will fill it out. I'd expect it to backfire. One skate? At least let the kids skate a second time so they feel like they had a legit chance.
If it were me I'd turn them down and demand my tryout fee back.
Well, as the dad that it happened to put it, "if I had wanted him to try out for the lower team, I would have had him try out for the lower team."
He felt that these kids - and it apparently was a good handful - weren't given a legit chance to make the team.
The right thing to do would have been to let the kids finish the tryouts, THEN make the offer. Maybe you're right, maybe it really isn't that much different. It just gave the dad the perception it was a bait-and-switch.
Oh, and BTW, this kid already has an offer from an Elite team. It wasn't that he isn't good enough. He was good enough to make this team.
And, candidly, I'm leaning in a different direction now, too.
Why are people acting surprised by this? You all must be first timers, it only gets worse.
That's like buying a lottery ticket, losing the lotto, and then going back to the gas station expecting to get your money back.
If you're not told before the tryout that your kid has a spot on the team, then he most likely isn't on the team. If this is you, you have to approach tryouts knowing that every kid in a penny (who's parents are also in the blue about making the team) are ALL trying out for 1, maybe 2 spots that may still be available.
This stuff is Youth Hockey 101 everywhere in this country.
It's tryouts, not sure how you define shenanigans and treachery. I think the only folks that are surprised are the "newbies". Just remember these simple three rules:
1) Don't believe the coach when he tells you that your kid is okay but doesn't offer a contract. If you find yourself in this scenario, start having your kid skate with other teams. Maybe he is going to be okay but better to be safe than sorry. When he doesn't get the contract, you shouldn't be surprised. (Yes, it's happened to my kid.)
2) Most organizations are not loyal, especially if the team isn't winning. If you don't have a contract in February, you need to be skating with other teams. See rule #1 but also remember, chances are the organization owner barely knows your kid. He doesn't care if you are easy going, you pay on time, etc. He just knows the team isn't doing well and that's bad for business.
3) Tryouts are a money maker for organizations. For most, the core of the team is set well ahead of tryouts so you are now among a large pool of kids trying out for the few remaining slots. There are so many variables that can affect how your kid does in a tryout, your chances of making team are increased exponentially if you skated with the team before hand.
Now with my "preaching" from the mountain top out of the way, I do know someone who had his kid skating with an elite team for a number of practices. The coach told him to bring him to tryouts, that he really liked how he looked but doesn't offer early contracts. Night one of tryouts he's talking to one of the parents on the elite team and learned the entire team had been filled prior to tryouts and later confirmed that evening with the coach. Not sure, does this qualify?