As the off-season begins, and let’s be honest there really isn’t one anymore, high school players will look toward the next season and the options available to them. Spring, summer and fall opportunities to stay on the ice are plentiful.

In the late 1990’s the need to supplement the WIAA high school experience became an issue. The Team Wisconsin program was granted approval from WAHA and began its operation in 1999. In 2002 John Russo introduced the Tier I Minnesota Elite League and in 2008 they expanded to include the Tier II Minnesota Premier Prep League. The Wisconsin Elite Hockey League started in 2006. Wisconsin Selects became a Tier II 19U option for girls only in 2017. All these programs were created to allow high school players a pre-post season option to enhance their high school experience. Players could have the best of both worlds and in the process do not leave home for more games, better competition or more exposure.

There are other paths to take and while I personally don’t support those, I understand that players will choose them. We all have our own compass and mine would never send my son or daughter away from home as a high school teenager. To me that time was too valuable, and I didn’t want someone else responsible for raising my teenager. I didn’t need any reasons beyond that.

For some the path of a pre-post team combined with the WIAA season isn’t quite good enough. Whether the reason is coaching or competition or exposure, some choose a different path. Those paths include the Madison Captials, Jr. Admirals and various other Prep Schools or programs. Most of these options come with a high-ticket price that for many just isn’t in the budget.

We live in the greatest country in the world, and with that comes many choices and the freedom to pick and choose. We do what we think is in the best interests of our children and that will never be the same answer for everybody. All choices come with a cost. 

With no intent in starting a fight or a heated debate, I want to thank all the parents and players who have chosen one of the pre-post options to expand their son or daughters Wisconsin hockey experience. Whether it is Team Wisconsin, Wisconsin Selects, Wisconsin Elite Hockey League or another part-time program, your choice is helping the future growth of WIAA hockey. That is an undeniable fact. And conversely, not staying and playing for your high school, may or may not improve your college destination, but without question negatively impacts WIAA hockey.

I won’t begin to defend what I consider to be the many shortcomings of the WIAA’s current oversight of hockey. At the same time, keeping and developing hockey through the high schools is the best and most stable option. High school hockey needs to function within the schools, for many reasons including financial support, liability and community involvement.

High school sports is unquestionably in a much different place than decades ago, but there is still something special about a true one-school championship, achieved with the hometown heroes like the  1954 Milan High School Indians in the movie Hoosiers or own recent Tomahawk Hatchets. Remember, All opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Dan Bauer… and unlike the current political climate, disagreement is accepted and tolerated.

I will always stay firm in my belief that the make-up of the player is far more important than the path they choose. Hard for me to imagine Joe Pavelski or Cole Caufield or Jesse Vetter falling short of their greatness if they had chosen a different path. When you look at where most of our Badger State products end up, there is little evidence to support that for the vast majority the idea that money spent on expensive alternatives is a game changer. Unfortunately, the current sports culture has convinced most of us that more is always better. More games, more coaches, more time and more money will equal more opportunities for players. The result most often falls short of the sales pitch.

It is unfortunate that youth and high school athletics has become more about getting to the "next level" than anything else. Too often I see the great lengths parents go to get their kid to the next level, only to see them wind up at the same schools with the kids who stayed home and played WIAA. To me the value of athletics is not simply about what level you achieve

What might our WIAA hockey look like if Badger City, the Capitals, and Admirals were also pre-post teams, and we returned the majority of those players to their high school teams? If we were all truly concerned with making Wisconsin high school hockey the best it could be, would that be part of the answer? Too many are quick to criticize coaches and programs and walk away instead of looking for solutions to fix the problems. We are too easily convinced that leaving is the best answer, that the grass is always greener.

Without question the loss of players to full-time teams impacts the girls side more than the boys because of the difference in the number of teams. The depth created by eighty-five boys teams, the majority with junior varsity teams, versus twenty-seven girls teams is significant.

We dream about being like Minnesota, but the truth is they have a cultural head start that we cannot duplicate. So instead of complaining about why we haven’t matched them, why don’t we look for ways to increase the cross-over between the two states. Team Wisconsin has achieved that by participating in their Elite League. There are other potential mergers like the Wisconsin Selects who are currently working on a weekend series against the Premier Prep League.

More and more high school programs are loading up their schedules with Minnesota teams. Superior has done this for decades, finishing the regular season with a .500 or less record, then going to Madison and winning the state tournament. Tomahawk head coach Dewey Reilly calls it “punching above your weight class” and it was part of his strategy that led to a state championship. Let’s lean into Minnesota instead of feeling frustrated and jealous of their hockey culture.

The value of the high school experience is now tied so tightly to the next level that we seem to have forgotten why we play the game. The beauty of the day-to-day journey of athletics has taken a backseat to the perceived end result. With all the levels of college hockey now available, playing beyond high school is an option for nearly every player. The result we should be striving for is a life-long passion for hockey that keeps you in the game as an adult leaguer until you’re sixty, or a coach, official or a level-headed parent, board member, program booster or simply a fan.

That is how Minnesota’s hockey culture has been built; they are stewards of the greater good of the game of hockey. And we are all capable of doing that.

Dan Bauer is a free-lance writer, retired teacher & hockey coach in Wausau, WI. You can contact him at drbauer13@gmail.com.