“Play where you’re wanted, and play where you’re going to play” are the famous worlds of Air Force Academy’s head coach Frank Serratore.

We’re deep in the middle of tryout season for AAA hockey (already!) and pre-draft camps and chances at a Junior career are fast approaching. In the midst of all the summer showcases, AA team and high school tryouts will start. Kids are stressed out. Parents are stressed out. Where is my kid going to play? Will this make or break him or her? Can I take another year of this?

To complicated things, the youth hockey landscape in Colorado is more muddled, confusing and uncertain than ever. You’re getting marketing and promises from every direction. Who will develop me or my kid the most? Who will get us the furthest? Do I even want to stay in this crazy state?

Whether you’re a rec player, or a top 200 in your birth year, there are some simple guidelines that can help make you feel better about your decisions.

Development is key

If your end goal is to play at the highest level you can, Coach Serratore’s advice sums it up: Play where you are liked, and most importantly, where you are going to play. In other words, your development needs to be front and center, and no amount of practice and off-ice development can substitute for minutes in a game.

I like to advise kids to make sure they’re going to play on one of the top two line, especially if you’re moving away. Some coaches will say top three for forwards, but I’m a bit risk adverse on this one. Take an objective look at the team and what the chances on that you’ll be on a top line. Who are the returners? Who is new coming in and have they been recruited by the team? Deep down you may think, or know, that you can compete at that level, but if the team is stacked with returners and some top players who put up big numbers in the previous year, you are going to have a hard time (impossible in many cases) convincing the coaches that you are better than those players.

If you want to advance as far as you can in your hockey career, you have to get as much playing time as possible. Not only is this how you develop as a player, but it’s also how you get exposure. Which player is going to get more attention? One who get two shifts a game for a top AAA team in the country, or one who is the top AA goal scorer in their region? And don’t buy into the “role player” narrative. Every player that plays NCAA, even role players, were the top goal scorer on their youth hockey teams for most of their careers.

Don’t get distracted by shiny objects

I know, I know. Top teams and leagues with a lot of resources get a lot of attention. It’s the cool thing, and making one of these teams makes you feel good about yourself — and we all know confidence is a huge factor in sport development.

Yet you have to remember that everyone needs a third and fourth line to fill out their team, and the higher level you get, the less those lines play. If you want to say you’re a champion and play on a championship team, and don’t really care about your development (many high level players don’t aspire to play beyond youth hockey) then go ahead and take what is offered. There is nothing wrong with this approach as long as you are realistic with your expectations. Just remember, even if you’re personally, recruited that doesn’t mean you are going to be a top player for that team.

If you’re looking at playing Juniors, the acronyms USHL and NAHL carries more allure and prestige than NCDC, but is that really what is best for your development? Will you get more college offers being a top NCDC East points getter, or a third line NAHL player who gets no special teams time?

Be wary of the marketing

Make no bones about it, these teams exist to make money. Youth hockey is big business. At the higher levels, their goal is to win first and foremost, not develop. Promises of advancement based on connections, employed scouts and exposure are all part of their marketing in order for you to think they are the best option.

That’s not to say they may not be the best option for you or your kid, but the reality again, is that you have to be good to get somewhere. No connection, big name, junior scout or money can get you where you want to be if you’re not a great hockey player. No coach, no matter how connected, can get advance an average player. If they do, it’s called a favor. That’s how it works. If you’re a youth hockey player, you need goals on your Elite Prospects page (scouts are onto the scorekeeper parent padding assists or pushy players chiming up in the locker room, so they take those with a grain of salt.)

There are no miracle solutions, and there are no shortcuts. And unfortunately, those one-stop-shop or all-inclusive programs are no guarantee you are getting the best development and advancement. I hear so many stories about families putting all their resources into a single program for team skills, off-season training and camps in hopes of making the next level in the organization, only to become disillusioned when their player doesn’t advance far or worse yet, gets cut.

So again, play where you’re going to play, and supplement with the best outside skills coaches, individual sports psychologists, strength coaches, etc. you can if you want to get the best development.

Don’t get caught up in the letters

I know this one is hard, especially since it seems like you get labeled if you’re considered a AA player. But some of the players with the most success and longevity in the sport play AA nearly their entire career. They burn out less often, have fun and often get as many games and practices as their AAA peers.

It is true that the competition may not be as stiff at the AA level, but again, if you’re playing exponentially more in games, you’re getting far more development opportunities. Some of my most successful clients played AA until their second year of 18U and played only half a year at AAA before getting recruited by a Junior team and ultimately playing NCAA hockey.

Don’t fall for the “Exposure” line

We live in the modern age of technology. Scouts don’t need to travel long distances to see who the best players are. Every GM or director I’ve talked to says they spend a huge majority of the day with Elite Prospects pulled up in a window on their computer. They hear a name, they go look at the stats and decide if that player is worth looking at further.

If your numbers look good and you play for a AAA or junior team, they’ll go to RinkNet, InStat or a myriad of other sites to view video and see if it’s worth going out to take a further look. If they happen to be at a showcase and are watching your team, you’re not going to have many shifts to show off a subjective skill to a college coach who may be there to watch the one defensemen they are interested in if you’re a fourth, or perhaps even third, liner. You want exposure? Don’t be just good, be great. Be the best player and get the most goals on your team. That gets teams talking and scouts seeking you out.

As I mentioned in a previous article, going to a Junior’s team’s camp to “get on their radar,” is a myth. Things change so fast in the world of youth hockey — a top player at 14U may have fallen to average at 16U. Junior teams change coaching staffs like underwear, and chances are two years after you went to that Junior camp the entire organization has turned over. They see literally hundreds of kids each off-season, and with the average age of junior players at 19 years old, the only kids on the radar are a couple the are junior ready, or they expect to draft that year.

Phew! That was a lot longer than I expected, but hopefully you read enough to alleviate some of the panic and uncertainly this time of year.

If you have any questions, I’m always here for a chat.