Bob Chesney

[AngryOtto]

100%. Our daughter plays softball and the expectations of what they need to do is absurd. Hitting lessons, pitching lessons, etc… it is a fortune and it is just like keeping up with the Joneses. She plays club and now on JV in high school. We started when she was six. There is something almost every day, year round. We are fortunate to leave in a nice area, but the competitive nature leads to more more more. One day when she is done I’m gonna try to figure out how much we spent and I’ll cry, I don’t have the heart to do it until she retires.

Been there done that with both my daughters. You will cry when you realize the amount spent could have gone a long way for college tuition. Both my girls burned out and stopped playing.
I really enjoyed watching them play but with how things are with travel ball they burn out. Realized to late it would have been better to have them play rec softball and enjoy themselves without any pressure.

 

[Tango32]

My son played on high level teams throughout NY including locally. The travel, financial and training commitment was enormous for us but we found a way to make it work. We would be in Toronto one weekend and Boston the next, followed up with a trip to Chicago and Pittsburgh. We added it all up afterwards and we spent close to $145k all in for him to drop out of hockey at 16 to play for the school.
Needless to say, our daughter plays travel softball and will be trying out for JV this year. The lesson we learned is it doesn’t matter what travel team they are on when they are 10-12yrs old as long as they have a committed coach. One that gets down to their level and critiques in a constructive way. Let them be kids and by all means do not sign them up for clinics. Spend the money on private lessons that are consistent every week and watch them grow from that.
I wouldn’t let my daughter do what my son went through at such a young age. Burn out is a real thing and my son hit it. Let them be kids first and they will let you know when they are ready for a full commitment to whatever they want to do.

As a football guy who never touched the ice the amount of commitment it takes just for him to be average and keep up is wild. We are not and will not ever be hunting scholarships, just want him to be good enough to make some teams and play with his buds as long as he wants to, but even that appears to a crazy commitment. I think the youth hockey world would blow some minds of folks who played football and not had that exposure. It's blown mine so far

 

[Tango32]

Are parents today starting to train little hockey player at 4 or 5 years old?

Yeah it's crazy. In hockey world where I'm at they have "late entry programs" for 9 year olds lol. And I don't even say aboot or have a Tim Hortons within driving distance!

 

[Sufanatic02]

As a football guy who never touched the ice the amount of commitment it takes just for him to be average and keep up is wild. We are not and will not ever be hunting scholarships, just want him to be good enough to make some teams and play with his buds as long as he wants to, but even that appears to a crazy commitment. I think the youth hockey world would blow some minds of folks who played football and not had that exposure. It's blown mine so far

It’s a completely different world and a sport like no other. I will say, we met some of the best and worst people imaginable and I wouldn’t trade it. We are still friends and keep in touch with parents from Mississauga and Ottawa. We have parents that will come watch our daughter play softball and go out to dinner when we are in their town. Hockey parents seem to be the better party parents as well!! I will never forget the time in Ottawa, outside the Marriot where we cooked a trash can turkey in the parking lot. Our drunk a$$es ate every bit of it!

 

[OburgOrange]

It’s a completely different world and a sport like no other. I will say, we met some of the best and worst people imaginable and I wouldn’t trade it. We are still friends and keep in touch with parents from Mississauga and Ottawa. We have parents that will come watch our daughter play softball and go out to dinner when we are in their town. Hockey parents seem to be the better party parents as well!! I will never forget the time in Ottawa, outside the Marriot where we cooked a trash can turkey in the parking lot. Our drunk a$$es ate every bit of it!

I used to coach minor hockey. I always said, the best team to coach is a team of orphans

 

[Sufanatic02]

I used to coach minor hockey. I always said, the best team to coach is a team of orphans

Your not wrong!!

 

[OburgOrange]

Your not wrong!!

For some reason , not saying you, but hockey parents are the worst. They all think their kid is going to the NHL, and if they don’t, it’s your fault. They only see one player on the ice. Theirs. I think it probably has to do with the amount of money of invested in their kid.

 

[Sufanatic02]

For some reason , not saying you, but hockey parents are the worst. They all think their kid is going to the NHL, and if they don’t, it’s your fault. They only see one player on the ice. Theirs. I think it probably has to do with the amount of money of invested in their kid.

Again, you’re not wrong. Parents don’t realize how small the funnel gets in every sport. To think, 200ish kids get drafted every year, worldwide to hockey. People sometimes don’t get the “pond” theory… You may be the best in your pond, go play in someone else’s.

 

[Sufanatic02]

For some reason , not saying you, but hockey parents are the worst. They all think their kid is going to the NHL, and if they don’t, it’s your fault. They only see one player on the ice. Theirs. I think it probably has to do with the amount of money of invested in their kid.

In the beginning, I thought my kid was awesome as any parent should. Then he played against the Canadian team JRC out of Toronto. These 8 year olds looked like they drove there…

 

[PhatOrange]

forget about college scholarships. people are investing in club/travel just to make their school teams (basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse). they have to keep up with the jones because if they don't the kid might get cut. There's some politics in it for sure, but kids who play out of season are naturally, better than those who don't.

Unfortunately kids don't cut their teeth in the backyards anymore so (outside of the top natural athletes) if you think you're going to make the team just playing once a year it's unlikely and if you do you're at the bottom.

youth travel hockey is stupid and these people are nuts. It's not even about the HS teams it's about making it big. I know so many hockey parents who spent thousands and thousands and not one of them even went to college for hockey let alone sniffing dreams of the NHL. Most of these kids are washed up and some have had surgery's or walk with limps before 20.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Is Chesney bringing men's hockey back to Cuse?!

 

[upperdeck]

There a few kids where you spend all the time and money and they improve and get a nice reward.

But if this was 30-40 yrs ago before all these additional ways to improve existed many of those same kids would still have been the same ones getting the rewards since many of them were already the best of what was around.

SU BBALL has a whole team of kids who probably did all this work and they all lack the fundamentals that would make them much better.

 

[Tango32]

forget about college scholarships. people are investing in club/travel just to make their school teams (basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse). they have to keep up with the jones because if they don't the kid might get cut from the school team. There's some politics in it for sure, but kids who play out of season are, naturally, better than those who don't.

Unfortunately kids don't cut their teeth in the backyards anymore so (outside of the top natural athletes) if you think you're going to make the team just playing once a year it's unlikely and if you do you're at the bottom.

youth travel hockey is stupid and these people are nuts. It's not even about the HS teams it's about making it big. I know so many hockey parents who spent thousands and thousands and not one of them even went to college for hockey let alone sniffing dreams of the NHL. Most of these kids are washed up and have had surgery's all before 20.

This is what sucks. Its all shifted, it's not the same anymore, it's exactly what you said. I'm watching all my buddies older kids commit to maybe 2 sports and play year round just to survive school team cuts. All just to enjoy the comradery of modified and HS teams sports. And it starts wicked young.

 

[Tango32]

Is Chesney bringing men's hockey back to Cuse?!

Who's Chesney and what's he got to do with youth hockey?

 

[JarHeadJim]

Read the Holy Cross Board. They apparently have a few fans over there that hate Cuse...the city, people and university. Strange...I have no opinion on Holy Cross.

When I hear Holy Cross I think Gordy Lockbaum.

 

[GoSU96]

We can't worry about floors or ceilings. Just find the right guy. Safe picks will be safely mediocre. Aggressive picks could be disasterous or a lightening strike of success.

At this point Syracuse has nothing to lose. I see us as Colorado looking for a Deion like spark. Program needs to be bold here whether it's a guy who is considered out of our reach (BoB) or a guy who is just hitting his prime (Chesney)

The program is not in horrific condition. Theres no need to take a flyer on a guy just to do it.

How is Sanders the model? Colorado is on a 6 out of 7 losing season run. COVID year they finished 4-2. Last year they were 1-11. And btw, they are still bad.

That’s not where SU is. Do you think if they don’t have the cluster of injuries on the OL and GS and OG play 12 games this team doesn’t finish better than around .500?

Need a guy that can take the talent level up another notch and improve efficiency.

Since 2018, putting aside the COVID year, 10-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6, (5-7 or 7-6 or 6-7). Need a guy that can immediately go from 6-6 +/- 1 to 8-4 +/- 2 and build from there. Dino had the top half of the roster at that 8-4 level but not the depth to make it through a full season play like that.

Wildhack is right, this program is not that far off. The next guy has to ge one that can address those deficiencies

 

[C Bomb]

100%. Our daughter plays softball and the expectations of what they need to do is absurd. Hitting lessons, pitching lessons, etc… it is a fortune and it is just like keeping up with the Joneses. She plays club and now on JV in high school. We started when she was six. There is something almost every day, year round. We are fortunate to leave in a nice area, but the competitive nature leads to more more more. One day when she is done I’m gonna try to figure out how much we spent and I’ll cry, I don’t have the heart to do it until she retires.

Fortunately for my family, our softball journey for my sophomore started only in the 6th grade after my daughter broke her ulna and radius in her forearm near her wrist while tumbling (she rarely even attempts a cartwheel these days). Of course, she was way behind her peers when she started playing the sport, so to help her catch up, we started an accelerated schedule of lessons and camps for a multitude of skills (fielding, catching, agility/speed, strength, and most especially hitting), the goal being mainly to get her on a good travel team. Fortunately, we’ve finally caught on with a very competitive fully sponsored team here in eastern NC, greatly lessening our family’s financial burden. We’re still seeking out skills lessons and coaches to justify her roster spot on this prestigious team and maintain her level of performance.

Being here in warmer weather NC and being in a large school means we have the ability to have regular off season workouts throughout the year in accordance with the state’s HS sports commission. We’ve found these extra reps help greatly for the other skills such as fielding, catching, and conditioning, but a good hitting coach is a necessity outside of normal workouts/practices. That said, I’ve told my daughter that I will never mandate a certain performance level to continue. My expectation is for her to do well in high school (her freshman year saw her hit extremely well for average and lead her team in many offensive categories while playing CF, SS, and fill in catcher on defense).

My wife and I place athletics as a high priority for my family as we see the benefit of life lessons learned from dedication to a craft as important. Academics are the biggest priority by far and my daughter is well aware of this. Our HS team has sent numerous players to high level division 1 schools as well as lower divisions in recent years. These girls have had varying degrees of success, and to see the process play out has been eye opening, the main lesson is to get a quality education. We actually had a girl turn down a D-1 opportunity to go to a D-2 school to seek out an opportunity to ultimately become a nurse anesthesiologist. Tbh, softball scholarships are rarely great in amount and the exposure my daughter has seen regarding the collegiate softball recruiting experience across the divisions from the experiences of her travel and HS teammates has made my daughter place a premium on her current playing time as her own possible future playing opportunities may very well not materialize.

 

[CousCuse]

The program is not in horrific condition. Theres no need to take a flyer on a guy just to do it.

How is Sanders the model? Colorado is on a 6 out of 7 losing season run. COVID year they finished 4-2. Last year they were 1-11. And btw, they are still bad.

That’s not where SU is. Do you think if they don’t have the cluster of injuries on the OL and GS and OG play 12 games this team doesn’t finish better than around .500?

Need a guy that can take the talent level up another notch and improve efficiency.

Since 2018, putting aside the COVID year, 10-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6, (5-7 or 7-6 or 6-7). Need a guy that can immediately go from 6-6 +/- 1 to 8-4 +/- 2 and build from there. Dino had the top half of the roster at that 8-4 level but not the depth to make it through a full season play like that.

Wildhack is right, this program is not that far off. The next guy has to ge one that can address those deficiencies

If Dino was a better game manager, there were quite a few more wins left on the field.

 

[David332]

Are parents today starting to train little hockey player at 4 or 5 years old?

Absolutely, some are even training young kids in MMA which is kind of messed up imo.

 

[Bulldog04]

You guys at Holy Cross used to crush our St. Ann's CYO team.

I have never been beaten so badly at anything in my life.

I don't know who the coach was - I can picture him - but he was very good at that level.

Greg’s dad Dave coached our travel team for a bit but Mike Lee (Jimmy lees brother) was our coach during our amazing stretch. Sorry lol. For “youth” bball, Mike had us dialed

 

[PhatOrange]

All the talk about Chesney but no one discussing his offense or what defense he runs. The Holy Cross total offense numbers look great but it's by way of rushing. Passing numbers are outside the FCS top 50 over the past 3 years.

 

[OrangePA]

Greg’s dad Dave coached our travel team for a bit but Mike Lee (Jimmy lees brother) was our coach during our amazing stretch. Sorry lol. For “youth” bball, Mike had us dialed

I'm a bit before Mike Lee.

I was playing in 1971-72.

Holy Cross beat us one year by probably 50 points?

I have never been crushed like that.

 

[RandomGuy]

100%. Our daughter plays softball and the expectations of what they need to do is absurd. Hitting lessons, pitching lessons, etc… it is a fortune and it is just like keeping up with the Joneses. She plays club and now on JV in high school. We started when she was six. There is something almost every day, year round. We are fortunate to leave in a nice area, but the competitive nature leads to more more more. One day when she is done I’m gonna try to figure out how much we spent and I’ll cry, I don’t have the heart to do it until she retires.

Its insanity. In our area, the natural born athletes play many sports, and tend to be the best, in each. Some specialize, and others need to, if they even want a chance.

Our HS baseball team had NINE D1 college scholarships. Every starter.
They were undefeated, in BASEBALL. Try to make that team... Some kids "had" to play year round.

My sons 2 HS QB's, were the best of those players. One is currently on the Marlins(state mvp hoops player, and his bro went D1 for hoops)

Specialization can help a decent athlete. I think its more important, that they have FUN. Some kids have gifts. They're going to be good, no matter what.

 

[DPCuse]

I have a ton of thoughts about youth sports but can we please keep this discussion thread focused on Chesney?

 

[TampaLaker]

Omg, I am dying over here...My son literally has a Grayson, Jackson, Chase, and Brayden on his club lax team!!!

And your son is Maverick?