The Soo sends a lot of their high school aged students to a similar thing at Korah Collegiate. I know of 2 older players who specifically came here to attend Soo College because it's been the #1 ranked school in the country a few times recently. That's really been a big selling point with some parents. They really value good post-secondary institutions more than the players, most of the time at least.
And, IMO, this is another aspect that separates teams.
There are some sort of generally accepted practises where there are minimum requirements for teams to provide support. They aren’t necessarily written down as rules and regulations to follow; however, a strong handful of teams go well beyond the minimum and it creates an uncompetitive landscape for recruitment.
I know a lot of people point at London because they do it better but there are franchises that consistently recruit fairly well and others that simply don’t. There are a lot of factors that the average poster on here doesn’t understand or comprehend.
This is why there are so many conversations in the Kingston thread about the ownership etc. Kingston should be a franchise that flourishes. It is one of the nicest towns in Ontario. Economically stable. Great Metropolitan population base chock full of generational hockey fans. The Frontenacs are an example of a squandered opportunity. It is almost insulting. Niagara was/is in the same situation. It is very possible that with some success this year, that franchise may have turned a corner. Maybe DD had a bit of a learning curve he had to endure before he was able to straighten the ship, or at least I hope that is what it was. But, regardless, some franchises are blessed with opportunity and it is really hard to watch them squander that opportunity.
