Ok, here's the deal: my boy is 11 and plays hockey in SW Ohio, not exactly the hot-bed of hockey talent. The league he is in has "evaluations" in April from which kids are placed on the team to which they allegedly evaluated (there are four peewee team A, A1, mixed--no idea what this means--and B, the boy is on B ). Evaluations consists of skills drills and a scrimmage. Now, the boy was on the B team last year and had a ball--he worked with a dude who has coached probably every sport there is and who understands kids; he's a great guy who wants his team to be great kids first and hockey players second (I don't have a problem with this, I know where my kid is skill-wise, or at least I thought I did, more on that later). The rub is that there is a team of kids who were in squirts together last year and are staying together in peewees this year. Normally I'd be like, fine, whatever, good luck to you. However, my problem is that this team got to stay together not because of good evaluation scores but rather because of influence from the coaches and parents of the kids on the team.

This is not a case of "my kid is good and should be on the better team" sour grapes. This is a case of "If there's a team that is already set, why are those kids evaluating and why are other kids being told they have a shot to be on that team"? When I said I know where my kid is skills-wise was before I saw him compete against some of the kids on the teams above him--what's happening is that if you have a set team whereby a kid that improves can't move up, then the other kids that also improve also can't move up, plus you have the yearly influx of new talent that could be part of teams. So, what happens is a kid that improves year over year is not rewarded by being placed on a better team. The worst part about it is that after evaluations, instead of going by the scores for the drills and the game situation, the coaches got to meet for six hours and choose which team they thought they should have. Now, again, my kid likes hockey but it isn't his life (I think minecraft may be), but he has gotten significantly better and now I feel he wasn't given a fair shot to evaluate onto the proper team for his skill level.

So, I've written a letter to the board but have yet to send it. I talked to some parents last night who've experienced the same thing and instead of letting it happen, they have put their kids in another league. This isn't an option. We have the nicest facilities outside of NHL-level facilities in the nation, no need to drive 45 minutes to work in a shit-hole. My problem is, do I risk spouting off and negatively affecting my boy's time on the ice, or do I shut up and let cocksuckers get their way?

tl;dr mad because people suck and influence little kid hockey.

Local politics and esp school politics are FAR more maddening than anything that happens in DC.
Sounds like a common problem of bad coaches and hyper-involved sportsTard parents.
NO easy answers when the sh1theels are your neighbors and parents of your kids's classmates.
Sorry.

Posted by G to the Race Ok, here's the deal: my boy is 11 and plays hockey in SW Ohio, not exactly the hot-bed of hockey talent. The league he is in has "evaluations" in April from which kids are placed on the team to which they allegedly evaluated (there are four peewee team A, A1, mixed--no idea what this means--and B, the boy is on B ). Evaluations consists of skills drills and a scrimmage. Now, the boy was on the B team last year and had a ball--he worked with a dude who has coached probably every sport there is and who understands kids; he's a great guy who wants his team to be great kids first and hockey players second (I don't have a problem with this, I know where my kid is skill-wise, or at least I thought I did, more on that later). The rub is that there is a team of kids who were in squirts together last year and are staying together in peewees this year. Normally I'd be like, fine, whatever, good luck to you. However, my problem is that this team got to stay together not because of good evaluation scores but rather because of influence from the coaches and parents of the kids on the team. This is not a case of "my kid is good and should be on the better team" sour grapes. This is a case of "If there's a team that is already set, why are those kids evaluating and why are other kids being told they have a shot to be on that team"? When I said I know where my kid is skills-wise was before I saw him compete against some of the kids on the teams above him--what's happening is that if you have a set team whereby a kid that improves can't move up, then the other kids that also improve also can't move up, plus you have the yearly influx of new talent that could be part of teams. So, what happens is a kid that improves year over year is not rewarded by being placed on a better team. The worst part about it is that after evaluations, instead of going by the scores for the drills and the game situation, the coaches got to meet for six hours and choose which team they thought they should have. Now, again, my kid likes hockey but it isn't his life (I think minecraft may be), but he has gotten significantly better and now I feel he wasn't given a fair shot to evaluate onto the proper team for his skill level. So, I've written a letter to the board but have yet to send it. I talked to some parents last night who've experienced the same thing and instead of letting it happen, they have put their kids in another league. This isn't an option. We have the nicest facilities outside of NHL-level facilities in the nation, no need to drive 45 minutes to work in a shit-hole. My problem is, do I risk spouting off and negatively affecting my boy's time on the ice, or do I shut up and let cocksuckers get their way? tl;dr mad because people suck and influence little kid hockey.

Ok, talked to a friend who coaches in the league. He has on his team two kids that can't skate nearly as well as my boy. Now, I don't want my son to be on his team but MY GOD one at least is a big-bodied kid who can't skate, the other just flat-out SUCKS. But, at least on my boy's team we have the sons of a guy who owns a great bar in town, so team meetings will be awesome. Furthermore, my former neighbor is on the board and worked it so his kid was the #1 goalie on the top team. Jesusfuck this is as frustrating as anything. I guess I'm getting a taste of what the good ol' US of A is all about: it's not what you know but who you know. Terrible.

Never sent the letter, but man I would love to rip those fuckers.

Posted by G to the Race it's not what you know but who you know. Terrible.

That is true across the board... sports, jobs, deals, ect.