MULTISPORT - SEASONAL - LOCAL

WE ARE NOT RUN BY A RINK OR FACILITY NOR DO WE RUN A RINK OR FACILITY

We are a “tenant” club that primarily rents ice time and field space at Cabin John Ice Rink, Wheaton Ice Arena, Wells Ice Rink, Wheaton Sports Pavilion and Cabin John Fields. Why does this make a difference? It makes ALL the difference! Clubs that are intertwined with a facility are not seasonal, especially in the case of hockey, because they need to keep programming churning to feed the economics of the facility. As a “tenant” we have the flexibility to play seasonally and not be pressured into needs of a facility and services the needs of kids first.

WE ARE MULTI-SPORT AND A MEMBER OF A MULTISPORT GOVERNING BODY NOT A “SPORT SPECIFIC GOVERNING BODY”

For us, hockey is definitely a “first among equals”. That is not necessarily because of preference, but because it takes an extra amount of effort and resources to create and participate in ice hockey, especially in the DC area versus other sports.  Even the “sport-specific” governing bodies such as USA Hockey, US Lacrosse and United States Soccer Federation acknowledge that most amateur players, and all very young athletes should be playing multiple sports. The difference is we make it happen and don’t have a specific interest in which sport they play in the end. We play “goal sports”. That’s what we do.

OUR PURPOSE IS DIFFERENT - WE ARE NOT PART OF A PYRAMID

It becomes very apparent, at least in hockey and soccer, house leagues feed travel teams, travel teams feed elite developmental teams that feed NCAA and National Teams and pro teams. These are very organized and deliberate pyramids in hockey and soccer that reach tentacles down from the NHL or MLS/USNTs down to the grassroots imposing the goals from the top. The implication is that the grassroots is supposed to serve the elite levels of play in a given sport. And, that talent and resources should primarily flow in that direction. Because we operate outside any of these National Governing body pyramid structures, our programming is for the program’s own sake and where there is a tie for a later goal, it is to encourage and enable players to continue to play one or more of our sports at the high school level.

OUR LANGUAGE IS DIFFERENT

We do not use terms like “elite”, “premier”, “AAA”, “select”, “next level” or “pro”. We use terms like “seasonal”, “local”, “scholastic” and “amateur”. Where most clubs and coaches throw around the term “development” referring to skill development or sport “career” development, we use it to describe social, physical, emotional and educational “development”.

OUR VALUE & VALUES ARE DIFFERENT

We value time, experience, diversity and balance. We value seasons, outdoors, friends and family all over “sport career” “advancement”. Our definition of success revolves around our enjoyment and goals as a group, not around how far our players advance along career ladders individually.  

####