It's Tryout Time for the Pittsburgh Hornets !!!

A most wonderful thing occurs in our sport of hockey every year. As soon as one season is completed, another one starts all over again. At the Pittsburgh Hornets, we don't rest on our laurels and our successes. Once the season is over, we begin in earnest preparing for the upcoming season and striving once again for a national championship. As such, it is now tryout time at the Pittsburgh Hornets. If you are interested in becoming a member of one of the best Tier 1 AAA amateur hockey programs in the country for the upcoming 2006-2007 season, we would encourage you to go to our organization website at www.pittsburghhornets.com to learn more about our organization and the upcoming tryouts. You can discover the upcoming tryout dates for the Pittsburgh Hornets by viewing the same on our webpage www.pittsburghhornets.com or BY SIMPLY CLICKING THIS INTERNET LINK FOR THE HORNET TRYOUT DATES.

A special word about tryouts: For those families new to the travel hockey tryout process, get ready for a new, confusing and strange experience, and realize that you will never be more loved, cajoled, recruited, pressured, persuaded, and the object of more affection from local hockey associations more than you will in the next 60-90 days. You will be told that your aspiring young athlete will be on his or her way to the Division 1 college or the NHL (regardless of their current age) if ONLY you decide to play for their organization. You will be told that they "know" people in the US or Canada, that they do things "differently", that they can get you "seen" to get into juniors or college or what not.

When you ask for more specifics on these things, or how many of their players have been developed and moved on to juniors, colleges or even the NHL, or you ask for a "game plan" on how these things will be accomplished, you will never get specifics, because many of these "recruiters" simply cannot deliver the goods.

Then, as the continual pressure and persuasion attempts become more desperate to get you to commit to their organization, the negative stuff will then start surfacing, where these groups will base their recruiting of your son/daughter by saying "negative" things about other organizations. Desperation is a sad thing indeed.

Truth be told, there are a myriad of different routes to climb the ladder of amateur hockey. And indeed, there are some good coaches and organizations around that run fine amateur hockey programs at all levels of hockey. And hockey organizations all offer different experiences, some of which may be good for your family circumstances, some of which may not.

In choosing a AAA hockey program for your child, you deserve to be with the best organization that meets the needs of your family, and your young athlete. We recommend that if you are interested in doing so, you do check out other organizations, compare what each group has to offer, and make your decision in the best interests of your family, and which organizations will help your child become the best hockey player, and person, that they can possibly be. Some questions you should ask and things you should consider and compare between competing organizations:

• Who will be the coach for my child?. How many years of actual coaching experience at the AAA level does that person have? Will they be committed to be on the ice for practices and games, or will they essentially never be there, leaving everything to assistants.?
• How are players selected for a team? Are they selected by a team of evaluators picking the best players possible in a competitive tryout or are tryouts essentially meaningless, with the Coach placing favorites and friends on a team over talent? Do they have a published "evaluation" standard?
• What is the overall cost to participate on a team? How much ice time will the players get during the week? Are there any hidden fees, like tournament fees, additional ice times needed for practices, etc.?
• What league will the team play in, or if they play an independent schedule, do they consistently play the top teams in the country, both home and away, or do they rely upon entering into tournaments to get their competition?
• What has been the organizations track record over the years? Do they have a long history of developing young athletes and helping them reach the higher levels of hockey? How did their teams perform during the most recent season? Ask for names and specifics and details.
• Try and talk with current players (even past players) that were members of an organization. The current players are the best to talk with. Do they like the organization? Do they believe the organization helped them in their journey to success, both on and off the ice?
• For some additional questions (and answers) to consider, please go to this Pgh Hornets link for more details.

For want of a better description, this comparison and evaluation process can be called:

"The AAA Hockey Parents and Players Tryout Bill of Rights."

We believe that:

"All parents and families have the right to ask these questions of a AAA hockey association, and more importantly, all parents and families have the right to get honest ANSWERS to their questions as well."

When you ask these questions, when you get answers to your questions, when you compare the strengths and weaknesses of each organization in a fair and honest manner, we believe it to be more likely than not that you will find the Pittsburgh Hornets AAA Hockey Association to be the place to be for your aspiring athlete, and your family, to be for the 2006-2007 season.

Please come join us at tryouts !

Meet our players, meet our coaches, ask us to provide recommendations from others about our organization, and discover why, if you are seriously interested in the best AAA hockey experience possible, that the Pittsburgh Hornets AAA Hockey Association is the best place for your family, and your child, to be. See you at tryouts.