I`ll start, (my kids a goalie)...

So we show up at a couple skates last week with a GTHL AAA team and tryouts are rolling around. The night before the tryouts I have a talk with the coach to see where we stand.

Me: ``So, how`s it looking for my son, should I should I bring him out to the tryouts or if you already have someone in mind let us know.``

Coach: ``No, no, no...he looks great. Bring him out, we`re very interested in going ahead with your son on the team.``


Night of the tryout;

Coach laughs and shares coffee with a kid and his dad who never showed up for the skates...having a few yuks like they`re old friends.

Coach: ``Yeah, uh, we decided to select this other boy.``

Conclusion - Decision was already made. Son now has to scramble to find another spot somewhere `cause dickhead coach wants to put some window dressing on a lie.

Six other goalies in same position now.

OP, welcome to minor hockey.....enjoy! LOL

welcome to the "G"!

9:42 - Ah, dickhead coach responds!

Na, thats kinda standard. Suck it up...

10:18 - you are right. They are dickheads - most of them anyway.

What would posses a coach to lead a kid and his family on knowing that he is not going to take him. These guys are insensitive ignorant morons - putting it mildly. Pretty sad that an adult behaves this way. Nice role model.

Maybe he was an import and didn't want to use the spot??

If you are calling a coach the night before tryout, did you really believe your kid had a great chance of making the team?
If you are now scrambling because you don't have a back up plan for your kid, that's just irresponsible
(this isn't minor atom)

As long as the posturing pre-tryouts with b-day skates, commitments, side deals, etc. is allowed to continue there will be bad feelings on both sides. It is what it is....

coaches de-commit, parents de-commit
'round and 'round it goes

Won't see final rosters for a few weeks. Lots of scurrying

Awe. I feel for your son OP. Its just such a pile of bs sometimes. Even when they do commit if someone comes out that they are more interested in they take them.

Take what a coach tells you at tryouts with a grain of salt. Always, especially with a goaltender, have a backup plan. You never know what the coach is thinking. Shoulda learned that by atom age.

Old news!

Happened to my son as well. He was really upset, but I told him you're goiong to run into a-holes all your life, might as well get used to it. Now when he doesn't amke it he moves on and finds another spot. It's just business.

any signings yet?
Any AA kids signed at AAA? Nope....thought so!

I'm told 2 signed with TT. Guess you don't know so much after all, huh?

I'm told 4-5 signed with the Kings

Players that attended skates actually show up at tryouts? Do coaches keep in contact up til tryout time?

Of course they do. 3rd day of tryouts is hard, if you don't have a commitment don't even bother.

lots of AA kids parents making calls today!!

"Who's got spots"? Anyone got a single"??

LOL

huh??

A coach is 'always' on the lookout for a better kid than the one he just committed to, just in case someone backs out or that there is a diamond in the rough out there. Many parents do the same thing. They commit to one team while they are still looking around for a better team and better deal. Both coaches and parents bail if something better comes along.

Tip. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Have a plan B and C in case A and B fall through. Know your kid's real talent and value so that you won't fall for the bs that's thrown your way and so that you know, realistically, where your kid fits in. This reduces false expectations. Still, there's never any guarantee. Coaches, parents and kids are fickle.

12:55pm
good comment
sounds like you have been around the block here

Mine didn't make AAA again this year. Thats ok, back to AA with the friends that he has made over the years. With school being even more important next year, we are sort of glad he didn't make it. AAA takes alot of your time and school is far too important than worrying about missing practices and then the coach benches him and you've paid all this money for what? Kid missing assignments or staying up far to late to complete them. Maybe having to miss shifts because he THOUGHT a school project was more important than a Tuesday practice in November. Seems like a no win situation! At least with AA the coaches are a little less uptight about attendance but still certainly expect 100% effort when you are there. They want to win just as much. Life lessons from hockey are basically the same at either level. Maybe fewer "negative" ones at AA. Fun is more important at this age then going to the show. I think mine would drop to LL if it meant a better hockey experience, but he is very sports minded and quite competitive so I don't think he would drop down. Maybe in a few years when he works and has more of a social life.
So for now, kinda glad he didn't make AAA.
But he knows he was close and that confidence will bode him well going into next season.

Odd that parents who always encouraged our kid to move to their centre wont even make eye contact with you now we are there.

Maybe they didn't realize what the parents were actually like around an arena!!