Choosing the Right Junior Camps

COMING OUT OF ELITE MINOR HOCKEY, HOW MANY JUNIOR CAMPS SHOULD MY SON ATTEND?

I get this question often and my answer is, it depends on your objective.

If the objective is to play another year of minor hockey, say Midget AAA, then participating in 2 or 3 good Junior camps is of value for development and to get some eyes on the player. Generally, if there are, the teams to target would be local and I'd suggest one Junior B and up to 2 Junior A camps or vise versa depending on where you live. Keep in mind that Junior teams favour local players because it helps put butts in the seats.

If the goal is to play Junior B or A for the upcoming season, then a warm door is key to making the team, meaning a higher level team that has expressed a sincere interest in the player because they know him and have scouted him. For instance, if you played for the York Simcoe Express this past season, going to either an Aurora Tigers or Newmarket Canadiens prospects camp makes sense. As for Junior B, none would be local so maybe you go to the Kitchener/Waterloo area or Niagara region to test the waters as there are many Junior B teams in those areas. 

Two keys points are worthy of mention:

• The first is that Junior teams host Rookie Camps with the primary goal of making money to help fund their operations.

• Secondly, participating in Showcase or Prospects tournaments such as the TEP, Carnevale Showcases, etc with independent teams gets you exposed to many Junior teams all at once. 

Good luck moving forward. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Jerome Dupont