My 09 bender got cut and ended up on another, lower team in a significantly less competitive league. The competition will not be good and I think he won't progress much next season playing with that team. He started doing extra skating this spring and it has made a needed difference. Thinking about focusing on doing lots of stick work off ice in the summer and keep attending the extra skating sessions. He is not great, but he honestly deserved a better fate.
Sorry my kid got cut, duster, bender, etc. But, any other thoughts on how I can actually help the kid advance? We are in the Weymouth area. I like the Lovell powerskating program and have heard good reviews of the Hobomock summer powerskating.

Honestly, let him be the superstar in his lower level team, the kids will look up to him, the coaches will rely on him. Sometimes it is the best thing for a kid. Tell him he is a leader now and his coaches and teammates are going to rely on him to do things.

My kid gained the most confidence in his game in the year that he played on a lower level team. It was great for his game and gave him the chance to be the top player as opposed to being middle of the pack on his elite team.

Trust me, kids are fine being the better players on the lower teams, its the parents who have trouble with it. Junior likes to be the best on the team, even if the team isn't great.

In our situation we didn't have to deal with getting cut and moving down, it was just where he was placed in his first year of club, but that can also be a learning experience and sometimes drives kids to never want to experience that again, while the kids who are always elite become complacent, which is why so many get bypassed in the pee wee and bantam ages.


In closing - DO NOT, berate the kid and tell him he better practice unless he wants to get cut again, let him want it not you.

Good advice , been there done that. Just let him keep playing and enjoying the sport. Add in a clinic here and there, skills etc , every kid advances at their own pace.

Yeah, where are these expectations coming from? He's eight, nine tops. Just let him be a kid. It sounds like you already have him doing outside skating, decide on a program and stick to it, but don't make it an obligation, and don't double and triple up. If he wants to do extra work in the driveway support him with the right gear to do that, but just let him decide when and what. He doesn't need a training regimen.

Don't forget to give him a shorter stick to practice in the driveway with, compensating for the fact he's in sneakers. Otherwise he building bad habits.

Just out of curiosity, from what team was he cut? If it's the program I'm thinking of, it's probably for the best. Playing for a less competitive team/program doesn't need to be a bad thing. As the previous poster said, being the best player on the team may be the confidence booster your kid needs to work harder and improve. I highly recommend the Lovell skills sessions. My bender plays for a Fed team, and I still think Lovell offers the best skills around. When you say the Hobomock powerskating, do you mean the Tuesday night class? If so, it's just OK. My kid has only been a few times, but while the coach was decent, there were so many kids on the ice that a lot of the time was spent standing in line as opposed to skating. I guess at only 11 bucks a pop, it's a slightly better alternative to public skate. Still, for really honing in on skating and development, I'd go with Lovell and maybe a Laura Stamm camp or two. Above all, remind your kid that he's only, what, nine years old? He has plenty of time to develop. Tons of pros were cut from teams in their younger days, only to go on to do great things. Also, most kids don't give a flying **** what league they're in; they just want to play. If you don't make too big a deal about the fact that he's on a less skilled team, he'll get over it quickly. I hope he has a great season next year.

Good advice all around, thanks. I appreciate the perspectives and just wanted to help him get better. If he gets disinterested in hockey, that is fine by me. But, he seems to really like it and I know he is down about not playing with friends who are now delineated as better than him. Thanks again.

Just be thankful he's an 09 instead of an 08. The 08s are stacked, and he'd never catch up!

I was in your shoes a few years back. The two years he played at the less competitive level were the best years ever in terms of his confidence. We had him play town and club during that time and his skills grew tremendously. Yes, during that time his peers appeared to "move ahead" of him, but it put a chip on his shoulder and soon enough word spread about how he was dominating at his level. When Johnny A-Team would talk and brag "I've got 13 goals so far this year", he could reply back with "I've got 30 with six hat-tricks" and the other kids who'd seen him play would back up what he said, it was almost better for his rep than playing on the A team. Four years later, he is on higher level teams now than most of his peers and the gap is widening in terms of skill level. Some of those kids who weren't cut in the past can't even get on a club team now that the kids are older.

I know you were looking for advice on what to do, so here it is: just get your kid on the ice as much as possible (two teams if you can) and let him practice and play. The "system" he's in is far less important than the drive to be better and to prove everyone wrong that he's going to get from going through this experience.

Jesus. He's 8. You people are insane.

yeah i have a bridge i could sell you as well.....

I've never seen it where scoring more goals in a lower league buys you bragging rights over kids who play in higher leagues.

Forget the stickwork. If you're paying for ice, I would suggest you have him working on skating. He can improve his stickwork for free in the driveway.

Yeah focus on skating so he can be another kid flying down the ice that can't score 🙄

OK so I'll qualify my post by saying, "assuming you do not have unlimited resources and time". Which most of us don't.

Happened to my kid a few years back, turned it into a positive.

My son has always been a defenseman, he told coach he was a forward, played 2/3 of the year as a forward and learned the role.

Last 1/3 of the year he went back to defenseman and they finished up in a good way.

He was the go to guy for his coach and I believe it helped him alot.