MyHockey Development

MyHockey Development

The world is a ruthlessly competitive place. Athletics amplifies it to a whole another level. For over a decade, a company has grown to become the leader in ranking youth hockey teams across North America. MyHockeyRankings has become an indispensable tool in some facets of the game, but has become a growing tumor in others, to no fault of their own.

It is safe to say that parents always want what they believe is best for their children. Unfortunately, that comes with two caveats, one is that the “best” is very subjective, and that subjectivity may be seen through rose-colored glasses. While “MHR” has helped us at Elite Amateur Sports try and create the best possible brackets for our youth hockey tournaments in Michigan, it has created a rat race and unhappiness amongst the ranks of youth hockey.

MyHockeyRanking came out at the end of last year stating that it would no longer be ranking teams under the U12 age designations. The governing body of Michigan Youth Hockey even retweeted this announcement applauding the decision, because now teams, clubs, and coaches won’t be judged solely by a ranking, and more by the development of its players.

The teams who win titles, are ranked the highest, may not be the best choice for a family. Teams who are the most expensive don’t offer the best training, coaches, and environment. Sometimes those atmospheres breed toxicity. The pressure to be the best player and play on the best teams has gotten out of hand. Many players often become discouraged by the pressure and leave the game. It has become a very sad sight to behold watching numbers fall across the country.

We at EAS support development over rankings. Like we mentioned earlier, MHR is a great tool for us to help keep the game fun, and we hope many of you reading this take the rankings as a grain of salt as well. October has had an amazing start with our Boo series, and we look forward to the Silver and Girls tournaments that round out the month, as well as the Fall Shootout that kicks off November. Make sure to register early,especially for Hockey Fights Cancer! We hope to see you soon!