Help with Dallas Youth Hockey Clubs/Associations (Houston, San Antonio: appointed, hotels)

[aeh]

Ok, now that we're moving we have to get the hockey situation cleared up. So I see there are several different hockey associations in Dallas for my 11 and 12 year old boys. Dallas Stars Select, Dallas Jr Hockey Assn, Texas Aces, the Attack, Dallas Scots, as well as all the Dr Pepper Star Centre ice programs which I think are more like house leagues. My one son who played tier one here in Canada and has played for 5 years is competitive and my other son who is 11 is more of a house league player. My house league player enjoys going out there but is not that competitive and he just wants to have fun and we want him to exercise. He's laid back. My other son wants to play and we know hockey is more expensive in Dallas than it is in Canada. I have heard $4000 for a season (we pay about $750 here). What are the differences between all of the clubs? I have checked out their websites and have contacted a few but everyone has their slant on it and the info isn't just spelled out on their websites. I know tryouts in the Dallas area are the second and third weekend of June, but do players try out for more than one team? We don't mind traveling SOME, but would prefer it just be to Austin or Houston etc not to Boston, Chicago, etc. Is anyone familiar with these youth hockey clubs and can explain the differences?
Thanks!

[Spree]

My son played rec at the Farmer's Branch Dr Pepper Star Center. There will be a summer session you can sign your younger son up for (the spring season just started) which will be like 3 practices and 6 or 8 games to meet some kids. In the fall, there is another season that runs from late Sep to March - one practice/week and one game/weekend. I think it's around $600-$700 for that season. The kids also get to play a game at the AA Center in Dallas, this is fun for them and they also get free tickets to one Dallas Stars game and one Ranger's game. There was a tournament in Feb the boys participated in and and end of the season tournament.

Welcome to the Dr Pepper StarCenter

I don't know much at all about travel, but I have heard that two or three of the major travel teams combined into one. Here's a link about that Ice Jets Hockey Association
This is going to cost around $5k atleast. The coaches are not dads, they are hired and won't have a boy on the team so you pitch in to pay him for his coaching as well as any travel expenses - airline tickets, hotels, gas and food money etc. It all depends on how gung-ho the teams are, some will travel around Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, some will go to Chicago, Atlanta, Boston etc. That is definitely something to inquire about when looking for a team. I think the older the boys get, the more the team likes to travel.

Since you are moving to the Park Cities, here is the link to the Scots Hockey, which are now called the Dallas Scots, I guess Home | Dallas Scots Hockey

I'm not sure if the boys try out for more than one team, I'm sure some do. I wish I knew more about the travel side of it to be of more help.

[aeh]

Thank you, Spree! For my younger son, that rec league you mentioned sounds perfect. I wish my older son would do that, too, but I am guessing he will want to do the travel, if he has the chance. Those fees for just one child's sport sound ridiculous to me, though. Could be used on family vacations, etc or whatever. Thank you for the information. I will check it out. If anyone else has anymore info about any of the associations above, especially the travel, I still welcome your comments.

[HockeyDadof2]

There are lots of different options for travel hockey in the metroplex. I have a son that played High School and for the Aces last season and a son that played for DJHA last season. Tier 1 tryouts will be the weekend of June 7-8 and Tier 2 will be June 14-15, unless you older son is in the Midget age group tryouts will be the end of the month, sorry I don't have those dates handy. The DPSC haven't done a very good job with their house league the last few years, and if your kids are very good at all they will likely find it to be boring. Having said that "travel" hockey in D/FW will be expensive. High School hockey, not being a UIL sport cost around $2000 a year to play. Travel association fees will range from $3000 - $4500 plus travel expenses. The Aces typically only take one or maybe two trips per season, when I say trips I mean airplane trips. All the area teams above house will make a trip or two to either Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Tulsa or Louisianna. Those are overnight trips that most people drive to. I am on the board of one of the travel associations and volunteer (wife says too much) for the NTXHL (North TeXas Hockey League). Let me know if you have any more specific questions.

Edited to add: Hockey is much more expensive here in large part because the rinks are "for profit" and the Dallas Stars while they don't have a real monopoly on ice that have a near monopoly, in the northern US and in Canada most of the rinks are municipal rinks, and the ones that aren't municipal have to compete with them. Here we pay about $400 an hour for a sheet of ice.

Not that this has anything to do with your question but here is a link to a story the local news did on my youngest son's team two seasons ago.

Youth Leagues Making Mark On Ice - Video - KXAS | Dallas

[aeh]

This is excellent info and just what I needed to know. That was our concern with the DPSC. So, is it normal that players tryout for more than one team? How can all of the tryouts be the same day? What time are the tryouts? My oldest son is a 95 (bantam minor). I can't seem to find this info. Thanks also for explaining why it is so expensive. I am assuming tryout for, say, DJHL would be at one rink and Texas Aces etc, would be at another rink, all on the same day. Texas Aces is less travel, right? Do we need to sign up to register or do we just show up? Thanks for the great info.

[HockeyDadof2]

Originally Posted by aeh

This is excellent info and just what I needed to know. That was our concern with the DPSC. So, is it normal that players tryout for more than one team? How can all of the tryouts be the same day? What time are the tryouts? My oldest son is a 95 (bantam minor). I can't seem to find this info. Thanks also for explaining why it is so expensive. I am assuming tryout for, say, DJHL would be at one rink and Texas Aces etc, would be at another rink, all on the same day. Texas Aces is less travel, right? Do we need to sign up to register or do we just show up? Thanks for the great info.

Are you going to be in Dallas soon? I would suggest talking to all the coaches of the 95 teams before making a decision as to which team(s) you want to tryout for. Tryout times haven't been announced yet but typically yes you will be able to tryout for multiple teams. However with the number of associations there are here, there will be some overlap. Aces is less travel, and they are a great association. You can walk in to tryouts, but most will offer early sign ups on their websites at a slightly reduced cost. Tryouts are usually $50-$75 per team and that includes a couple of ice times, ie.. an hour Saturday, an hour Sunday, and an hour on say Tuesday. For lack of a better descriptor "unknown kids" really need to skate with the coach before the tryout. Most will have skates prior to tryouts.

[aeh]

Yes, we will be in Dallas the first week of June. I enjoyed watching the broadcast of your son's old hockey team. Thank you.

[HockeyDadof2]

The Aces have posted their tryout times. I would highly suggest talking to the coaches prior to tryouts. I am not extremely familiar with the Aces coaches at the '95 level. However, Bill Mersch is a great guy and one of my sons did play for him on a summer team. You can't really guage a coach during the summer session. Bob Johnson's team at DJHA will easily be a top team next season. They were 3rd at the Tier 2 nationals last season, and he will be able to add more talent this season with the reduction from 2 to 1 Tier 1 team this season. Lucas Reid, also at DJHA, is a great coach from everything I have heard. As far as the Scots Bantam coaches, if your son can make the AA team Sergey is a great coach. He is rough around the edges and he expects his players to give 100% if they don't they will sit and he is a screamer. Different kids respond different ways to different coaching styles. I have one son that responds well to that type of coaching and the other would not. Trevor Hanas at the Icejets is a great coach, kids really seem to respond well to him. I hope I haven't muddied the water for you. If you want more information about MY TAKE on some of these coaches send me a pirvate message and I will send you my cell phone number. There are other organizations as well.

[HockeyDadof2]

Did you ever decided who they were going to tryout for?

[dfrance]

Hello to AEH & the others,

I coach house league teams at the Farmers Branch Starcenter. To Mr AEH, I would like to say 1st welcome to Dallas. I am a Yankee who moved to Texas 25 years ago and just couldn't leave. I have raised a couple of hockey loving Texas kids and that makes me smile.

Last year, I coached Bantam & Midget house league teams. The Midget team I coached was primarily a group of boys I coached for the last couple of years at the Bantam level & some of them asked me to coach a Midget team. I did and recruited a few guys from various Spring & Summer teams I coached. I also got to coach my son 1 more year before he is off to College.

I coach house league for a couple of reasons. First, there isn't the big pressure to win from parents spending $5-7K for their kids sport! Hockey is a game, these are teenagers and games are supposed to be fun! Otherwise, what is the point? Also, house league is where players of hugely varying skills can play together and all can get better. The "really good" players can help the others get better and all of them participate (at least on my teams). In fact, I made my Midgets come to a few Bantam practices to help my Bantams get better. It did not work out as well as I hoped, but they tried!

Last year's Bantams were a real challenge and I am not coaching that age range this coming season. Next year I will and I would welcome your younger son to the effort. He sounds like my kind of player. This coming season, I will only coach the midget house team and if your older son has not found enough hockey homes (that break mom & dads bank accounts ), I would love to have a player like him join our team.

You can see a couple video's of last years Midget team's season on You Tube. Search FB Wildcats and you'll find us. We came close and felt disappointed at the results. All I will promise you, your wife and your son is that he will have fun. We will always try to win more games than we lose because winning is more fun than losing. Regardless of what happens, we will try to find a way to have fun.

House league sign-up is just getting started if you are interested.

Coach Dave