Before & After Teams

Before and After Teams have taken high school hockey by storm over the past several years. It started with the boys, and has now spread to girls hockey.

On the boys side of things, teams such as the Team Wisconsin, Badger Big 8, and Phoenix Force have shown they can play with the likes of Wisconsin AAA, the Madison Capitols as well as the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers. In the Tier I Midget U18 State Tournament this year the finalists were Wisconsin AAA and Team Wisconsin. Wisconsin AAA got the win by a score of 2-1. At the U16 Midget State Tournament this year the Badger Big 8 squad qualified for the finals against Team Wisconsin, with Team Wisconsin taking home the bacon by a score of 4-3.

The girls have just started to get into the before and after scene with the advent of the girls Team Wisconsin. In their first ever Tier 1 U19 playoff the girls did not qualify for the finals which featured the Wisconsin Wild and Madison Capitols. As girls high school hockey continues to grow, this team will undoubtedly improve.

Before and After teams, in my mind, really eliminate the need to play for a full-time AAA team. Why not play on a before and after team, and stay home during the season to represent your school? There's plenty of avenues for exposure via WAHA camps, the before and after team, and yes, even high school hockey. With the rise in popularity of before and after teams, I think you will continue to see a trend in Wisconsin away from Midget teams, and towards high school teams.