Losing the desire for the game

[Upper Bowl]

This is an interesting article in the Globe this morning. Kind of fits in our decision to cut way back on our D ice time this summer and concentrate more on dry land training. Even though this is her senior HS year, we felt the break would bring her back this fall with maybe a little more jump in her step.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080826.wlburnout26/BNStory/lifeFamily/home

[Redhouse]

Amen.

[moxie]

This is an interesting article in the Globe this morning. Kind of fits in our decision to cut way back on our D ice time this summer and concentrate more on dry land training. Even though this is her senior HS year, we felt the break would bring her back this fall with maybe a little more jump in her step.Great article, thanks for posting it. Your comments, however, lead me to believe that you missed its premise. I don't agree that moving from on-ice to off-ice is a "break" and your role in the decision makes it unclear what your daughter truly desires. It's not easy for a kid to make a decision such as stepping away from hockey when the expectations are palpable and she perceives it as disappointing her parent(s).

And hopefully USA Hockey takes note of such articles. The attrition of girls from 14U to 19U is much greater than it should be.

Here are a few excerpts on point:

"The bar's been raised, but it hasn't. It's been accelerated," he says. "The kids with the most potential are still the kids with the most potential. Some kids are getting to their peak at a very quick pace. A lot of parents don't understand this."

"Parents, even as they bemoan the cost and time commitment, keep signing their kids up for $5,000 or $6,000 sports seasons and $7,000 summer training camps. Otherwise, they risk seeing their kids left out."

"The parents are the competitive part of it," he says. "It's not the kids."

We're getting them on the elite treadmill too soon...

Indeed, a little more family honesty and a lot less pressure from the hockey world...

...with so much at stake, it's no wonder some kids don't speak up about not enjoying it.

Coaches and sports administrators admit that the relentless pace exacts a price. "There's been a big shift in philosophy. There's much more year-round hockey taking place," Mr. Oakman says. "That certainly lends itself to kids dropping out of the game earlier than historically they would have. They might be getting a lifetime's worth of hockey in a shorter period of time."

[Atlantic Puck]

It is not just hockey all sports are playing year round or close to it. The more skilled players are having to chose between sports as the seasons overlap and the administrators at high schools and minor "amateur" sports levels are making the kids select one sport over another. Sometimes a change to another sport is just as good as a rest and makes the player come back refreshed and with more enthusiasm:)

[notfromaroundhere]

May I ask where a farmer gets $300,000 to fund one (of four) child's ice fees? :confused: Perhaps I should start planting a garden ;)

I only wish I had that kind of money to spend... And I don't think it would be all going towards ice fees! :rolleyes:

Thinking back to mentions my D has made of a certain player she knows who every week seems to fly out every week this summer to X camp or Y tournament (pretty much 90% of the commonly mentioned events on this forum). I'm also hearing that she is getting dinged (physically) quite a bit with this off-season schedule.

Girl is only starting 11th grade, but you'd think she's in the middle of the major recruiting cycle going on for the class of '09 the way she's been going. I'm wondering what she is going to do for an encore next summer, if she makes it that far...

[Trillium]

Great article, thanks for posting it. Your comments, however, lead me to believe that you missed its premise. I don't agree that moving from on-ice to off-ice is a "break" and your role in the decision makes it unclear what your daughter truly desires. It's not easy for a kid to make a decision such as stepping away from hockey when the expectations are palpable and she perceives it as disappointing her parent(s).

Have to agree that off-ice training is even less of a break than even summer hockey. Off-ice training is something you have to really want to do and commit wholeheartedly to for it to be of much value.

I also am not a fan of summer hockey, but feel it is important to speak up wrt this particular article, as I do happen to know this particular family. I believe Legein is used as an unfortunate example to enable the author to push his particular agenda for his article. He even admits he actually knows nothing of Legein's reasons for quitting. These reasons are private and undoubtedly complex.

It could equally be argued (though this author chooses not to) that it is all the problems inherent to the OHL system, rather than "overbearing parents", which ultimately leads to such problems.

If Legein ever played summer hockey, he has not done so for some years. He has however, been extremely dedicated to extensive off ice training for years--which is incredibly hard to do if you do not love what you are doing. It is not something you can do for long merely to please others. Since he has other siblings who did not similarly commit to a comparable regimen, though undoubtedly given the same option, it is unlikely his parents were the driving force here.

I truly hope and believe that sometime in the not too distant future, Legein and the other boy will rediscover their drive and love for the game.

[puckster]

more burnout... maybe he can take up another sport like delle donne did
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncw&id=3552978

[Radar3535]

I think it is far better to leave the game by your own choice rather than a necessity.

[PrepHockeyGuy]

Great article. It is also why I love prep schools for sports. It is a the last place a kid can really play three sports if they want too. All these youth and junior programs who talk bad about prep schools because you don't get on the ice until November have it wrong.

Also, by forcing a kid to choose one sport earlier you are limiting their options. I went to prep school with my main sport as hockey and my goal was to play college hockey...but I ended up playing soccer in college at a better academic school than I would have if I tried to play hockey in college.

Push kids to keep options open, don't push them to one sport! Plus, other sports help kids with hockey. Take for example kids who are really good at lacrosse (I notice this with the the DC/NOVA/MD kids) and grew up in lax crazy areas...they are really good at shielding players with one arm, just like they do in lax!

Plus we are pushing our kids to the sport that is the hardest to find a college roster spot for in college (at least on the boys side) and one of the most expensive...does not make sense!

[Hux]

Great article. It is also why I love prep schools for sports. It is a the last place a kid can really play three sports if they want too. All these youth and junior programs who talk bad about prep schools because you don't get on the ice until November have it wrong.

Also, by forcing a kid to choose one sport earlier you are limiting their options. I went to prep school with my main sport as hockey and my goal was to play college hockey...but I ended up playing soccer in college at a better academic school than I would have if I tried to play hockey in college.

Push kids to keep options open, don't push them to one sport! Plus, other sports help kids with hockey. Take for example kids who are really good at lacrosse (I notice this with the the DC/NOVA/MD kids) and grew up in lax crazy areas...they are really good at shielding players with one arm, just like they do in lax!

I can't say that I am a fan of soccer, but I am a fan of what happens when a kid plays soccer and learns how to do things with their feet. It is usually pretty evident as to who plays soccer, especially at the younger ages, as they are much more adept than non-players at handling a puck in their feet. They also tend to be the kids who are in better shape. And since most of them tend to miss the first month to six weeks of the hockey season, they are also the ones who aren't toast come late January.

[Redhouse]

I grew up playing in the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League, now the GTHL. At that time it was the world's largest feeder league to Junior and the NHL. I played OHA Provincial Junior A and Junior B hockey. In the MTHL we would play an average of two games a week and have one practice. Practices went to twice a week at Bantam.

There were many years that we did not play in any Tournaments other than the season ending King Clancy tournament. When we did go to a tournament it was a very big deal, I will always remember The Quebec PeeWee tournament. I'm sorry, but I don't think that when the little Johnny/Sally of today is my age that they will remember the fifth tournament of their PeeWee season in an exotic location an hour and a half away from home where they played three teams that they play in league play. My wife is a teacher, don't get her started on the amount of school that kids miss, many of whom can not afford to, in order to attend these tournaments.

We would usually have one home and home series against an American or distant OMHA team where we would be billeted with a player's family and reciprocate when they came to play us. Very little school was missed for hockey. I am quite certain that my parents did not have to pay anything other than the registration fee. We sold raffle tickets door to door to get our team jackets. Hockey was affordable.

If we did have any summer hockey it would be a week at a hockey/sports camp, maybe a few power skating sessions. There were no summer hockey leagues and the MTHL had a rule that teams could not hold tryouts until after Labour day.

When the hockey season ended you played something else, usually Lacrosse, Soccer or Baseball. Most rinks took the ice out in the summertime. I played lacrosse with guys that I played hockey against, developed a set of friends that I would not have known had I played year round hockey. Lacrosse made kids better hockey players. It taught them to see the floor (ice), to be better playmakers as hogging the ball in lacrosse can be painful. You learned to receive a pass, look for someone open to get it to and to then get open yourself to get it back. Hand eye coordination was better developed in those who played lacrosse.

Every winter I also had time to swim which allowed me to learn Lifesaving skills and get a summer job as a Lifeguard. I also played tons of street hockey and had plenty of time to hang out with kids in the neighbourhood who I did not play hockey with.

I was in my teens when summer hockey leagues started. Most guys my age didn't play it and if they did it was more to have fun.

There was a definite start and finish to the hockey season. I remember looking forward to the start of hockey in the fall and lacrosse in the spring.

Did we develop as hockey players? Absolutely. I played with a number of guys who had long professional careers, many others who went South to play NCAA hockey. But I also played hockey with guys who went South on Soccer and Track and Field scholarships. They were able to do this because their hockey schedules gave them time to try, and ultimately succeed in other sports.

Contrast this with a discussion that I had last week with a former team mate of mine. His son's team was on the ice 144 times last year. No, he does not play in the OHL, he is nine years old and plays AE, which is one step above Houseleague. Or the boy that my son played with who at about the age of ten broke down crying in the van on his way home from an away game because it was well past his bedtime and he was trying to do homework in a moving vehicle and couldn't keep up.

I could go on. What I am trying to say is that sports are supposed to be fun, provide exercise and teach our kids life lessons. When those life lessons are that balance doesn't matter, that school takes a back seat to hockey etc, then there is something wrong. It's no wonder kids are burning out.

I am off to put my soapbox away.

[unbelievable]

It is not just hockey all sports are playing year round or close to it. The more skilled players are having to chose between sports as the seasons overlap and the administrators at high schools and minor "amateur" sports levels are making the kids select one sport over another. Sometimes a change to another sport is just as good as a rest and makes the player come back refreshed and with more enthusiasm:)

Atlantic,
Case in point: my 10 year old received a letter from the soccer association regarding U11 soccer tryouts for next year. In the letter they did a good job of laying out the logistics, etc. In the Commitment section they specifically state that missing practice or games for other sports is unacceptable and grounds for dismissal from the team. Wow, these will be 11 year old kids... unbelievable...

[Trillium]

I grew up playing in the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League, now the GTHL. At that time it was the world's largest feeder league to Junior and the NHL. I played OHA Provincial Junior A and Junior B hockey. In the MTHL we would play an average of two games a week and have one practice. Practices went to twice a week at Bantam.

There were many years that we did not play in any Tournaments other than the season ending King Clancy tournament. When we did go to a tournament it was a very big deal, I will always remember The Quebec PeeWee tournament. I'm sorry, but I don't think that when the little Johnny/Sally of today is my age that they will remember the fifth tournament of their PeeWee season in an exotic location an hour and a half away from home where they played three teams that they play in league play. My wife is a teacher, don't get her started on the amount of school that kids miss, many of whom can not afford to, in order to attend these tournaments.

We would usually have one home and home series against an American or distant OMHA team where we would be billeted with a player's family and reciprocate when they came to play us. Very little school was missed for hockey. I am quite certain that my parents did not have to pay anything other than the registration fee. We sold raffle tickets door to door to get our team jackets. Hockey was affordable.

If we did have any summer hockey it would be a week at a hockey/sports camp, maybe a few power skating sessions. There were no summer hockey leagues and the MTHL had a rule that teams could not hold tryouts until after Labour day.

When the hockey season ended you played something else, usually Lacrosse, Soccer or Baseball. Most rinks took the ice out in the summertime. I played lacrosse with guys that I played hockey against, developed a set of friends that I would not have known had I played year round hockey. Lacrosse made kids better hockey players. It taught them to see the floor (ice), to be better playmakers as hogging the ball in lacrosse can be painful. You learned to receive a pass, look for someone open to get it to and to then get open yourself to get it back. Hand eye coordination was better developed in those who played lacrosse.

Every winter I also had time to swim which allowed me to learn Lifesaving skills and get a summer job as a Lifeguard. I also played tons of street hockey and had plenty of time to hang out with kids in the neighbourhood who I did not play hockey with.

I was in my teens when summer hockey leagues started. Most guys my age didn't play it and if they did it was more to have fun.

There was a definite start and finish to the hockey season. I remember looking forward to the start of hockey in the fall and lacrosse in the spring.

Did we develop as hockey players? Absolutely. I played with a number of guys who had long professional careers, many others who went South to play NCAA hockey. But I also played hockey with guys who went South on Soccer and Track and Field scholarships. They were able to do this because their hockey schedules gave them time to try, and ultimately succeed in other sports.

Contrast this with a discussion that I had last week with a former team mate of mine. His son's team was on the ice 144 times last year. No, he does not play in the OHL, he is nine years old and plays AE, which is one step above Houseleague. Or the boy that my son played with who at about the age of ten broke down crying in the van on his way home from an away game because it was well past his bedtime and he was trying to do homework in a moving vehicle and couldn't keep up.

I could go on. What I am trying to say is that sports are supposed to be fun, provide exercise and teach our kids life lessons. When those life lessons are that balance doesn't matter, that school takes a back seat to hockey etc, then there is something wrong. It's no wonder kids are burning out.

I am off to put my soapbox away.

Great post. I agree that perspective by all involved has been lost.

It alarms me especially that virtually no one thinks the amount of school being missed is a big deal, and it gets worse every year. Especially when relatively few of the players even have the A average generally required to get into a decent university. The latest trend here in Ontario is to schedule tournaments over 4 days (2 days off school and work) so teams don't have to play more than 1 game per day--ostensibly so they will be less tired to "play to win".