i think the mainlesson from this conversation is simply that aaa midget is a better product than jr. b in this area. jr.b tristate has never really had success and jr. bflyers are theplayers who failed to makebud's top team. minutemen jr.b alsostrugglesto field a competitive team.i amconfused as to the lure of jr. b inthis area seeing that the quality of teams has been so poor. bud has always had reasonable sucess in getting his boys recognized soany thought that getting hammered in a weak empire league seems foolish. it wouldbe interestingif the top high school teams couldget together and fieldateam under a midget aaa charter much like wally has done this year but with a broader net encompassing not only lasalle but hgp malvern and whomever else wouldlike the option of asplit season without the time and financial commitment to jr.b or bud's team.

crusader,

I think Wally had done the same thing at Wissahickon a few years back. He just kicked it up a notch by going to AAA midget with the Minutemen.

Also, I thought Pennsbury had done or was doing this.

Malvern used to kind of de facto do it by having so many Jr Flyers, but those days are gone now.

The problem with this idea (though with some work could still be done) is this: You have to get some club organization to agree to allow a HS team to try out AND get them to agree to take on all or most of those players for a specific team. Most club teams want to operate independantly from any other organization, so that becomes a sticking point. However, IF you could find an organization that may be struggling a bit to gain notoriety (let's just use Chester County Skating Club as a hypothetical - not that they are struggling so please don't kill me for using them as my example), you might be able to convince them to allow the Kennett varsity team to try out for your Midget team knowing that the great majority of them would make the team. The other sticking point would be that you really should have the same coach doing both the club and varsity teams, so that you don't get mixed messages.

As you can see, it's easier said than done.

ISn't there a USA Hockey or Atlantic district rule saying that all tryouts have to "open to everyone" not just a certain group of players?

I'm not positive about this, But I thought I heard something along those lines. maybe someone a little more familiar with the rulebook can shed some light.

i believe that is why wally used the minutemen organization. jerry likes to take a hands off approach and this was the perfect opportunity. i don't believe that the open tryout is a concern. vfmm had open tryouts this year with several players coming from aa high schools. the bigger problem may once again be egos. it would take several high school coaches working together to promote one club team. i am not optimistic that NP and CBwest would be willing to work together with hgp,ls,malvern let alone those teams working together. it is a real shame. it has worked out wonderfully for the boys,their parents, their high school teams and also the ayhl which has another quality team at u18. if theconcept wuold continue i feel confident that tryouts next year would be more diverse and talented than this year.

I wasn't refering to Wally or the MM, the MM team has a number of players that dont play for La Salle.

I was refering to the idea of just taking a HS team and making it a AAA club team without holding an open tryout may be against the rules.....again, I'm not positive about that.

Crusader:

I would not say that all of the JR B teams in the area struggle. Prior to this year the MM Jr B team went to 2 nationals as the rep from the MET. This year the Jr Flyer Jr B team is at the top of their division. As for whether Bud's team is the top Jr Flyer team, there is some validity to that but there are some players who wanted to play Jr B and not U18. There are not alot of U18 teams in the area that can compete with Bud's team so they travel more for compeition and play fewer league games. Bud's team plays in 8 tournaments to make up for the lack of local competition. As far as the MM U18 team, this may be a one time circumstance where you have a large core group of talented players that attend the same school.

hawk i will agree with you that this may be a one time deal with vfm but my point is simply that it does not have to be especially if teams, coaches and parents could work together. Met jr. b is not a strong league although there may be pockets of quality players and bud's team is unquestionably stronger and will continue as such. as for vfm jr. team it is about sustainability and jerry seeems to struggle in that department. sacks, i understand your point yet i think the idea of one high school team having the quality(even lasalle had to open its doors) is simply
unattainable. in the end, the sad part is the overall quality of play will drop as kids realize that their best chance to progress is to leave resulting in lower quality no matter what the brand (jr. etc)

crusader your correct most have to move on outside the area to progress. Bud's team is really the only U18 team to get massive exposure for the kids, but you have to be able to afford the team and all the travel expenses.

Jr kids get lots of exposure, again this will come down to where the Jr teams goes. More exposure at showcases than just league games.
And how well the team is doing, good teams get watched more than the bad teams.

I think alot of teams want to hold kids back so they can keep them around and continue to make money, and if they keep better players around it could make the team better and attract more players.

oh that is so true. look what happed to rocco carzo. little flyers did not want him to leave let alone was trying to hold him back. that is not hockey? that is all about money and not letting a player advance. that is the problem with hockey in this area! its all about money and not the kids. someone will have to prove to me otherwise!

contrast that to wally at lasalle who has reportedly told kids that it is time to move on. if that is true, then he not only should be applauded but should attract others who understand that hockey around here is a stepping stone. i know that the jrf , lf and malvern actively held kids back so to hear that someone actually put the kids ahead of themselves speaks volumes of his character.