Mating season is over. It was short but furious. Now you all can relax and stop kissing coach’s butt till November. Most of the rosters are set, so if your kid hasn’t been offered a spot you’re in trouble. As usual, better teams got better, bad teams got worse. Driving more than 30 minutes on way to a practice 2-3 times a week is a sign of stupidity, but people are still doing it to be on a third line or 6th D on a winning team.
Good luck!

My mite is headed to his 3rd team!

Weak. My mite played on 3 teams this year alone. Keep up or get out of the way.

Not true, especially for girls. Some of the best kids laugh at coaches trying to get them to commit this early.

In FED elite and E9 the contracts are out bud. Don't commit and your gone.

Nope. Not the case for every kid.

Is this your first experience? Get the program director on your side. If your kid is a good kid and great player, they'll hold a spot.

My kids are older now, still in prep school, but I never gave more than a verbal before March, maybe into April 1 or 2 years. Remember, most kids are not alone. Other's are tied to them. Don't be bullied. There's always a spot on the best teams for the best kids.

Good coaches don’t rush out contracts because they trust that parents/kids won’t leave. Why would anyone want to leave a good coach?

Good coaches also know that retaining good players is important. Good players typically have several options and aren’t going to wait till tryouts to know if the coach is bringing them back next season or not. So settling contracts early is a win-win for coaches and players. Players know where they stand and if they need to find a new team. If they need to find a team knowing it in Feb gives them time to find a good match. Coaches know who stays and can be proactive in bringing in new players to fill spots.
I know earlier in this post someone bragged about waiting till tryouts because their kid is this good. Believe me, no coach wants to deal with this kind of uncertainty in March.

Sorry dude, just go to a practice and you’ll see that mating season is not over. Teams will keep the door open for the right player; which works both ways.