Spring and Summer Tournaments are in Full Swing right now!

Every Friday, without fail, my social media feeds are overflowing with folks heading off one way or another to a tournament to play for some team I've heard of only through form emails...to go play 3 guaranteed games against a bunch of other teams I've also only heard of through form emails...3+ hours from home.

I get it. I did it too.

MegaMeltdown, Summer Breeze, Lobsterfest, you know...all kinds of seemingly random tournament names.

There's one EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND.

Once you realize that, as a hockey parent, it all becomes a lot more transparent.

These tournaments mean nothing.

They're expensive pick-up hockey that often require a couple nights in a hotel too.

I mean, if that's the excuse you need to take a Friday off and spend time with your kids, have at it.

For me? I don't do it anymore.

Err, well, I do...but very infrequently these days. One per kid...per summer is the new normal.

Even still, total waste of time, money, and the always valued "paid time off" from work.

Realistically, I can't recall a single summer tournament in my past where I've felt, driving home on the Sunday afternoon, "Wow...that was a *really* great weekend."

Just scrolled through 9 years worth of my Google calendar.

Can confirm...there has NEVER been a memorable off season tournament.

That even includes the handful where our teams have won.

And that's the thing...look, these things generally run $300+ per player per weekend just to enter.

I know I've done the breakdown on this site before...but lets say you do three or four of these "tournament" weekends during the off season...

We're talking over $1000 just to be on the team.

Probably don't even get to keep the jersey.

For what?

Less than 15 games? Zero practices.

And you're complaining about regular season tuition prices?

Give me a break...

Now I know every squirt and peewee team has that family or two that just can't seem to get enough -- they want a tournament every single weekend.

It's exhausting.

Like, I feel the peer pressure still, to this day, with the older kids, to verbally commit to these endeavors but deep down, I'm ALWAYS thinking to myself...please let's not have enough interest.

Please let there not be a goalie.

Please let this idea fall apart...

It's a hockey parent experience thing -- like, you get to a point where you evaluate things like this differently.

What's in it for MY kid?

If the answer is nothing...I'm not pulling my kid out of school and shelling out $300 to play in the Wombat Cup in the middle of May. I'm not.

As a hockey parent -- that's financing ALL of this -- there has to be a return on this ill-fated investment we're all making.

Will participating in this make him a better player? Is it something where there's a solid likelihood he could be scouted? By someone who is actually a scout? Does this have potential to look good on his EP profile?

If the answer is no...money is better spent doing private or small group sessions with a coach that has connections.

Locally.

On your schedule.

In our family, a hole in my kids' hockey resumes had long been participating in a WSI Tournament. We'd sought to fill that hole last spring.

The plan was to wait for the teams with bids to put out their "Looking for 1 defenseman and 2 fowards" desperation ads a month or so before the tournament to shore up their roster.

Answered a few of their calls, got an offer from a team we didn't even reach out to (declined it), and then heard nothing.

One team, legit, said we were "in" and then ghosted us. Guess they found someone better.

Tournament started without us.

We didn't participate...so we weren't able plug that hole in the hockey resume.

But I did save a ton of money.

And perhaps I'm trying to spin things in a positive light now, I mean, I was disappointed, but at the same time, when I ask myself WHY we wanted to do it in the first place, it's ridiculous.

We wanted to play in this tournament cause it'd show up under "Tournaments" on my kids' Elite Prospects pages.

Yep, that's it. That's all that was "in" it for us.

And, when you step back...that's pretty stupid.

Even stupider considering there's a solid chance their stat lines for the tournament would be 4 games, 0-0-0-0. Thanks for coming out, loser.

And, hey, even if that stat line were 4-1-5-0...who cares? Right?

Who cares?

It doesn't open doors...for us.

It might for some players playing under programs that fail to showcase and provide exposure to their players...but that's not the situation we're in.

It was simply for another "section" on their EP page.

Yeah, dumb.

Egg on my face, though. We did participate in this year's WSI Tournament.

Made it to the semi-finals, had a decent stat line, and got that extra line on the Elite Prospects profile.

Total cost was over $1000. Ouch.

Found a sweet hot dog joint , though...

Recently had a conversation with a coach that's 20ish years older than my oldest son.

Played youth locally, juniors less locally, NTDP, college, quit college to play juniors again, went pro, and bounced around.

Grand scheme -- minor league journeyman but he got a few games in the show.

I've been pretty in tune with youth hockey for a little over a decade. This guy was in the thick of it as a player the decade before so his player progression guidance still holds weight.

Or does it?

A lot has changed...and it's not necessarily for the better from a player's perspective. And it's definitely worse from a parent's perspective.

Regarding "main" camps for junior teams...

If you have a 15 or 16 year old at a certain level, your email inbox is overflowing with camp invites from all over the country. When you get that first one, it's super exciting.

When you get ten more of them, similarly worded, in the span of 24 hours from teams all over North America...you come to realize you're just a name on a list everyone is sharing.

We have one solid invite that was a personal invite. That one still piques our interest. It was real. And there isn't a cost involved...so it's pretty attractive.

At the same time...we were also informed there'd 47 other defensemen in "main" camp. Up to age 20. My kid is 15.

See where I'm going?

I mentioned this to this former NHL'er my kid is working alongside and he was initially like, "Holy crap, that's so awesome..." until he heard the 48 blueliner count.

See, in his day, technically only around 15 years ago, "main" camp had maybe 30 skaters. Defense corps was maybe 8 guys...four were shoe-ins for the roster and the bottom four battled it out at camp to maybe land on the third pairing or as an extra. The goon would be moved to a 4th line wing position.

Like, opportunity was right there within grasp.

Now...there are 48 guys battling it out for maybe 8 spots. Maybe just 4 spots cause the shoe-ins don't even attend these camps most of the time.

That's not really a quality opportunity.

To me, it's like playing on a Chowder Cup team and hoping to get noticed.

Pretty damn unlikely.

We're on the fence on whether we'll attend this year. Hopefully the offer remains open in the years to come.

Same thing goes for the Quebec PeeWee tournament. I'm thankful my two oldest are beyond that age level and my youngest has fallen off of the radar for that level of hockey but, like, yeah...you're damn right I wanted my kids to participate in it!

But now, having been through that age group and seeing the talent level of the kids coming out the back end of it as bantams and midgets...well...it's NOT the feather in the cap I'd always believed it was.

Far from it.

It used to be a best-against-best type of tournament for teams from all over the world.

Now?

Do a little research and see how many "divisions" there are...

I did the research for you...there are five divisions:

• AAA
• AA-Elite (whatever that is?)
• AA
• Girls
• BB

We had a whole group in our "circle" that boasted about playing in the Quebec tournament back when the 2008's were peewees -- they were in one of the lower divisions relagated to dumpy municipal arenas on the outskirts.

Sorry...that's not "the" Quebec tournament...that's just "a" Quebec tournament. You can chill out with sweatshirt you've been wearing for 3 months since.

If your kid isn't in the AAA or the Girls event...you're just at another crummy tournament.

Total joke.

Ok, crossed line there...it's obviously still a big tournament, and Quebec City is absolutely amazing that time of year, but it's not a best-on-best type of tournament beyond that top tier.

The number of bantams I see parading around with the Quebec tournament hockey bags that can't skate backwards blows my mind.

Think about it, if you're the third or fourth rung down, that's C-Team hockey, at best. C-Team hockey is just supposed to be awesomely fun...not something to boast about.

The whole thing is a well marketed Wombat Cup.

It holds value for guys who are pushing 40 that played in it as kids that aren't aware of what it's become...until after they've taken their own kids there.

The lustre dulls...instantly.

Junior progams and their scouting services go to these events cause it's easy -- lots of players all in one place at one time and I'm certain many of them are paid to be there by the tournaments so they can market it as a hockey "advancement" requirement...but they know.

They know.

Lots of laziness and patting one another on the back when you see how it all really works.

For real, it really is a racket. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours...while some feeble hockey parent foots the bill.

Insert evil cackle here.

Tournament hockey is the seediest kind...but you have to "live it" a few times, and keep a keen eye on things, to fully realize it.

The hockey ops people we're trying to impress by getting these prestigious tournaments listed on our EP page are the exact same people that already know those tournaments aren't really that important. It's a vicious cycle of, jeez, I don't even know what to describe it as.

Same goes for the USA Hockey "Futures" stuff.

I mean, I look at those rosters -- which just came out a couple of weeks ago -- for New England and Massachusetts (Mass has their own district) and, of course, we recognize nearly all of the names cause we've been playing with and against all of those kids for over a decade. Atlantic district too -- it just came out.

A handful are like, yeah, obviously...that kid is nasty. Totally deserves to be there.

After that, it's a bunch of question marks.

"That kid plays maybe a shift per period on his regular season team...but he's a 'Selects Allstar'?"

Please...

It's not a best-of-best event. Not even close.

And the people that matter that are watching...know that.

Tough spot to be in as an informed and experienced hockey parent -- you want some of these bigger events on their hockey resume...but know that it's all smoke and mirrors too.

So like, while it may seem like I'm advising, "Don't sign up for these things -- if you're good enough, they'll find you."

I'm not saying that at all. That's a myth.

The issue is that -- by-and-large, the people tasked to "find you" are super lazy these days. They only go to these events.

It's a broken system.

Well, not really. Like so many things these days, it's just turned into a monetized system.

Lots of people getting paid. Not many players getting "picked".

I'd advise you to do "some" of them.

Not all.

Just some.

And zero in on the ones that you think will best lead to the end goal.

There are countless hockey families shooting in the dark at these things...it's what propels the the ugly part of hockey.

Someday I'll post about our dealings with player agencies. Good lord. U-G-L-Y.

So as kids turn 17, for a lot of them in club hockey, they kinda hit the end of the road.

Hockey advancement opportunities just kinda disappear.

I mean, sure, you can keep paying top dollar ($10k+ per season) to play...but the chances of moving up evaporate. A lot of really solid hockey players, wisely, hang 'em up at this point.

Besides the guys that are NHL bound -- every player hits this milestone at one point or another.

Everytime I see a parent post online about it being the end of the line, it makes me sad and proud at the same time.

Sad cause I know that day will eventually come for my kids and it's almost become part of our identity so it's going to hit hard...but proud at the same time that none of them seem to be near that level of finality yet.

Sheesh -- we've seen kids forced out of the game as they age up to peewee?! So, yeah, I'm proud of my kids for continuing to be solidly on the tracks and heading upward still.

But this one parent, in his "farewell" post, epitomized everything I try to "expose" on this website.

Truth be told -- his son just couldn't compete at the level anymore.

Decent player but wasn't fast enough, didn't have the compete level, his former size advantage no longer existed and, frankly, from the stands, it appeared he didn't want it anymore. It wasn't fun for him.

And I love that his dad expressed how hard it was for his son to not be attending tryouts and to accept that hockey was, at a competitive level, over. Good kid too -- he'll be successful outside of hockey, zero debate there.

But then he went on to boast about all of the recruiting offers his son was still receiving from NCDC, NAHL, Academies, and even "personal" invites from NCAA D1 coaches in an attempt to broadcast how great at hockey his son really still is.

Dad goggles shouldn't still be a thing in this age group.

It's the classic, "Yeah, he coulda gone pro if he wanted to..." and actually believing it.

Don't be that parent.

I should just share a screen shot of my son's email inbox... The number of teams he's been "spotted" by is crazy. Especially considering he only scores maybe 3 goals per season. It's all BS, though.

I don't think the MCN Senators (who?) actually know who my kid is. They'll take him sight unseen if I plunk down a few grand to play some rando tournament in Scandanavia with them.

Odessa Jackelopes? NJ Titans? South Kent? El Paso Rhinos? Boston Hockey Academy? Performance Hockey Group? Michigan State?

Those "invites" rolled in just this afternoon.

Don't buy into any of that stuff.

Monetization. Remember?

In almost every instance, they just want your money...not your player.

And, you know, social media posts like that one above get all of the comments and likes from acquaintances that don't know anything about the reality of the situation.

Not gonna lie, I'm guilty of it too -- I'll put something up on social media about my kid doing something in a game and then one of my parents' friends (in their 70's or 80's) will comment something like "Can't wait to see him in the NHL!" and then a ton more people pile on with ridiculous comments that are probably genuine...but so off base at the same time.

I wish you could see my eyes roll.

The kid is 6. He scored an own goal on his own team. That's not a good thing. It was supposed to be funny.

He's NOT going to the show.

But that's exactly the type of non-sense attention I was seeking just over a month ago in our quest to get one of the "big" tournaments on the EP Profiles.

The people who are wow'ed by stuff like that aren't the people your player should be seeking to wow.

So, wrapping this all up.

Don't feel like you're missing out by declining tournaments during the off-season.

If there's nothing in it for your player...it's not worth paying a premium to participate in.

Ignore the gung-ho families pressing everyone to do everything.

Good news -- their players tend to be out of hockey before long. Probably more due to burnout than talent, honestly.

Don't chase feathers in the cap that are only beautiful to people who don't know what they're looking at.

I already know this...but it helps to say it to myself every now and then.

This whole website, honestly, is for me to reflect -- hey dumbass, keep it grounded.

Points are a big one for me and a recurring theme on this site... I even hear "experts" in scouting circles talk about points and how important they are and how it's a measurement on performance.

My kid with the most points...is my least talented player and has the lowest ceiling.

Watch a single shift of each one of my kids playing and you can instantly tell how much their ceilings vary...and it most definitely does not align with their point production.

The Elite Prospects page is super important, yes, but the numbers on it are not.

What carries a player upward are the programs and coaches they play for -- every single player in the NHL will tell you that.

It's not about the point total or summer tournaments or camp invites -- it about the player's committment level and how much exposure their current coach and program provides to move them upward.

No player "gets there" based on their stats alone or a single great weekend at a tournament.

It's the contacts you make that often lift players higher than their outward talent.

Playing at the highest level you can, where you're still a contributor, and with the staff behind the bench on your side...well, that's the way to do it.

Oh, and practice too.

Working really hard and practicing a ton is essential.

But that should be obvious!

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