February hits and everything ramps up. Tryouts, recruiting, phone calls, rumours. The full Wild West of the GTHL.

This question of whether a player should switch teams lands a little closer to home for me right now. I’m about six weeks away from wrapping up what will be a nine-year run in coaching. I started with Vic Village Select in the NYHL and most recently took a group from Minor Atom all the way through U16, OHL draft year with the Don Mills AAA Flyers. A full life cycle.

Side note – Unbelievable feeling being in your last year and not having to recruit families while coaching your current team, another flaw we will dive deeper into when I wrap this thing up.

Over that time, I’ve worked with house league, select, A , AA, and AAA players. I’ve also had the chance— after 10 years in the U.S. — to come back and do the full hockey loop again. It has been interesting to  see what’s changed and what hasn’t. Some things have evolved. A lot hasn’t.

And every February, it comes back to the same question families are asking in the lobby, on the benches, and in the car ride home:

Should I stay, or should I go?

The answer depends on the level, and it depends on why you’re asking.

At the A and AA level, I really believe community teams are the way to go. Staying close to home matters. Some of the best moments in youth hockey happen away from the rink, and that stuff translates more than people think. Comfort, confidence, chemistry—-it all carries over.

At AA,  similar to AAA, I do think being a playoff team matters. If kids aren’t playing meaningful games late in the season, it’s fair to look at other options. But I don’t believe you need to be on the best team every single year. Minor hockey is a long game.

People come to hockey for different reasons. Some parents want their kids to join a team and play for the life lessons that come with sport. Some want real competition. Some want to chase the highest level possible. All of those are valid.

But the reality is that only a very small percentage of players are truly ahead early. Some are naturally gifted, some have simply done a lot more training at a young age. For the majority of kids, development is incremental. Normal practices. Some extra work here and there. And time.

Too often I see players chasing a level before they’re ready. That usually ends in one of two ways: Sitting on the bench of a strong AA team, or jumping to AAA on a non-competitive team, spending hours in the car every night, losing by multiple goals while playing for a coach who realistically doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to build a real relationship with you. That grind is real.

Which brings me to the question I get more than any other:

“I want to play AAA. I’m doing well in AA, but I don’t know if I want to play on the bottom AAA team. If I don’t go now, will I ever get there?”

I can only speak from my own experience as a player and what I have observed over the past 10 years.

I played my first year of AAA in Grade 9 and was fortunate enough to be drafted in Grade 10 to the OHL I only had two years of AAA. Before that, we had some good AA teams with the Bruins, including a city championship in Leaside. That was my path.

On our current AAA team, we have two players who came directly from AA, and over the years I’ve taken a few more along the way, probably because I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for east-end kids. Around the GTHL and OMHA, there are plenty of examples of players who started in A and AA and worked their way up.

Most kids who make AAA do so around Grades 6 or 7, but I still see players breaking in during Grades 8 and 9. Draft year (grade 10) is a tough year to break into the league, especially on a playoff team. By then, rosters are mostly set.

That said, I have seen players move from AA to weaker AAA teams earlier in their careers, do well there, and then climb the rankings within the GTHL. I actually have a good example of that on my current team.

But this is the part that gets glossed over.

For every one of those success stories, I’ve seen five or six players make that same move and either stay on a bottom AAA team their entire GTHL career or get returned quickly to AA. The difference usually comes down to whether the player is truly ready for the level and willing to put the work in once they get there.

Some players thrive in that environment. Others get exposed by it.

Everyone seems to be rushing toward the OHL Draft, but the landscape has changed. With the NCAA rule changes, way more American players are choosing the OHL path. Last year, around 80 of the 300 players drafted were Americans, and they’re expecting the same number, if not more this year.

That’s made the OHL a much more attractive league, which has pushed the competition level up everywhere below it. U18 hockey, which a few years ago felt watered down, is now real hockey.

Some players don’t make AAA until U18, and that’s okay. There’s now a U18 OHL Draft for late developers. Programs like Don Mills take pride in running strong U18 teams and keeping east-end kids in the mix every year. I’ve seen players who played AA most of their lives move up for Grades 11 and 12 and still go on to play junior hockey. I’ve also seen players who played AAA their whole lives burn out and be done by 19.

So the question isn’t just AA or AAA.

It’s: are you playing? Are you developing? Are you enjoying it? Are you being challenged the right way? Does your coach care about you?

I always enjoyed hockey the most when I was playing at the right level and playing a lot. Being challenged is important, and adversity can be healthy, but it needs to be the right kind. Putting your kid on a team at the wrong level and asking him to grind his way to the first line isn’t development—it’s a gamble that often costs confidence, reps, and growth.

Everyone has their own path.

Run your own race.

Don’t rush it.

— Coach Reid Acton