The Brick Doesn't Matter

So Veterans Day is coming up.

This post isn't about Veterans Day, though...it's more about it being a day off from school.

From a youth hockey perspective, in our part of the country, it's often the date when the first round of Brick Series team tryouts takes place.

I think the Connecticut Junior Rangers have pushed theirs back to December break in recent years...but I'm nearly certain the Boston Jr. Bruins still utilize this day off from school in mid-November for theirs.

We were just in the building where they hold those tryouts a couple of weekends ago and, it's funny, I mean, I saw the banners and the jerseys adorning the walls and stuff.

But I realized I don't have a single care to give about any of it anymore.

And, sure, that might be because my kids have aged beyond it...but it's more than that.

I've been pretty good at keeping up with the higher-end youth hockey stuff, whether my kids participate in it or not...but I think this is one of those cases where hockey parent experience (wisdom, really) has finally risen to the top.

The Brick is a joke.

It's not a measuring stick of anything.

It's not a due that has to be paid.

It's not even the strong flex it's marketed to be.

We met some really great players through our experience with it...but, overall, we've run into far superior players in the years since who never participated in it at all.

Actually, thinking back, of all the Brick players we met across my three kids' experiences, maybe four are still legitimately playing "Tier 1" hockey or whatever.

The rest?

I dunno. Based on our Instagram feeds, most are playing golf or lacrosse.

Or selling vape pens.

Not much of an in-between.

Peaking at 12 years old is bad.

Peaking at 10 years old is worse.

Lotta kids peaking at the Brick.

And that's really the problem with putting so much importance on something that happens before most of these kids have even hit puberty.

So if you've got an 8-, 9-, or 10-year-old and you're in the thick of the tryouts, callbacks, and training camps going on right now, good luck.

Genuinely, good luck. I do mean that.

But, also, do your best not to get too stressed out about any of it.

Make the team? Awesome.

Don't make the team? Also fine.

Just try to ensure that they'll still enjoy playing hockey after their U14 season...and still have the desire to play U16, U18, and beyond.

Because that's where it really starts to matter.

That's when the *real* top players start rising to the top.

That's when the games start resembling real hockey.

And that's when you'll realize how little any of this mattered when they were ten.

Feel free to poke fun...I did it three times.

Lesson learned.

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