Not sure I tend to avoid the forums tbh. I get enough politics without going to look for it and the information that I want on training drills etc can be found without having to face them. Pinterest has some interesting hockey links, some very good, also the USA website has some brilliant off ice stick handling drills and stuff. Youtube also is a wealth of knowledge but some better than others.
Conference is basically Regionals. Each region (midlands/southern/northern) has a conference team, this is basically kids who have been selected by their team as being good enough to try out, they then go to the conference trials to try out, selection goes right up to the point of the conference game weekend so just because they have been selected at this stage of the season, it does not mean the will make the cut for the final team. Kids are assessed on ability and coachability. Kids who are talented enough in theory (in some age groups/region) might not make the cut simply because of their attitude. Being in conference can help bring players to the attention on the GB selectors and from there they can be invited for GB trials. or at least that is my understanding of it. In theory it is absolutely brilliant to have your kid selected for conference but the costs can be huge and the training hours late and in distant location. And not all players handle the environment and the associated pressure/rejection well. That said for some players it is an amazing experience that they get huge amounts from so totally worth the investment (time and money)
Conference is different to nationals which is the top two teams of each league (at the end of the season) going to a tournament where they play for the national title for their age group.
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