Actually it is significantly easier to find a spot in the EHF Elite at U14 than in the younger groups. 1-2 teams stay together and get stronger, rest of teams blow up with their top players heading to the Beast League, independent teams, and even the E9!in

If it were me I'd probably pick the team that is closer to your house. Sounds like a lot of driving.


How is it determined who 'gets' to play up a year? I've been hearing more and more of kids who are playing up a level. Is it something the kids get asked to do or as a parent can you say, hey i want my kid to play up a year.
Is it kids who are simply more talented then other kids in their age group and coach is like, ok you should play up a year?

It almost feels like the new 'elite'. It's no longer 'elite' parents are bragging about, it's my kid is playing up a year, lol.

I'm not trying to be snarky. My son has played up a year and last year their team played teams up who were a year older. Is there something to this? I'm guessing it must be helpful to their development ?

I would not drive an hour each way unless the kid was at least a bantam and playing on a top level team. To be honest there is not a huge difference in platinum and elite. (My kid plays ehf elite and there are platinum kids in our org that are better than kids on his team) The top half of the elite kids are better but the bottom half are similar to platinum . If it was me I would just have him play Platinum or maybe e9, if that is an option, at his age level . The skills and practice are where your kid is going to get better. Don’t overthink it . Just let him have fun and it will work out. That is the most important part. Driving two hours 3 times a week is probably too much. Burn out is real. That seems like a grind.

Ok so this is interesting. If there is not much difference between elite and platinum why the two different levels? Why on earth would there be better kids at the platinum level than the elite level?

There is a huge difference. That’s just a platinum mom trying to say her kid deserves to be on elite. Usually the top 1 or 2 kids at platinum could probably be the bottom kid on the elite team. If the two teams played it would be embarrassing for the platinum team. I’d stick it out and stay at the elite level as long as the kid likes it, is improving, likes his team and has a good coach.

Keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night. The bottom 6 of the Elite and the top 4 of the platinum are relatively equal. Move a couple of top players and your top elite team moves to the middle of the pack. If coaching is so great at the elite level why all the player movement. The answer is……………..parents believe their duster’s ability to reach the next level is dependent on being on the right team.

Comprehension is key here, poster said that the top 1/2 elite are better but bottom 1/2 elite are comparable to platinum. I have a Bantam Elite and a Pee Wee Platinum and from all I've seen over 12 seasons I agree 100%. And why would there be better kids on a Platinum team, because picking a team is not an exact science. There are many factors at play including parents of lesser skilled kids that buddy up to the elite coaches to get a spot and all the way to the family who chases a coach rather than the elite tag. If you think all the elite players are the best at each age group you're sorely mistaken.

No. My comprehension is just fine. I understand that there will be platinum players who are good...but the OP said there are platinum players who are BETTER than elite players.

I can understand if there are very good platinum players who could be comparable to bottom elite players.

Why do people get so defensive of this though? I think it's because ya'll know that the elite/platinum thing can be BS. I'd be annoyed if my kid was a top platinum player and kept getting picked for platinum and not elite. Then people feeling the need to say and all elite players arent really elite dammit!

There are absolutely platinum players that are better than "elite" players. It's not even a question. My bender has played on both and I can tell you for certain that's the case. Some orgs are better than others at making the right decisions, but some just let the same kids move forward on the "elite" team year after year, just because their daddy was friends with the "elite" coach when they were in mites. None of it matters come high school though. The high school coaches never ask where the kid has played.

There ARE platinum players that are better than elite players. All a platinum player needs to be is better than a bottom elite player to make that statement true. An elite player is an elite player whether they are a bottom elite or a top elite player simply because of the league the team is in.

My son played E9 for years. Many argue that is comparable to Platinum. By your logic he was not better that Elite players because the league is considered below Elite. He moved last year to Fed Elite and guess what, he's better than Elite players who are and have been on his Elite team for a while.

I also hear people compare E9 to EHF platinum. But what about the E9 players that get D1 scholarships to play hockey? They're out there...and I dont ever hear of platinum players having this happen. My friends son plays EHF platinum and he wont be good enough to play at the prep school he's attending once he gets to high school.

And yes there's lot of EHF elite players who ain't that great and keep making the team because they coach likes them or knows their daddy.

You are 100% correct and that is exactly what I was trying to say. The elite team would beat the platinum team pretty good because the top elite kids are a lot better than the bottom platinum kids. In my experience the parents that are hung up on the elite tag are the parents of the kids that are on the bottom half of the elite team. There are a lot of factors in picking the teams. Avoiding crazy parents is one of them.

O yeah buddy get that kid playing a year up. Makes all the difference to prep coaches. Keep on driving and playing hard.

Why have it? Money.
Why have kids in one over the other based on ability? Daddy coach. Connections. Friends. Team chemistry.

Our clubs Plat team is as good or better that our Elite team. Two years running.

Yes definitely money. Don't some teams have levels below platinum as well ?

Do the platinum and elite teams ever scrimmage against each other ?

I find it hard to believe that a platinum team would be better than an elite team. I say this as someone with small children still learning to play hockey so I really have no dog in the fight either way but come on.

You stated that you feel the coaching is equal, so the next question should be, what does your player want? Does he have friends on the closer team and it would be more enjoyable? Would he freak out not being on an elite team? Is the long commute times having an adverse impact on academics or do you think it will? Have you talked to anyone in the organization about their ability to get a waiver for him to play Bantams early when the time comes?

Ignoring the back and fourth of Platinum vs. Elite, E9 vs. EHF there here are a couple of things to consider.

1) The older your player gets, the more difficult time you will have moving him back to an EHF Elite team. Not because he's not good enough but rosters don't turn over at the same rate in most organizations. If he's a stud then of course they'll find a spot for him but if he's only marginally better than an existing player, chances are the coach doesn't change the roster.

2) Although no one is looking at a squirt, the simple truth is when the time comes it's much easier to get noticed by a prep coach on an EHF Elite or E9 team than it is for everyone else if that is part of your goal.

Always remember, hockey needs to stay fun for your player. That doesn't mean he doesn't need to work hard on and off the ice but he has to enjoy it to keep playing, regardless his ultimate destination.

“Would your player freak out not playing on elite team”. 😂 The only time a kid would “freak out “ is if the parents freak out. I see you’re one of those elite parents that think their bender is better than everyone.

I love the hardos who think that every org picks the best players for their Elite teams. My son joined an EHF team at squirt major. He stood out at the tryout to the point of random parents asking who he was and where he played before. He ended up on their Black team( before Platinum was a thing). Stayed there till PeeWee Major. Never once was even considered for the “Elite” team. We moved on for Bantam minor to another EHF org and made their Elite team( this org only has elite teams) Not good enough to make the crappy bottom 1/2 Elite team of previous org. But good enough to make a top 5 team in the country. So ya, making an elite team has a lot to do with if you played in the org as a mite.

That kid is off playing Varsity Prep now , his younger brother played for the E9 team in our town instead of driving 30 minutes for the EHF org. Loved every minute of it. Played Varsity as a Freshman last year and will play a ton as a Sophomore. And hopefully play one season with his brother at prep.

I like stories

I like these stories too. The fact of the matter is that they happen. People here seem to think EHF elite is the end all/be all but the fact of the matter is that some kids are grandfathered in and it often is all about who you know. Sometimes a coach likes a kid, sometimes he doesn't. A player can be great but if they don't pass enough a coach might pass on them. I actually know an EHF elite player who didn't get invited to something because they're selfish with the puck.

You’re story makes no sense. I can’t think of an E9 org that doesn’t have a Fed Elite org less than 30 minutes away (except maybe Seacoast) and 30 min is too far yet you had no problem driving your 13 year old to Stamford? Sorry you have no life and need to make up stories for the D board.

If you live in a place like Hingham or Norwell I can see why you'd pick BA over Breakers or Terriers which both offer 'EHF Elite.' Lots of people do.

This guy is Obviously from Western Mass or Ct. Rifles and Jr Huskies are about 30 minutes apart. And Stamford is about a 80 minute drive from Springfield if everything goes right. There’s an 07 on the Eagles U15 team from out that way. And the Flames usually have a couple kids from Western Mass / Northern Ct on their teams. Some people travel a good distance for youth hockey.

Well we can assume lots of things but we don't know where this person lives. I just commuted to the to a rink that is 20 min from my house and traffic was brutal. I'm not sure how willing I'd be to go out of my way these days. Traffic is just brutal. Anyone who travels 80 minutes for hockey practice is a nut.

Your logic is mind numbingly accurate. No dboard for you…come back 1 month.

Love all the butthurt platinum parents chiming in. If your bender plays for an org where the top 6 on the platinum team are better than the bottoms 6 on the elite team you’re in the wrong org and should leave. Of course there are kids playing platinum that could play at the elite level but it’s not half the team sorry platinum parents. And of course there are a few platinum kids floating around that will wind up being better hockey players in high school than elite kids. But there is still a big difference between elite and platinum. If there isn’t why are all these platinum parents looking to leave the platinum level to get their kid to the elite level? To your question you are probably better off moving your kid down at the elite level than moving him to platinum.

For most teams, the difference is the top 5 kids. A competitive elite team typically has a top line/pairing that make the team. Top line of a competitive platinum team is generally interchangeable with the middle and bottom of an elite team.

If even "most" of the players were actually elite, New England would be sending hundreds of kids to D-I & D-III at every birth year.

Facts

Everyone's situation is different, it is difficult for others to tell you what is best for your kid and family. My kid moved from a bottom black/platinum to a bottom elite and then to a top elite team. The difference in talent level and work ethic of the players is noticeable every time he moved up. The same can be said about coaching. In the end, very few kids in the EHF elite division are able to continue on to play on top U14/midget teams. My suggestion is to figure out what your kid needs at his current stage of development and do not worry too much about labels.