Happy Monday boys and girls. Did everyone have a good weekend at camp? Or were you so busy answering all the phone calls and emails from pay to play teams you couldn’t think?
Well, its that time of year. What time is that you ask? Its desperation time.
Those pay to play teams, ummmmm yeah, you know, like ones that don’t offer crap to players, or the ones who simply cant recruit are hitting the panic button.
I know its only the start of the second week of June, and most teams are just beginning to shape their rosters. Yes, most teams are just starting to really shape their rosters. So why panic right?
Ummmmmm well yeah. Ummmm its about their own leagues over expanding just way the hell to much. Yep, no better way to say you don’t care about your league member than to over expand and dilute the player pool for everyone at the expense of receiving that awesome franchise fee!
So yeah, there are a bunch of teams in the US and Canada already hitting the button. I am not just talking about Tier III here either kids, its the same for some Tier II pay to play teams.
The first one to go down…….
The Wooster Oilers team that was jumping from the Minnesota Junior League to the USPHL Mid West. Yes its true. Looks like they found out that having two Tier III teams in one building, in the same town is pretty hard to do. That and recruiting fifty kids to pay all the bills wasn’t exactly a small task either.
Wooster will not be alone though. You can count on that. There are at least 15 other teams we are aware of that are already struggling and stooping to desperate measures.
Wooster? How’d they come up with the name of that town anyway? Some kid had trouble pronouncing Rooster? But I digress…….
Desperate measures? Yes. You know, like negative recruiting tactics. Talking badly about other teams and other leagues.
Like offering improper scholarships. Improper you ask? Yes, discounting fee’s to match other team offers, or offering free rides while the other players are paying the bills. Sounds unfair to those paying players doesn’t it?
That’s because it is unfair to offer discounts. Can teams offer those discounts and illegal scholarships? Yep, they sure can. Even though its against NCAA rules for PLAYERS to accept them, teams can still offer them.
Why is that you ask? Well, because USA Hockey has no financial controls in place to regulate the business, and they will never have them because junior hockey is a free enterprise business. Hockey Canada doesn’t have controls in place either. AAU doesn’t as well.
Beyond that though, the NCAA has no authority to even request the books of any team without getting a court order. That’s right.
But…….The NCAA does have the right to go through every players financial records, and every players parents financial records to verify whether or not they received an improper financial benefit. What does that mean? It means the teams are safe no matter what, and only the player is at risk.
But hey, who doesn’t like or want a discount right?
So if you hear a team start talking discount or start slamming their recruiting competition, its a red flag kids. Walk away! You will read about a lot of those teams here in The Death Pool over the coming weeks.
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
