It is that time of year ladies and gentlemen. Facebook messages and emails start rolling in about all the great Tier 3 or “pay to play Tier II” programs that are running on fumes. Its the end of September and while really good organizations are playing and getting ready for season start showcases, some teams are already preparing to be killed off.
So, without any further delay these are the Top Ten Signs your team may already be preparing to fold;
10. Your Coach calls you a week after you sign and asks you if you have any friends that can “afford” to play on the team! Not if you have any “qualified” friends, but those that can “afford” to pay. But hey, its all about the kids right folks! LMAO
9. You ask the Coach how many players will be at camp and he says thirty or forty. When you show up to camp there are 19 goalies! Not kidding, it happened.
8. You are just about ready to sign the contract, and they repeat for the third time; “All tuition has to be paid in full before October 1st”. That kids is the sign of a team that doesnt have enough of their own money invested to insure that it will be a legitimate team.
7. The arena listed as your home rink, still doesnt have any of your home games or practice schedule on the public ice schedule and you are due to report next week.
6. Your coach tells you the team has to practice at 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM because youth hockey wont help with better practice times. Yep, nothing better than saying the youth hockey people want nothing to do with us, and we are too lazy to get up and practice at 10:00 AM.
5. Your team talks about great hotels, travel and meals while on the road. Then you discover the pictures of 5 players in a room on Facebook, pictures of the school bus used for travel on last years players pages, and photos of all the hot and ready pizza’s in team photos from last season. Yep, that’s some first class junior hockey there kids.
4. Your team talks about how great the billeting situation is during recruiting, but they cant tell you who the prospective billet family is before you get there.
3. The team has a local pub as a sponsor and all players 19 and over are welcome to come in for a free beer after each home game! Nothing says quality program like one that promotes teen drinking.
2. The team again talks about how great the billeting situation is during recruiting and when you arrive in town you meet the billet mom and billet daughter from last year and both are pregnant from the same former player! This is not a joke. No, I am not laughing. This is not a joke.
1. You look on the website for announcements of player signings, and news about the team in the community during the summer. When you go to the roster page you find the first three forwards have been announced and listed as McFlury, McMuffin, and McNugget. Ok, that was a joke, but really, some teams are so desperate they are making up players on rosters that dont even exist.
Its silly season boys and girls. Send us more of your stories please. Without you readers this stuff wouldn’t come out. Yeah, and in case your wondering all but number 1 actually happened this year already.
