Re: 2009-2010 Top U19 Teams
If you’re a parent or player and are willing to drive three hours a day so your kid can play on Assabet instead of some crummy local team up in Vermont, then I think that is far more of a commitment then getting to go to a prep school. And it’s a commitment that is much more deserving of being rewarded too. Getting to go to a boarding school is a privilege, not some ongoing testament of dedication that exhausts the player and their family. Not everyone can afford the price tag on prep schools and the advantages, both athletically and academically, that come with it.
That’s why, realistically, boarding schools are not a youth hockey program. It’s not about top talent it’s about unfair advantages in a youth sport. I mean can’t those snotty privileged prep kids have their parents buy them a different national title?
You are misinformed, if you think that every kid that attends a prep school comes with a silver spoon in their mouth and that there are no sacrifices. With regards to NAHA, many of the girls come from no traditional hockey areas and come from middle class families, that make sacrifices so that their daughters can have opportunities not available in their home areas. These same girls give up some of the everyday experiences of high school to pursue their college dreams.. One person's sacrifice is another person's piece of cake experience. I would say that on average a place like NAHA has more students from non traditional hockey places then most of the other schools in the NE area.
Texas and Alaska are two very large states and hockey is farther than a couple of hours. Girls from Austin and Houston would have to drive at least 4 hours one way to practice with other girls in the DFW area ( the only place where there is one girls prep team) El Paso is 8 hours one way. Alaska is in the same boat. Girls from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, NewMexico, and Arizona have little opportunities to play and practice with girls in their area for the most part. at the 19U level, let alone competitive teams. The closest 19U level teams in the south are, Washington, DC area and Dallas Ft Worth. The closest teams for the Western states are in California, Colorado, or Canada. So should all of these girls just give up playing hockey?
Again, those parents who send their girls to prep schools from all of these states, DO make sacrifices and I can guarantee without a doubt, the majority of them are not rolling in the dough with a bunch of expendable income.