Hi – I would appreciate any thoughts on playing JV Hockey at NE prep schools. My DS will be an incoming 10th grader and has mostly played at Tier II level in the mid-atlantic region but has played tier I in the spring and has been a very close contender for tier I teams during the regular season What is the level of play like at JV hockey? Will it be a let down for a kid that is looking for serious play? Do schools typically move kids up to Varsity, or is that rare? (or does it depend on the position and the school?) We are looking at schools that are both in founders league and that are independents (not ISL) that are well regarded in hockey but are not the hockey powerhouses.
Hi, I think the level of play for JV may depend on the school. I don’t think it is the norm for kids to move from JV to varsity. Most (if not all) kids playing varsity are recruited.
Hockey varsity players in most NE boarding are recruited players. And they all play a club outside of school. Don’t ask me how they do it from a boarding school, but they do. Basically if you are put on JV, you will never move up, since you will never really improve enough to move up. But you will have a lot of fun.
It depends. I have 2 boys - both were AA players on travel teams before attending prep school. They went to different schools one beginning in 9th grade the other starting in 10th grade. Both schools are in the top ten powerhouse hockey programs. Son #1 as a 9th grader started on 3rds which was a bit of a surprise, but we quickly realized the level of play was intense. He eventually moved up to JV. Both the 3rds program and the JV program were excellent, provided great coaching and serious competition. He had a great experience. The majority of boys on varisty wanted to play college hockey or juniors and most played on an outside team as well. Son #2 made JV and has been on JV all 3 years. He is very happy. He has had leadership opportunities on the team and gets a lot of playing time as a senior. Coaching and competition have been great. There were a few kids in both programs that started on JV as a 9th/10thgrader and moved up, but this is not the norm. It depends how good your son is and whether he is willing to put in the extra effort in the off season. You might reach out to the coaches or another parent and ask if there are spots to move up or whether they do serious recruiting for the positions. If your team is not in the powerhouse programs I would think there would be a greater opportunity for movement to varsity, but I do not know for sure. What I can tell you is my boys have had a great hockey experience on JV; though neither wanted to play college hockey. They just wanted to be a part of a good hockey program and have fun. Both JV teams were made up of boys that could play and had played on travel teams before. There was not a single boy on either team that had just started playing. Prep schools take their hockey programs seriously and the competition at all levels is great. Both boys played varsity in other sports so they had the experience of being on a varsity team and playing hockey which is a sport they both love. Very few boys play varsity sports across all 3 seasons. Good luck!