Let the Games Begin…The Hockey money game that is!
Huh, just sitting here enjoying having my player home for the summer, oh wait summer has not even started, but oh boy have the phone calls started. You know the calls that start the day your allowed to start contacting players for next season. Oh and the bullshit flies.
Here is my favorite so far this recruiting season. Receiving an email that says, if you want the spot on our team you need to sign your contract and send in $2500 deposit by April 30. Ummm, NO! trust me, if we choose you in August, not April, not only will you give us a spot, you will gladly take my money. The other calls I love is from coaches asking us to come to camps and there are many, like we have unlimited funds to attend camps that only fund your spring time paycheck.
When does the madness stop? You know when? When parents say enough is enough and we stop believing the lies and use the power of our money. I call for Hockey Parents to UNITE! I often toss around the idea of creating an organization where parents can get real advice and a place to come to hear the truth. A place to come when you get ripped off and lied to and real action is taken. If enough of us unite, our voices will be heard! There is power in our money, where we spend it and how we spend it. I have done a lot of research over the years in Junior Hockey and I have been had many times too, it is not pretty sometimes. If I can help one family not make a mistake, I will and have helped them.
Had a mom call me the other day and say, I am nervous that my kid is not attending a lot of camps. I explained to her, that it is not about the number of camps it is about the quality of camps. If you are not personally invited to a main camp, legitimately invited, then it is a waste, it is simply a funding of someone’s pockets. If you are invited to a camp, you need to ask how many spots are left on that team, does your player have a legit chance of making it? These are some of the things you must ask yourself and the person on the other end of the phone.
If you are made promises by a coach, write them in your contract with consequences. I am so tired of seeing contracts signed and no consequences for the teams to be held accountable. If you are told your player will be playing on the Elite team, put it in the contract. Cover yourselves in writing. This way, when they try to place your player on their lower team, you call them out on it. Put monetary consequences in the contract. We need to start standing up for ourselves collectively, hold teams accountable and stop the lies in their tracks. If we all start doing it, we will be heard. The legitimate teams should have no problems with this. The liars will balk at it. If they don’t like what you write in your contract, move on.
The games have begun….
Hockey Mom.
