Tag: usa-girls-hockey

Insights on Preparing for the USA Hockey Girls 15’s and 16/17’s Camps

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date July 17, 2024

I have paid close attention to the USA Hockey development camps for the last 3 years and written quite a few posts on the subject. As the USA Hockey Girls 16/17’s Camp kicks off this week and the 15’s Camp starts next week, I thought I would put together some information and links that might be helpful to players who might be going for the first time.

Expectations for Development Camp

By now, all players have been training to prepare for their week of development camp. Some parts are more important than others. After you arrive, you are being evaluated by all the coaches, all the time. At the same time, unless you show careless disregard for others or basic unprofessional behavior, basic interactions with coaches won’t make much of a difference. Focus on having fun and learning and not just trying to butter up to the coaches.

Off-ice testing has little to no impact on your evaluation. The only way it may impact you is if you are significantly above or below the standards for your age group. Even at the NHL level, little correlation has been found between combine testing results and performance. The only commonly accepted metric is that some of the vertical and horizontal jumping measurements can be connected to on-ice speed. But that is just one contributing attribute in the making of a professional hockey player.

“Based on just results, the combine has little to no bearing on how successful a player will be in the NHL or elsewhere.”

How you play in the games is the most important element in how you will be evaluated. Do the best you can with your on-ice performance.

Another item to keep in mind, is that many of the coaches working the camp definitely have dual objectives. Of course they want to be involved in USA Hockey and have their personal coaching development agenda – at the same time, many recruiting relationships are formed at these events that continue on after the camp. It is quite common to hear how the recruiting journey of a player started when they met their future college coach at one of these events.

For 15’s Camp Players:

The Girls 15’s Camp is the first introduction for most players to the USA Hockey National Development Camp process. I wrote about attending the camp as a parent back in 2021:

What I learned attending the 2021 USA Hockey 15’s Girl’s Development Camp Part I

What I learned attending the USA Hockey 15s Girls Development Camp Part II

What I learned attending the USA Hockey 15s Girls Development Camp Part III

Unfortunately, there is no way to make the 18’s camp from the 15’s camp. If you didn’t make the 18’s camp straight from District Camp, then you will need to wait to next year to be considered again for 18’s no matter how well you perform at the 15’s camp. The only exception might be for a goaltender – but that is highly unusual.

Secondly, keep in mind there is about a 60% chance a player for the 15’s camp does not get invited back next year to either the 16/17’s or 18’s camp. It’s just how the numbers work as you get older. So don’t take anything for granted and appreciate the time in Oxford, Ohio – because this might be your only USA Hockey National Camp you attend.

Make no mistake, you are being scouted by college coaches at this event. I had a DI coach tell me that they identified a 2024 recruit at the 15’s camp. This player was on a lower ranked AAA team that did not get much exposure, but their performance at the camp got the player on the schools radar for the coming season.

For 16/17’s Camp Players:

Last year I documented the event as it was going on:

A Few Thoughts After the First Two Days of the 2023 USA Hockey Girls 16/17 Development Camp

More Thoughts on the 2023 USA Hockey 16/17 Girls Development Camp

As I’ve commented in the past, the process is not perfect. In my opinion, there is not enough data-driven elements included in the evaluation of players. I have seen players with lots of points in the games get passed over for selection, and I’ve seen players with few (or no) points get moved on. There is also clearly a bias to offensive oriented defenders over stay-at-home ‘defense-first’ players.

These two analyses provide a good perspective on the level of play needed to be selected to move on to the 18’s Camp.

Analyzing the USA Hockey Girls 16/17 Camp Defense Selections for the U18 Camp

Analyzing the USA Hockey Girls 16/17 Camp Forward Selections for the U18 Camp

My apologies to goalies, but I don’t have the background to evaluate the goalie selections, other than to look at the online stats such as GAA and Save %. But I would not trust those statistics, because the folks recording those numbers are not professional statisticians.

There are many attributes that factor into players being selected to advance, but also recognize that the relationship with your coaches and how much they ‘like’ you can play a role. I know of a couple of examples where relationships seemed to have either helped or hurt players being chosen.

Also, keep in mind there were 6 players from last year’s 18’s Camp back competing at the 16/17s Camp. Those players had to have been pretty good to even have been selected last year – so there is going to be a lot of competition to be one of the few players selected to move on to the 18’s camp.

From a recruiting perspective, almost every DI school and many DIII school will make an appearance during the week. Some will prefer to come for the early few days when players are still fresh and the quality of hockey is highest. Other coaches will arrive late in the week when they can watch the last day or two and then stick around for the 15’s camp.

Before You Go – Let College Coaches Know you’ll be at the USA Hockey Development Camp

If you still have not yet committed to a college team, take the opportunity to let the coaches at the schools you are interested in know you’ll be there. Make sure to update (or create) your free, beautiful Champs App hockey profile. Then use the Champs App Messaging Tool, to save time and ensure accuracy when sending coaches your hockey profile, team information and game schedule for the week.

Tags girls-hockey, hockey-development, Player Development Camps, tag, usa-girls-hockey, womens-college-hockey

2024 Girls Hockey Player Development

A Quick Post about the Selections for the USA U18 Girls Player Development Camp

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date June 14, 2024

Each year, USA Hockey hosts a development camp in early August for the top 76 female U18 players – this year for the 2007, 2008, and 2009 birth years (40 Forwards, 28 Defense, and 8 Goalies).

Last month, the initial 63 players were named to the camp. With the final 13 players added at the end of the 16/17s girls camp which takes place a couple of weeks earlier in mid-July. It is my understanding that players from the late-July 15’s girls camp are still not eligible for the U18 camp, regardless of how they performed at the 15’s camp (much to the chagrin of many players and parents). This year, 9 15’s (2009 birth year) players were invited directly to the U18 camp (there were 5 15’s in 2023 and 6 in 2022). So, players not invited as part of the initial U18 list do not have the opportunity to prove themselves worthy at the 15’s camp.

The one key insight from the players invited to the U18 Girls Camp for 2024 is that there were a total of 6 2007 & 2008 birth year players (out of 29 total players from those age groups) who attended the U18 Camp last year, but were not part of the 54 players (from 2007 and 2008) invited directly this year. Instead, those 6 players will need to prove themselves at the 16/17s Camp and earn their invite to the U18s Camp. One way to look at it is, (according to USA Hockey evaluators) there were at least 48 other players from their birth year who showed they were better this year than the 6 players from last year. Another way to look at it is that players should understand that they cannot take anything for granted. No spot is guaranteed.

Note: This is not the first time players have had to start at the 16/17s Camp after participating in the U18 Camp the year before. Last year, at least 2 “downgraded” players did indeed get selected to move on from 16/17s to attend the U18s camp.

Tags girls-hockey, hockey-development, player development camp, Player Development Camps, tag, usa hockey, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey

2024 2024 College Hockey Recruiting Girls Hockey USA Hockey Nationals Women's College Hockey

Part II – USA Hockey Nationals Team Selection & Seedings – Girls U16 Tier I

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 26, 2024

This is Part II about the analysis of USA Hockey 2024 Nationals Girls Tier I Hockey playoffs taking place in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Here is Part I – Girls Tier I 14U

This analysis look at the teams selected for the Girls Tier I U16 playoffs. Given the importance of being seen at Nationals from recruiting perspective, I examined the at-large team selections and the seedings.

As a reminder: If you are heading to the Tier 2 girls playoffs, you can still be scouted by DI coaches. This week I spoke with a DI coach who will be in East Lansing and will be looking for the top players from smaller regions that can’t easily play for a Tier I team.

Girls 16U Selections

Below you can see the ranking of the 16 teams who will be playing at the 16U Tier I Nationals. The 3 highlighted teams (Minnesota Magazine, Massachusetts Spitfires and Minnesota Hardware) are the at-large invitations, then there is the host team (Florida Alliance) and the other 12 are the district champions.

The USA Hockey 2024 National Guidebook provides the following description for how they decide on the at-large teams and seedings:

Unlike the U14 Tier 1 Selections, all of the at-large teams made sense since they were the 3 highest ranked teams on My Hockey Rankings that didn’t win their district. The only thing which is confusing to me is that lack of consistency of Minnesota Elite League teams accepting at-large invitations. It seems that some highly ranked teams do and some don’t attend nationals. I will need to research this further.

As far as the last team to miss the playoffs, the Mid Fairfield CT Stars had a 95.57 which was 0.93 below the last at-large team, Minnesota Hardware. Similar to the U14s, that is a pretty large difference in ratings (in other age groups I’ve seen a rating difference of only 0.01 or 0.02 between bubble teams) and thus there shouldn’t be much concern about the Stars not being selected based on their rating.

Girls 16U Seedings

For the U16 age groups, the seedings are non-controversial. They match identically to the MyHockeyRankings sorting of the 16 qualified teams.

However, if the selection committee looked at the last 10 games for each of the top 10 teams (as they appear to do in other age groups), there is a reasonable argument to be made for a re-arranging of the Top 8 teams. Specifically, two of the at-large teams could have been seeded higher. The same for Belle Tire. Especially since those teams’ full-year ratings were so close to the teams above them in the rankings.

The next posts will discuss the USA Hockey Nationals Girls U19 selections and seedings.

Want to be scouted at Nationals? Use Champs App Messaging to quickly & easily let coaches know your game schedule

Let NCAA coaches know you’ll be at Nationals and your game schedule. The Champs App Messaging tool is the fast, easy way to send error-free messages to coaches before and during the event.

You can easily select a coach & email template and the message automatically populates the coach’s info, school and your personal information from your Champs App profile. Pick the Upcoming Events template and the Messaging tool with magically insert your upcoming games at Nationals into the message.

Watch the demo (Desktop Version) (Mobile Version) and try it out today!

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, tag, usa hockey nationals, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey, womens-college-hockey

2024 2024 College Hockey Recruiting Girls Hockey USA Hockey Nationals Women's College Hockey Women's Hockey

Part III – USA Hockey Nationals Team Selection & Seedings – Girls U19 Tier I

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 26, 2024

This is Part III about the analysis of USA Hockey 2024 Nationals Girls Tier I Hockey playoffs taking place in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Here is Part I for U14 and Part II for U16

This analysis look at the teams selected for the Girls Tier I U19 playoffs. Given the importance of being seen at Nationals from recruiting perspective, I examined the at-large team selections and the seedings.

Girls 19U Selections

Below you can see the ranking of the 16 teams who will be playing at the 19U Tier I Nationals. The 4 highlighted teams (East Coast Wizards, NAHA, Team Wisconsin and the Connecticut Polar Bears) are the at-large invitations. Unlike other age groups, there is no U19 team from the Northern Plains district – thus the 4th at-large team. Then there is the host team (Florida Alliance) and the other 11 are the district champions.

The USA Hockey 2024 National Guidebook provides the following description for how they decide on the at-large teams and seedings:

Similar to the the U14 Tier 1 at-large Selections, it is unclear why the Minnesota Empowers and Tradition teams are not at-large teams. Maybe they opted out due to the higher priority of the Minnesota High School hockey playoffs. There is a lack of consistency of Minnesota Elite League teams accepting at-large invitations.

As far as the last team to miss the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pens Elite has a 95.20 rating which is only 0.24 below the last at-large team, the Connecticut Polar Bears. But it seems this is large enough to make the Polar Bears the at-large selection.

Girls 19U Seedings

For the U19 age groups, the seedings do not match the rankings. Shattuck St Mary’s is ranked #1, but seeded #2 behind Bishop Kearney Selects. East Coast Wizards are ranked higher, but seeded lower than the Boston Jr Eagles. And NAHA is ranked higher than the Mid Fairfield Stars, but seeded lower. As described in the USA Hockey Guide above, it is likely a combination of head-to-head and Last 10 Games that were factors in these seedings.

Specifically, BK Selects beat Shattuck in their only game back in October, and but Shattuck still had a much higher rank in their last 10 games (see below). In addition, S-SM has a 0.65 higher rating than BK, which is quite large. So it seems the head-to-head was the primary factor in the flipping of positions. I suspect this will have impact the motivations of both teams should they meet in the playoff round.

The Boston Jr Eagles won the Massachusetts district, so it seems to make sense that they would be higher than the Boston Jr Eagles.

For NAHA and Mid Fairfield, being seeded #8 vs #9 doesn’t really make a material difference, since they will be in the same division. It just impacts the order of games and who is the home team when they play each other. The two teams never played each other during the season, but Mid Fairfield has the higher rating over the last 10 games.

Here are the links to Part I – Tier I Girls 14U and Part II – Tier I Girls 16U

Want to be scouted at Nationals? Use Champs App Messaging to quickly & easily let coaches know your game schedule

Let NCAA coaches know you’ll be at Nationals and your game schedule. The Champs App Messaging tool is the fast, easy way to send error-free messages to coaches before and during the event.

Watch the demo (Desktop Version) (Mobile Version) and try it out today!

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, tag, usa hockey nationals, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey, womens-college-hockey

2024 2024 College Hockey Recruiting Girls Hockey USA Hockey Nationals Women's College Hockey

USA Hockey Nationals Team Selection & Seedings – U14 Tier I Girls

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date March 25, 2024

Being selected to go to Tier I Nationals is a big deal beyond just competing in the national playoffs to win a championship. Almost every NCAA DI women’s hockey program sends at least one coach to scout players and watch the best teams compete against each other. It gives U.S. players another great opportunity to be seen. While there are many elite players that play for teams that don’t end up qualifying for Nationals – it isn’t the end of the world for them, there are still many other opportunities to be seen (e.g. showcases, USA Hockey camps etc.). However, playing at Nationals is an excellent opportunity and timing to get seen. While the process to make Nationals for District winners and the host team is clear, the at-large selection process is a little murkier. This analysis looks at the at-large selections and how the teams were seeded.

I recently wrote about the selections for the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey playoffs and how the selections and seedings compared to their MyHockeyRankings ratings. Unlike the NCAA, the USA Hockey National Playoffs actually uses MyHockeyRankings to help select the at-large teams for both youth and girls divisions. On the youth side, in addition to the 12 district winners, there are typically 4 at-large teams selected for Tier I (AAA). On the girl’s side, they also have 12 district winners. However, this is the final year where the girls host team gets an automatic spot in addition to that districts winner. So there are two teams from the Southeast district this year. Next year there will also be 4 at-large teams for Tier I girls.

Candidly, I haven’t taken the time to learn how the Tier II selections are made for Nationals. And I certainly don’t understand how the High School Girls teams are selected – because the last couple of winners have not really played high school hockey teams for their regular schedule, but mostly against other Tier I (AAA) classified teams. So this 3-part analysis will focus solely on the 14U, 16U and 19U Girls Tier I selection and seeds for next week’s USA Hockey 2024 Nationals taking place in Wesley Chapel, Florida.

Note: If you are heading to the Tier 2 girls playoffs, you can still be scouted by DI coaches. This week I spoke with a DI coach who will be in East Lansing and will be looking for the top players from smaller regions that can’t easily play for a Tier I team.

Girls 14U Selections

Below you can see the ranking of the 16 teams who will be playing at the 14U Tier I Nationals. The 3 highlighted teams (Minnestota Walleye, Assabet Valley and Chicago Mission) are the at-large invitations, then there is the host team (Florida Alliance) and the other 12 are the district champions.

The USA Hockey 2024 National Guidebook provides the following description for how they decide on the at-large teams and seedings:

From a selection standpoint, the only team which is not clear is the Minnesota Lakers not being selected for an at-large spot. The two reasons I can think of are a) the first at-large spot already went to a Minnesota district team (Walleye) so maybe the committee didn’t want to take two at-large teams from the same district. The other might be that I have heard Minnesota players care more about their High School playoffs than USA Nationals, therefore getting re-organized (after their High School season ends_ and the cost to play in Florida may not be appealing to some teams. If someone has more information on these decisions, please feel free to provide more information.

As far as the last team to miss the playoffs (excluding the Lakers), the Bay State Breakers were had a 95.48 which was 0.77 below the last at-large team, Chicago Mission. In my experience, that is a pretty large difference in ratings (in other age groups I’ve seen a rating difference of only 0.01 or 0.02 between bubble teams) and thus there shouldn’t be much concern about the Breakers not being selected based on their rating.

Girls 14U Seedings

Pretty much all the seedings make sense with 2 exceptions:

Minnesota Walleye were ranked #1 according to MHR, but Lovell Academy was given the #1 seed. The two teams never played each other during the season, so that could not be a factor. However, when looking at just the last 10 games for each team, it seems Lovell Academy had a higher rating by 0.3 goals – so that may have been the determining factor in giving Lovell Academy the #1 seed.

2. The Minnesota Green Giants and Philadelphia Jr Flyers were ranked #5 and #6 respectively according to MHR. But the Jr Flyers were given the higher seed. But looking closer, both teams had an identical 95.81 rating. And the Jr Flyers had a 0.3 higher rating over their last 10 games – so this could likely be the determining factor for promoting the Jr Flyers.

The next posts will discuss the USA Hockey Nationals Girls U16 and U19 selections and seedings.

Want to be scouted at Nationals? Use Champs App Messaging to quickly & easily let coaches know your game schedule

Let NCAA coaches know you’ll be at Nationals and your game schedule. The Champs App Messaging tool is the fast, easy way to send error-free messages to coaches before and during the event.

Watch the demo (Desktop Version) (Mobile Version) and try it out today!

Tags college-hockey-recruiting, girls-hockey, tag, usa hockey nationals, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey, womens-college-hockey

2024 Development Camp Women's Hockey

Why U18 National Teams Shouldn’t Only Have Offensive Defenders on their Roster

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date January 24, 2024

Last week, I re-watched the Canada vs Czechia IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship semi-final game. Czechia won the game 4-2 after losing to Canada in the Group A game 8-1. I noticed that two of the Czechia goals were a direct result of major mistakes by the Canadian defenders. I then saw that the shots on goal were heavily in favor of the Canadians when the score was 3-2 at about 43-11 (ended up being 47-12 for Canada).

This got me thinking, how could Canada lose a game that they so clearly dominated in terms of offensive opportunities?

Two thoughts came to mind:

Czechia did an amazing job learning from their group game with Canada and played a defensive structure which minimized Canada’s high risk chances. Czechia then capitalized on the few opportunities they had to score.
Similar to my observations about the USA Hockey U18 selection process, Canada probably puts a bigger emphasis on fielding a team with offensive D than well-balanced defenders. As a result, a couple of defensive mistakes cost them the game.

This is just my hypothesis, I could be completely wrong. And let me be clear, any player that makes the Canada or U.S. U18 teams are exceptional players. They can all skate well, pass well and shoot well. There is no doubt each of them deserved to be on the team. But maybe, they are too similar in their skill set?

When it comes to roster construction, sometimes you need to include one or two 200-foot players to complement the more offensive players. Specifically, there are usually tradeoffs between a great puck handling D with a hard shot vs. someone who is technically better at 2-on-1s, clearing players in front of the net, playing the penalty kill or defending 1-on-1 zone entries. An analogy would be having 7 Erik Karlssons playing defense for a single team – at some point in important games against good teams there will be times you need the D to keep the puck out of your own net. Once again, this is not to say that those highly skilled U18 players aren’t good defenders, but when they go up against the top 2 or 3 forwards on a national team, they will also need to be technically strong on defense.

Let’s look at some data to support why I can understand how a coaching staff would put together a roster with so much offensive power at the U18 level.

2023 IIHF U18 World Champsionship Shot Totals

Canada outshot their opponent by a 6:1 ratio throughout the tournament. They also had over 40 shots per game. I would suspect they felt the team could outscore all opponents as long they didn’t have any major defensive hiccups.

Of course, you are probably asking – weren’t they planning to play the U.S.? Like all Canadian teams, they probably expected and planned to play the U.S. at some point – likely in the gold medal game (given the new format of A/B group play this year, they wouldn’t play each other in group games). So Canada would still need to be prepared to play a high-powered offensive USA Hockey team.

Then I looked at the shot total for the 2023 Under-18 Series which took place in Lake Place between the Canada and USA. Team Canada swept all 3 games against the U.S. team by a combined score of 15-3. Here were the shot totals:

uSA Canada u18 Summer Series SHot Totals

A couple of possible reasons for Canada to justify having highly offensive defenders… Either the felt they could still outscore Team USA and defend well enough to beat them. Or, maybe their D were never tested enough in the USA-Canada Series to expose some of the technical weaknesses against world-class scorers.

So what?

During my experience attending and analyzing multiple USA Hockey camps/events, I have felt that the players being selected have had their offensive abilities overly weighted in the evaluation process. Now, I am fully onboard with most of the high-end, offensive D being the ones being picked. However, including one or two defenders who can also keep the puck out of your own net at critical points of an important game can be the difference between winning and losing in the medal rounds. Having a little more balance on the blue line could be the difference between winning and losing in big games.

Tags girls-hockey, hockey canada, Player Development Camps, tag, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey, womens-hockey

2024 College Hockey Recruiting Development Camp Girl's Showcase Girls Hockey

2024 Girls Hockey Event Calendar

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date November 30, 2023

2024 Girls Hockey Event Calendar

Here is a list of 2024 Girls Hockey Tournaments, Showcases, Development Camps and Summer Camps.

This is a partial list. Feel free to submit a new event using our Feedback Form

Organization	Event	Start Date	End Date	Location	City	Ages
200x85 Tournaments	CCM MLK Girls	1/14/2024	1/16/2024		Massachusetts	12U - 19U AAA/AA
Premier Ice Prospects	Great Lakes Girls Fest	2/2/2024	2/4/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 10U Tier II
Premier Ice Prospects	Motor City Girls Fest	2/2/2024	2/4/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 10U Tier I
JWHL	Challenge Cup 2024	2/17/2024	2/20/2024		Rockville/Arlington, VA	14U, 16U, 19U
OneHockey	OneHockey Connecticut GIRLS	3/8/2024	3/10/2024	DANBURY ICE	Danbury, CT	Girls Tier II (AA) 19U, 16U, 14U, 12U, 10U Girls Tier III (A) 19U, 16U, 14U, 12U, 10U
Pony Tail Tournament	Pony Tail Tournament	3/15/2024	3/17/2024		Baltimore, MD	U10, U12A, U12B, U14A, U14B, U16A, U16B, U19
OS Hockey	2024 OS SPRING FESTIVAL	3/16/2024	3/19/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN
St Cloud State University	St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Camps	3/29/2024	3/30/2024	Herb Brooks National Hockey Center	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Ages 6-16
RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna	Female University Showcase 2024	4/4/2024	4/7/2024	Winfield Arena & RINK Kelowna Training Centre	Kelowna, BC	2005-2009 YOB
Delta Hockey Academy	DHA Female University Showcase	4/9/2024	4/10/2024	Planet Ice	Delta, B.C	2006-2011 YOB
College Hockey Showcases	Spring Break Showcase	4/13/2024	5/15/2024		Fort Meyers, FL	2004-2010 Birth Years
The Rose Series	Cowgirl Shootout	4/18/2024	4/21/2024		Nashville, TN	2012 Birth Years
Showcase Hockey	2024 Minnesota Meltdown AAA Tournament	4/19/2024	4/21/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
200x85 Tournaments	CCM CHI-TOWN SHUFFLE	4/19/2024	4/21/2024		Chicago, IL	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg	Female University Showcase 2024	4/19/2024	4/21/2024	Rink Training Center	Winnipeg, MB	2005-2009 (2010) YOB
Premier Ice Prospects	Hockey Hall of Fame Future Legends	4/24/2024	4/27/2024		Toronto, ON	2012 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	Rush Spring Showcase (Florida)	4/26/2024	4/28/2024	Palm Beach Skate Zone	West Palm Beach, FL	2004-2012 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	PIPs American Dream	5/3/2024	5/5/2024	American Dream	East Rutherford, NJ	2010- 2013 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Selects Training Camp - Notre Dame (Girls)	5/3/2024	5/5/2024		South Bend, IN	2010-2016
OS Hockey	2024 WHITECAPS CUP (HS)	5/3/2024	5/5/2024		MInneapolis, MN	High School
Premier Ice Prospects	Premier Prospects Boston	5/8/2024	5/10/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Boston, MA	2009-2010 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	Premier Prep Prospects	5/9/2024	5/12/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Boston, MA	2009-2012 Birth Years
The Rose Series	Low Country Classic	5/9/2024	5/12/2024		Charleston, SC	2011 Birth Year
The Rose Series	The Battle at the Beach	5/9/2024	5/12/2024		Fort Meyers, FL	2010 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	Top Prospects	5/17/2024	5/19/2024		Jacksonville, FL	2010 - 2013 Birth Year
Showcase Hockey	2024 Independent Classic	5/17/2024	5/19/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Goalie Clinic	5/17/2024			York, PA	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Exposure Clinic	5/18/2024	5/19/2024		York, PA	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	RUSH RISING STARS PRE-COLLEGE SHOWCASE	5/31/2024	6/2/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2010 and 2011 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	RUSH ATOMIC CHALLENGE	5/31/2024	6/2/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2012 and 2013 Birth Years
OS Hockey	PROSPECTS/FUTURES WEEKEND 1 Camp	5/31/2024	6/3/2024	Bloomington Ice Gardens	Minneapolis, MN
Premier Ice Prospects	Western Prospects Camp	6/1/2024	6/3/2024	Kraken Community Iceplex	Seattle, WA	2007-2013 Birth Years
Fierce Edge Athletics	Fierce ID Series - SHOWCASE EVENT	6/2024		Canlan Oshawa	Oshawa, ON	2010-2011 ; 2009-2007 + 06* (GRADUATION YEAR 2025) DIVISION
Ohio State University	MINNESOTA CAMP	6/3/2024	6/7/2024	St. Louis Park Rec Center	St. Louis Park, MN	Grad Years: 2026-2030
RinkSport	SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA Development Camp	6/4/2024	6/7/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	585 PIP Showcase	6/7/2024	6/10/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2007-2009 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	Rush College Showcase	6/7/2024	6/10/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	2006 - 2009 Birth Years
Showcase Hockey	2024 AAA Summer Showdown	6/7/2024	6/9/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Exposure Camp in Newington, CT	6/8/2024	6/9/2024		Newington, CT	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
Ohio State University	YOUTH CAMP	6/10/2024	6/13/2024	OSU Ice Rink	Columbus, OH	U8/U10 and U12 age level
Premier Ice Prospects	PREMIER PROSPECTS COMBINE	6/11/2024	6/14/2024	UPMC Sports Complex	Cranberry, PA	2010 - 2013 Birth Years
North American Female Elite Showcase	The Orion Top Prospects	6/13/2024	6/16/2024		Blaine, MN	2007 - 2012 Birth Years
Fierce Edge Athletics	FIERCE FEMALE HOCKEY TOURNAMENT 2024	6/14/2024	6/16/2024	Canlan Oshawa	Oshawa, ON	U9/ U11 (Tier 1 & Tier 2)/ U13 (Tier 1,Tier 2)
RinkSport	RinkSport College Development Camp	6/15/2024	6/20/2024	Babson College	Boston, MA	2029 High School graduates or earlier
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/17/2024	6/21/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	High School/ Varsity Camp #1 & #2
RinkSport	BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Development Camp	6/20/2024	6/23/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	PIPs Rochester Tournament	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2010 - 2013 Birth Years Tier I (AAA)
North American Premier Women's Showcase	North American Premier Women's Showcase College Division	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Merrimack College Athletics Complex	North Andover, MA	Birth Years 2007-2011 (PG's also Allowed)
Princeton University	GIRLS ICE HOCKEY ELITE CAMP	6/21/2024	6/23/2024	Baker Rink	Princeton, NJ	Entering grades 10-12
Premier Ice Prospects	GIRLS ELITE PROSPECTS CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2011-2013 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	14U PROSPECTS CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2010 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	PROSPECTS GOALIE CAMP	6/23/2024	6/27/2024	Tim Horton's Iceplex	Rochester, NY	2008-2013 Birth Years
College Development Showcase	Girls Camp	6/23/2024	6/25/2024	Ice Den	Hooksett, NH	Players with birth years 2005-2010
The Rose Series	BIOSTEEL WORLD INVITE	6/24/2024	6/30/2024		Toronto, ON	2009 Birth Year
University of Wisconsin	13 and Under Camp	6/24/2024	6/28/2024	LaBahn Arena	Madison, WI	13 and under
RinkSport	WASHINGTON , D. C. Development Camp	6/24/2024	6/28/2024
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/24/2024	6/26/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	10U &12U Camp
Ohio State University	HIGH SCHOOL ELITE CAMPS	6/27/2024	6/29/2024	OSU Ice Rink	Columbus, OH	Grad Years: 2026-2028
University of Minnesota	MINNESOTA GIRLS HOCKEY CAMPS	6/27/2024	6/28/2024	Mariucci Arena	Minneapolis, MN	Exposure Camp (ages 13,14)
RinkSport	ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Development Camp	6/28/2024	6/30/2024
Premier Ice Prospects	617 PIP SHOWCASE - BOSTON HARBOR STYLE	7/1/2024	7/2/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Bedford, MA	2025, '26. '27 Grad Years
Premier Ice Prospects	NORTHEAST PROSPECTS CAMP	7/1/2024	7/2/2024	The Edge Sports Center	Bedford, MA	2012 - 2015 Birth Years
Sacred Heart University Pioneers	Girls Ice Hockey High School Prospect Camp	7/1/2024	7/3/2024	Martire Family Arena	Fairfield, CT	Girls: 9th to 12th Grade
Princeton University	GIRLS ICE HOCKEY EXPOSURE ID CAMP	7/6/2024	7/8/2024	Baker Rink	Princeton, NJ	Entering grades 7-9
College Hockey Showcases	CHS Cergy, France	7/7/2024	7/11/2024		Cergy, France	2008-2013 Birth Years
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| PRE-CAMP GOALIE'S ONLY	7/7/2024	7/9/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	Goalies Only. All Female players born between 2005-2009
The Rose Series	War for the Roses	7/8/2024	7/13/2024		Edmonton, Alberta	2011 Birth Year
RinkSport	Europe Camp	7/8/2024	7/11/2024		Madrid, Spain
Quinnipiac University	Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Girls Camp	7/8/2024	7/12/2024	M&T Bank Arena	Hamden, Conn	Ages: 6-13
Quinnipiac University	Quinnipiac Women's Ice Hockey Girls Elite Clinic	7/8/2024	7/12/2024	M&T Bank Arena	Hamden, Conn	Ages: rising 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grade
The Rose Series	Queens of Vegas	7/9/2024	7/12/2024		Las Vegas, NV	2013 Birth Year
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| SESSION 1	7/9/2024	7/11/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	All Female players born between 2005-2009
University of Maine	Women's Prospect Clinic	7/10/2024	7/11/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	Grades 8-12
The Rose Series	PARK CITY SHOWDOWN	7/11/2024	7/14/2024		Park City, Utah	2014 Birth Year
NAHA	NAHA COLLEGE SHOWCASE	7/12/2024	7/14/2024	Boston Sports Institute	Wellesley, MA	2025, '26, '27, '28 Grad Years
Colgate University	2024 COLGATE EXPOSURE CAMP \| SESSION 2	7/12/2024	7/14/2024	Colgate University	Hamilton, NY	All Female players born between 2005-2009
College Hockey Showcases	Sweden Girls High Performance Camp	7/15/2024	7/26/2024	Nyköpings Arenor Rosvalla	Nyköping, Sweden	2004-2011 Birth Years
University of Maine	U16/19 High School Girls' Hockey Camp	7/15/2024	7/18/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	Grades 8-12
University of Maine	U8/U10/U12 Girls' Hockey Day Camp	7/15/2024	7/18/2024	University of Maine	Orono, ME	U8/U10/U12 Skaters
Premier Ice Prospects	SOUTHERN PROSPECTS CAMP	7/18/2024	7/21/2024	Community First Igloo	Jacksonville, FL	2012 - 2015 Birth Years
RUSH Hockey	BEANTOWN CLASSIC	7/19/2024	7/21/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	2009 (08) - 2014 Birth Years,
200x85 Tournaments	CCM Selects Beantown Women's Classic	7/19/2024	7/21/2024		Boston	2008 - 2013
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls 16/17's Player Development Camp	7/19/2024	7/24/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2007 & 2008 Birth Year
USA Hockey	Girls National 2006 Training Camp (2006)	7/19/2024	7/22/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2006 Birth Year
Clarkson University	Clarkson Golden Knight Women's Hockey Prospect Camp 2024	7/21/2024	7/22/2024	Cheel Campus Center and Arena	Potsdam, NY	2007-2010 Birth Years
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls 15's Player Development Camp	7/25/2024	7/30/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2009 Birth Year
RUSH Hockey	BEANTOWN CLASSIC	7/26/2024	7/28/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	U19, College / Super Series
OS Hockey	PROSPECTS/FUTURES WEEKEND 2 Camp	7/28/2024	7/30/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN
Mercyhurst University	DIVISION I WOMEN'S HOCKEY ELITE CAMP	7/30/2024	7/31/2024	Mercyhurst University	Erie, PA	2006 to 2009 birth year
USA Hockey	2024 Women's National Festival	8/2024			TBD
Pre-Prep Showcase	Pre-Prep Showcase	8/1/2024	8/4/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	Birth Years: 2009, 2010 & 2011
University of Minnesota Duluth	Minnesota Duluth High School Elite Camp	8/1/2024	8/4/2024	Amsoil Arena	Duluth, MN	Any and all high school girls (grad years 2025-2028) are invited
Showcase Hockey	2024 International Cup	8/2/2024	8/4/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
OS Hockey	2024 TRADITION CUP	8/2/2024	8/4/2024	Braemar Arena	MInneapolis, MN	College Level
RinkSport	LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA Development Camp	8/2/2024	8/5/2024
USA Hockey	USA Hockey Girls Under 18 Player Development Camp	8/4/2024	8/9/2024	Miami University	Oxford, Ohio	2007, 2008, 2009 Birth Year
University of Wisconsin	High School Elite Camp	8/4/2024	8/8/2024	LaBahn Arena	Madison, WI	High School
NCD Camps	GIRLS NCDC COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT CAMP	8/5/2024	8/7/2024	New England Sports Center	Marlborough, MA	2025, '26, '27, '28 Grad Years
Brown University	BROWN WOMEN’S HOCKEY ELITE SUMMER CAMP	8/5/2024	8/7/2024	Brown University	Providence, RI	High school students entering grades 9-12. Therefore, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 high school graduates.
RUSH Hockey	RUSH Hockey High Performance	8/9/2024	8/11/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	Brampton, ON	U11 - U22 AA
OS Hockey	2024 OS SHOOTOUT	8/10/2024	8/13/2024	Bloomington Ice Garden and Braemar Ice Arena	MInneapolis, MN	U8-U19
Showcase Hockey	2024 Easton AAA Cup Tournament	8/16/2024	8/18/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL NCAA Clinic	8/22/2024			Northford, CT	2006 - 2010 Birth Years
College of the Holy Cross	Holy Cross Women's Ice Hockey Clinics	8/22/2024	8/23/2024	Hart Center	Worcester, MA	14-19 Years Old
Showcase Hockey	2024 Summer Finale	8/23/2024	8/25/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	Dawg Days of Summer - Red	8/23/2024	8/25/2024		Northford, CT	12U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Dawg Days of Summer - Futures	8/23/2024	8/22/2024		Newington, CT	12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Labor Day Girls Fest	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	14U, 16U/17U and 19U Tier I (AAA)/Canadian AA
The National Girls Hockey League	Labor Day Challenge - Futures	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Cromwell, CT	12U
OneHockey	OneHockey Sacred Heart University	8/30/2024	9/2/2024	Sacred Heart University Martire Family Arena	Fairfield, CT	Girls 12U Tier I & II
NAHA	NAHA Labor Day Tournament	8/30/2024	9/1/2024		Boston, MA	U14, U16, U19
The National Girls Hockey League	Labor Day Challenge - Blue	8/31/2024	9/2/2024		Cromwell, CT	12U-19U
Premier Ice Prospects	Frieda Falcon Girls Fest	9/6/2024	9/8/2024	Slater Family Ice Arena	Bowling Green, OH	12U USA Tier I / CAN A
RUSH Hockey	NORTH HALTON RUSH	9/6/2024	9/8/2024	CAA Centre Brampton	North Halton, ON	U11-U18 AA/A/BB/B
Showcase Hockey	2024 Warrior Cup AAA	9/6/2024	9/8/2024		Minnesota	Girls AAA (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
Stoney Creek	U18 AA Showcase	9/6/2024	9/8/2024		Hamilton, ON	U18 AA
Stoney Creek	University Showcase	9/13/2024	9/15/2025		Hamilton, ON	U22 AA
Stoney Creek	U15 AA Showcase	9/20/2024	9/22/2024		Hamilton, ON	U15 AA
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Futures East	9/27/2024	9/29/2024		Syracuse, NY	10U & 12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Capital Cup Girls Fest	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Northern VA	19U through 10U Tier II
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Red	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Syracuse, NY	14U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Columbus Day Showcase	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	14U-19U
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall Classic - Futures West	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Chicago, IL	10U & 12U
The National Girls Hockey League	Fall In CT, Futures	10/12/2024	10/14/2024		Connecticut	10U & 12U
Girls Elite Hockey	2024 TRADITION NIT	10/18/2024	10/20/2024		Blaine, MN	U16 and U19
Premier Ice Prospects	Roc City Girls Fest	10/25/2024	10/27/2024		Rochester, NY	19U through 10U
RUSH Hockey	TWO NATIONS COLLEGE PREP SERIES	10/25/2024	10/27/2024		Detroit, MI	19U through 12U Tier 1; U13-U21 AA
Premier Ice Prospects	Roc City Girls Fest	11/1/2024	11/3/2024		Rochester, NY	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
RUSH Hockey	BUFFALO RUSH HOCKEY INFERNO	11/1/2024	11/3/2024		Buffalo, NY	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
RUSH Hockey	Arizona RUSH Matt Shott Memorial	11/8/2024	11/10/2024		Arizona, USA	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (10U, 12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
National Sports Center	All American Girls Hockey Tournament	11/8/2024	11/10/2024	NSC-Super Rink (Blaine)	Blaine, MN	Girls U10A,B U12A,B U15A
The National Girls Hockey League	NGHL Ann Arbor	11/15/2024	11/17/2024		Ann Arbor, MI	14U - 19U Tier 1
Premier Ice Prospects	Burgh Thanksgiving Girls Fest	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Pittsburgh, PA	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
Premier Ice Prospects	Smashville Girls Fest	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Nashville, TN	19U through 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA), Tier III (A)
The National Girls Hockey League	Northern Classic	11/22/2024	11/24/2024		Utica, NY	10U, 12U, 14U
The National Girls Hockey League	Mile High Invitational - Blue	11/29/2024	12/1/2024		Denver, CO	12U-19U
RUSH Hockey	TWO NATIONS COLLEGE PREP SERIES	12/6/2024	12/8/2024		Brampton, ON	19U through 12U Tier 1; U13-U21 AA
College Hockey Showcases	Boise Breakaway Showcase	12/13/2024	12/15/2024		Boise, Idaho	2007-2011 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	Erie White Out Weekend	12/13/2024	12/15/2024		Erie, PA	12U and 10U Tier I (AAA), Tier II (AA)
Youth Hockey Hub	2024 DANGLEFEST	12/28/2024	12/31/2024	NSC-Super Rink (Blaine)	Blaine, MN	Girls U10A, U10B, U12A, U12B, U15A, & U15B
The National Girls Hockey League	Winter Classic, Futures	1/3/2025	1/5/2025		Princeton, NJ	10U & 12U
Premier Ice Prospects	Mrs. Hockey® Invite	1/17/2025	1/20/2025		Ft Lauderdale, FL	12U Girls - Tier 1 & Tier 2
Premier Ice Prospects	Fort Laudy Daudy Showcase	1/17/2025	1/20/2025		Ft Lauderdale, FL	19U through 14U Tier 1
RUSH Hockey	Florida RUSH	1/17/2025	1/20/2025	Palm Beach Skate Zone	West Palm Beach, FL	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2/ Tier 3 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	MLK Winter Classic - Blue	1/18/2025	1/20/2025		Haverhill, MA	12U, 14U, 16U, and 19U
The National Girls Hockey League	MLK Winter Classic - Red	1/18/2025	1/20/2025		Philadelphia, PA	14-19U Tier 1
The National Girls Hockey League	Red Division Champsionship	1/31/2025	2/2/2025		Rockland, MA	14-19U Tier 1
RUSH Hockey	TEXAS RUSH	2/7/2025	2/9/2025	StarCenter Valley Ranch Ice Rink	Dallas, TX	Girls Tier 1/Tier 2 (12U, 14U, 16U, 19U)
The National Girls Hockey League	Futures Championship	2/7/2025	2/9/2025		Hershey, PA	10U & 12U
Stoney Creek	Sweetheart Tournament	2/7/2025	2/10/2025		Hamilton, ON	U9 through U22
The National Girls Hockey League	Blue Division Champsionship	2/15/2025	2/17/2025		St. Louis, MO	14-19U Tier 1
Midwest Womem's Collegiate Hockey	Exposure Camp	6/14/2025	6/15/2025	Cornerstone Ice Arena	DePere, Wisconsin	Grade 10, Grade 11, or Grade 12
Premier Ice Prospects	480 SHOWCASE - DESERT STYLE	7/12/2025	7/24/2025	Mullett Arena	Tempe, AZ	2007 - 2009 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	SOUTHWEST PROSPECTS	7/13/2025	7/15/2025	Mullett Arena	Tempe, AZ	2010- 2013 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Futures Camp	7/19/2025	7/21/2025		East Lansing, MI	2011 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Girls 68 (14U)	8/7/2025	8/11/2025		Chicago, IL	2010 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	615 PIP SHOWCASE - MUSIC CITY STYLE	8/8/2025	8/11/2025	Predators' Ford Ice Center	Bellevue, TN	2010 - 2011 Birth Years
Premier Ice Prospects	CCM Futures Camp	8/16/2025	8/18/2025		Niagara Falls, ON	2011 Birth Year
Premier Ice Prospects	NIAGARA FALLS PROPSPECTS CAMP	8/16/2025	8/18/2025	Gale Centre Arena	Niagara Falls, ON	2007 - 2011 Birth Years
Merrimack College	Merrimack Womens Ice Hockey Clinics			Lawler Arena	North Andover, MA	Entering grades 9-12

Tags 2024 girls hockey, canada-girls-hockey, girl's hockey, girlsshowcase, Hockey Event Calendar, hockey-canada-girls, usa-girls-hockey

College Hockey Recruiting Girl's Showcase Girls Hockey hockey USA Hockey Nationals Women's College Hockey

Recruiting Insights from the 2023 Tradition NIT Girls Hockey Tournament: Coaches, Coaches, Coaches!

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date October 25, 2023

This past weekend I was in Minnesota for the fabulous 2023 Tradition NIT Girls Hockey Tournament organized by Winny Brodt Brown. In total, there were 93 teams participating for the 16U and 19U age groups. Almost every top US club team was in attendance plus many of the top western Canadian girl’s teams.

Over the course of the 3-day event, I had multiple conversations with several DI & DIII coaches and I thought I would share my observations as they relate to the recruiting process:

1. Competition Matters for Getting Seen

As heard many times on the Champs App podcast, coaches want to see players playing at the highest level, against top players to properly evaluate them. With as many as 8 games going on simultaneously across the two rink locations, coaches can’t watch every game. Many times I would see a coach watch 2 overlapping games by switching back and forth during ice cuts. Thus coaches need to be selective in which games they scout. Coaches were mostly watching games with the largest number of talented players. Thus, it appeared as though games with the highest ranking teams got the highest DI coach attendance. However, it did seem that DIII and ACHA coaches were more flexible in watching lower ranked teams. But if you want to play DI hockey, my sense is that you want to put yourself in the best position to be seen. This would imply playing on a team that plays against the other top teams in the country. The reality is that if your team is ranked in 30’s and below on MyHockeyRankings, then you probably won’t get noticed as much, even if you are a DI caliber player.

2. Connections Help

I saw this firsthand this weekend. If you can get a positive reference to a college coach through an advisor, current or former coach, friend or some other trusted hockey-related relationship, it can make a difference in getting scouted. It won’t get you an offer, but it can certainly get a coach from a specific school to come watch you play and start the process.

3. Lines Not Dots

I had a great conversation with a coach from a Top 5 DI school and asked why they scouted at so many events. In reality, given their school’s reputation, they could just focus on the handful of top players at the US or Canadian national camps and simply cherry pick those players. But the coach revealed to me that they watch the elite-of-the-elite players over the course of several years and track their development and progression over an extended period of time. This way they can see what the player’s trajectory looks like and if it continues to trend in a positive direction. The coach and I discussed a specific player and how the coaches have been monitoring how the hockey IQ of that player has been improving over the previous 2 years. Thus coaches at high-end teams look for the trendlines of players – not just the individual play at a single event.

4. Experience Matters in Evaluating Players

It was fun talking to several coaches and hearing their “off-the-record” thoughts about certain players. The folks I talked to ranged from longtime head coaches to junior assistant coaches to a former DI coach. What I gleaned across all the convos was the more experience you had coaching, the less amount of time it took to get a pretty accurate assessment of a player. I was surprised how accurately the seasoned coaches figured out a player’s strengths and weaknesses. While for some of the junior coaches it sounded like they needed to watch more games to get a good sense for a player.

5. Lots of Coaches

For this year, the NCAA approved DI teams to have three assistant coaches (instead of just two). As a result, almost every (non-NEWHA) DI team had a least one coach present for the entire weekend while their school played regular season conference games “back home” on Friday and Saturday. Several coaches clearly also got on planes or in a car right after their games were done on Saturday and headed to Blaine, MN. On Sunday morning, 7 of the 8 head coaches from the WCHA teams were in attendance, with all eight schools having multiple assistant coaches there as well.

Tags college-commits, college-hockey-recruiting, girl's hockey, tag, usa-girls-hockey, Women's College Recruiting Process, women's hockey, womens-college-hockey

2023 Development Camp Girls Hockey Player Development Women's Hockey

The USA Hockey 2023 Girls 16/17 Camp Feedback Process – Part II

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date August 17, 2023

My Recommendations

Read Part I Here

Feedback is a gift.

Giving feedback is hard.

Having led performance feedback to dozens (if not hundreds) of people I’ve managed in business, I recognize it is one of the most challenging interactions to conduct in my career. At the same time, I was taught how to take it seriously and learned many of the best practices to ensure a positive outcome from the process for both parties.

It is pretty clear from the parent meeting at the 16/17 Girls camp (and the letter that accompanied the feedback/rating letter) that USA Hockey wants to make no doubt that they are providing a variety of different levels of feedback for each player at the national camps. The details of this feedback were clearly explained in Part I on this topic.

And it is important to recognize that they really do care about giving feedback – because they have dedicated time and resources to the process. I also wanted to also acknowledge that is takes a non-trivial amount of effort to provide detailed feedback to about 400 players across 4 major camps each summer.

At the same time, I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about this topic trying to figure out why almost everyone I have spoken with is disappointed with the USA Hockey Girls National Camp selection and feedback process. And here is what I came up with…

At the end of the day, the current process does not solve the unmet need of the players – which is to have actionable direction on their highest priority development areas. This is because the robustness of the feedback is not commensurate with the level of commitment and investment the players put into making, preparing and attending the camp.

And my reason for this is the following:

The feedback is too generic. For almost all the players, it’s just too simplistic/superficial without personalized examples and not actionable enough.

Here are my recommendations:

Standardize a More Robust Process – The coaches should go through a training session on how the process works and what the expectations are from the coach on the process, content & delivery. All players should receive player-specific information using a common format, but with player-specific examples in the review. While the coaches should have flexibility to adapt the process to their style, each performance review (in addition to the attribute ratings mentioned in Part I) would require the feedback to include each of the following….
Include Player-Specific Key Statistics (e.g. pass completion rates or turnover rates). Nothing is more powerful than data. Being able to show a player how they compared on key attributes compared to their peers makes things much clearer. This became quite evident to me in my analysis of the 16/17 Camp forwards and defenders.
Support with Player-Specific Video Clips – showing a player exactly what they do well and how/when they make mistakes provides “hard-to-argue” credibility to the stats and the coach’s feedback. This would likely use a video analytics system like Instat/Hudl so each player’s shifts could be coded.
Prioritize Key Areas to Focus On – Darryl Belfry consistently talks about High Frequency – Low Success Rate Situations. Video and statistical analysis will surface these situations. Then a coach should be using them to focus on a limited number of these game patterns to prioritize (3-5) situations/skills for a player to work on.

These four recommendations would require a significantly greater amount of time and resources than the current effort being done at the USA Hockey girls camps. There may not be time to aggregate everything during that week. But the feedback session does not need to occur at the camp. It can be done a week or two after the camp via a video-call. What matters most is that the players are getting their needs met as to where to focus and improve as a player. Ideally, there would be someone in leadership who was solely responsible for player development and not directly associated with the selections for the U18 camp or team. I know it can be done, because I have seen first-hand more robust feedback processes on the boys side at both the USA Hockey and junior hockey levels.

Final Thoughts

The best organizations focus relentlessly on their customers. One of the biggest ways to ensure these organizations are meeting the needs of their customers is to ask them for feedback. Specifically their overall satisfaction with a question like “Would you recommend [product/service] to a friend or colleague?” followed by “Why?”. In my few years interacting with USA Hockey both as a coach and a parent, I have never been asked for my feedback on the programs I’ve been been engaged with. In essence, USA Hockey has a monopoly on the national team programs so it is understandable that they may not need to be as customer-centric as an Amazon or an Apple. But, if leadership for USA Hockey female national camps wants to continuously improve their program, just like their players do, it would be great if they solicited their own feedback on areas they can improve as an organization. Who knows…maybe getting the gift of feedback on themselves may translate to improved performance on the ice?

Feel free to send feedback on our posts or Champs App to feedback@champs.app

Tags girls-hockey, hockey-development, Player Development Camps, tag, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey

2023 Coaching Girls Hockey Player Development Women's Hockey

The USA Hockey 2023 Girls 16/17 Camp Feedback Process – Part I

Post author By Ray Tenenbaum
Post date August 9, 2023

I have a lot of passion about feedback when it comes to hockey player development, because I think it is probably the most important factor to improve player performance. Darryl Belfry, who is regarded as one of the best player development coaches in the world, uses actual game analysis as the primary way to provide feedback on improvement areas for players.

As the governing body of hockey in the U.S., USA Hockey understands the importance of player feedback. At the USA Hockey 16/17 Girls Camp which took place in Oxford, OH this past June, feedback was highlighted in the parent meeting as a key component of the camp. In Part I of this post about the USA Hockey Girls Camp feedback, I wanted to focus on understanding the three levels of feedback utilized during and after the camp. Part II of this topic will discuss my thoughts on how effective the feedback process has been.

1. On-Ice Feedback – During Practice and Games

Just like with their regular teams, coaches were quite consistent in talking to players individually and in groups during practices to share their thoughts on specific, tactical ways to improve a drill or situation. Same for a player coming to the bench during one of the games after a shift – coaches would lean over to players and give advice on what adjustments could be made to improve a player effectives. These situations are quite comfortable for all the coaches at an event like this since most were DI coaches or previous DI players. As I mentioned in my previous post about player feedback, in-game comments are the easiest for a coach to communicate.

2. One-on-One Feedback with one of the Team Coaches

All teams had two head coaches. On about the fourth day of week-long camp, each player had a 10-15 minute conversation with one of their coaches. It is my understanding that most players were asked to do a self-review in anticipation of the meeting. From talking to several parents, the coach-player conversation was then highly dependent on the coach. Some coaches were well-prepared and had video clips to show players as a way to communicate their feedback, some coaches had simple basic priorities for players to focus on while others relied on the player’s self-evaluation as the primary source of the feedback conversation. Given the variance in feedback methods, I suspect the feedback meeting process was not highly structured by the camp organizers.

3. Letter Grade and Player Development Performance Criteria

About four weeks after the end of the 16/17 Girls Camp, my daughter received by snail mail a form letter which included an evaluation which is supposed to serve as a benchmark for a player’s performance at the camp. This entails a letter grade and a rubric on the “Player Development Performance Criteria”. Here are the details.

At the top of the player evaluation sheet, the players was provided a rating of A, B or C with the following explanation

“A” grade = Excellent – ranks in the top 1/3 of players at camp

“B” grade = Good – ranks in the middle 1/3 of players at camp

“C” grade = Below average – ranks in the bottom 1/3 of players at camp.

The Player Development Performance Criteria had 5 possible selections (from best to worst):

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

Each skater then had attributes selected within two categories. General and position-specific attributes with a selection in one of those five boxes (“X” for each attribute). Here are those attributes:

General:

Makes Possession Plays (i.e. keep team on offense; limited turnovers)
Angling: pressure to take away time/space; dictate play with body/stick
Stick Positioning
Deception
Quick Transitions
Off-Puck Habits & Puck Support
Scoring Ability
Physicality
Athleticism
200-Ft Player
Skating Ability (north/south; agility; speed)

Defenders:

DZone Execution First
Puck Retrievals
Good First Pass or Exit
Win Race Back to D-Side of Play/Net
Wine Board Battles
Deter Offensive Opportunities
Scan to Make Exit Play; Fast Transition to Breakout
Work Well with D-Partner
Gap Control: (North/South & East/West)

Forwards:

Puck Retrievals & Ability to Stay Off the Wall
Ability to Leave Perimeter and Gain Inside Ice
Owning Space with Puck
Scanning/Awareness of Teammates & Opponents
Use Teammates to Make Plays
Zone Entry: Ability to create depth/layers/lanes
Create & Maintain Offense

I don’t know the process that was used to aggregate the evaluators feedback, but am assuming they collected a populated rubric from all the evaluators for a position and then aggregated the data to take an average of the selections. (I hope they used some online tool to aggregate this all, because there are lots of ways to simplify collecting this information). Then I suppose this compiled data was used as the rating for each player’s Development Performance Criteria. I would then assume the average across all Development Performance Criteria was calculated and the each player was force ranked into one of the three tiers to give the letter rating of A,B or B based on which third they ranked.

Other than the rating and the rubric box selection – no other personalized information was included in the feedback. No short paragraph summary (like you would see in a student report card) from the coach or evaluators to provide additional context was provided.

It is important to note that the ratings are based on the criteria described above. If different criteria were used (which will be discussed in the next post), then a player’s rating might be different if those criteria were closer or further away from the capabilities of a player.

In Part II on this topic I will share my perspective on the good, the bad and the ugly of this feedback process.

Read Part II Here

Tags girls-hockey, hockey-development, Player Development Camps, tag, usa-girls-hockey, usa-hockey