CASE #4- The Discounter
Over the years we’ve had many advisors explicitly instruct their clients to ask for a reduction in their tuition. It’s a common theme. With our Junior Program we offer a tremendous amount to our athletes in regard to practice ice and gym time (we have our own gym), uniforms, apparel and travel all included in tuition. Our tuition is our tuition, and we have what I strongly believe is an affordable price for a premier experience, that has an extremely high ratio of players entering the program and then exiting the program with a college destination.
Not once in the 10 years I’ve been with my program has an Advisor secured a player a college commitment for us. These commitments are driven by the league and our geographic location, the player (and his parents- with affordability and grades at the utmost importance), and most importantly the players’ coach. The players’ coach is the access point by which the college coach will connect with the player.
Given all that… why do Advisors, who oftentimes charge the player/parent close to the same dollar amount as the team tuition we have for their advisory services, ask for a discount on the athlete’s tuition?
We had a defenseman a few seasons back who had an advisor adamantly ask us to take him for our team. Texts, emails, calls non- stop. We were reluctant to take him at the time due to our leagues import rule which restricted the number of players we could have from outside the United States. But the texts, emails, calls continued non -stop. “You need to take him”. “He’ll help your team”.
When he arrived, he was completely out of shape. In no way shape or form was this athlete ready to play a season of competitive hockey. In fitness testing during training camp, he finished in the bottom two players in the program and exceeded 10 minutes in his mile run.
When I informed his “Advisor” of these struggles, and that his playing time will be extremely limited until his conditioning improved, the Advisor shot back hard with claims that our tuition was not fair if we were not playing him top minutes. That he was going to stop paying his tuition… that he would need a discount to reflect his playing time.
I remember distinctly asking… “What kind of advice for a player is that?!?!?”
If you are advising a player and your player is not ready to play because his own conditioning is so poor, the best advice you could give them is “GET IN BETTER SHAPE SO THAT YOU CAN PLAY AND HELP YOUR TEAM.”
CASE #5- Mommy Dearest
Recruiting following the 2020-21 season was extremely difficult. Coaches had to gather information from a variety of sources and data from previous seasons, in an attempt to properly evaluate the talent, that they were adding to their roster. Leagues and states had shut down, so many kids really didn’t have adequate stats or video for the previous season. So, we as a coaching staff had to take chances on many players based on advice from advisors or close sources.
Prep School, a level that our league heavily recruits at, was an obvious example. Many Prep Schools didn’t play at all, or only a limited schedule versus in-state only opponents. This created a watering down effect and oftentimes inflated stats or none at all.
We recruited a player from Vermont Academy, a state that shutdown and didn’t allow hockey in 2020-21, but who had a very good junior- year season in 2019-20. Compared to other players at the same level in that same high school year, we anticipated him having a stellar season with us. However, given he really didn’t play games in 2020-21, we took a flyer on this player with the hopes that he continued to develop, got stronger, and was hungry to return to game action.
Once he showed up for Training Camp the calls started coming from his female advisor relatively quickly…
” You said he could be a top 6 forward”- We hoped he would, but never guarantee ice time. Says it right in the player contract.
” His equipment doesn’t fit properly” – We have extra equipment; you can just swap it out at any time.
” Running is not skating… it’s about his play on the ice” – We have testing to start our training camp and feel players should come into camp in very good shape, so they we can begin play and be ready for immediate success.
“His billet family made him pay for his own dinner when he went out to eat”- It isn’t the responsibility of the billet family to pay for a player’s meals outside of the home.
Everything culminated about 8-9 days into training camp. After multiple calls with the Advisor, now his mother called me. What came out of her mouth was very shocking. “How would you feel if your son or daughter was on the fourth line to start the season?” she said. To which I replied, “I would tell my son to stop making excuses and work harder. That a 45 game season isnt determined on the first few days of Training Camp. That it is his responsibility to come into camp in shape and make a good impression for his coaches and teammates… and take immediate action to improve areas of weakness, rather than point the finger at other people.”
We released the player the next day, where he immediately joined a team in our league that was closer to his home. He would go on to score 1 goal that season, be a healthy scratch for the EHL playoffs and commit to an ACHA DII school.
Once again… not all advisors are bad. Established, trustworthy agents and advisors can provide immense help to some people. However, this business is unregulated and exists outside of any governing body. Most of the international advisors I have worked with have provided tremendous benefits for their clients and players. Visa paperwork, language and translation issues and much more are needed for these players to arrive, thrive and play hockey in the US. However, no background checks are required to become a player Advisor. Advisors are not approved or sanctioned. There simply is no oversight… so choose wisely who you are getting your advice from.
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