How much hockey is enough?

[SharpShooter 0]

Eagles 39,

If you would only play in the league with your friends would you be having more fun? Three leagues? Different age groups or different levels or rinks? Did you tell your parents you didnt want to play this much? Thanks for helping us out Eagle.

[Eagles39 0]

Eagles 39,

If you would only play in the league with your friends would you be having more fun? Three leagues? Different age groups or different levels or rinks? Did you tell your parents you didnt want to play this much? Thanks for helping us out Eagle.

Yea,

I am playing in the league with my friends and it is real fun but I am also playing High school league and AAA selects. I wasn't going to play highschool league until the coached called and asked me to play cause no else wnted to play and they needed players and I wasn't going to play selects but my parents made me.

[Dan_The_Man_16 0]

If you feel really bogged down, try talking to your parents and seeing if they will let you drop AAA, or HS.

[Eagles39 0]

If you feel really bogged down, try talking to your parents and seeing if they will let you drop AAA, or HS.

Its to late now because they already paid for both so I will be done with those two teams in the middle of July and will be ready for club hockey to start in August. Luckily, this year club ends in November when Highschool starts so I won't be skating that much.

[Guest Josee]

i plau alot and sometimes it gets really borin and you think you have had enough biut you always wanna go bawq and play more so i dont knwo hwow mcuh hockey ism enough <_<

[mack 44]

I guess the cutoff is when it affects literacy.

[ChiefsHockey 0]

i plau alot and sometimes it gets really borin and you think you have had enough biut you always wanna go bawq and play more so i dont knwo hwow mcuh hockey ism enough <_<

Im guessing that your French Canadian?

[Big Bird 0]

it all depends on how much you like hockye if you dont really like it then you might get tired of it faster

[MDE3 0]

50+ and have coached both travel ice and roller as well as run clinics.

I have seen "burn out" from AA and AAA kids when they have been playing 80+ game seasons for several years through Peewee and Bantam. Most of these kids have been playing Travel or "rep" hockey since age 6..and have had all the requisite extra camps in summer etc. Most not only played the regular travel season grind, but the summer tournament hockey as well.

When you see a team of 8 year olds who look like mini NHL players already with the skills and team awareness normally not seen well into the teen years..you have to wonder if the sport is not becoming a job for the kids. The amount of time and training needed to reach these levels that early can be a great strain on the kids, whose only real "fun" is from the glory they may get from being at the top levels, and the recognition in a pretty small fishbowl.

I personally know half a dozen of these kids who have reached "burnout" by age 13 or so and these were kids who were already nationally recognized prospects. They only play casual level hockey now, or high school hockey...where high school hockey is considered secondary to travel (I know this is not true every where, but in this region it has been).

I have an 18 year old son who plays at a high level of inline hockey...PIHA and MLRH, as well as some pro tournaments, Team USAHIL Junior development program, some pick up hockey twice a week, and the seasons run from August with tryouts and camps, to the end of June..with tournament hockey filling the summer months...I can see the burnout in him as well. The intensity levels for this hockey are not as great as for ice(less practices and dryland stuff)..even though they probably should be, and still I can see the lack of interest creeping in..as well as for many of his team mates who have much the same program.

[GekigangarIII 0]

When you see a team of 8 year olds who look like mini NHL players already with the skills and team awareness normally not seen well into the teen years..you have to wonder if the sport is not becoming a job for the kids. The amount of time and training needed to reach these levels that early can be a great strain on the kids, whose only real "fun" is from the glory they may get from being at the top levels, and the recognition in a pretty small fishbowl.

MDE you have hit it RIGHT on the head here. I was just thinking this a couple weeks ago watching a couple teams consisting of 10-12 year olds. The level that these kids were playing at made it clear that these kids obviously have been indoctrinated on "how to win the game" rather than "why hockey is fun". They were playing with total awareness of not only their own positions but breakout strategies, defensive breakdowns and potential plays. They were seeing plays develop three or four passes before they occured.

While they're level of play may be impressive to a passer-by, but it was painfully obvious that these kids were not having fun at all. You're so right, the only fun they have is the recognition from a goal. To me, it seemed these kids have NEVER had fun with the game, aside from maybe the first few times they were on the ice (if they remember it). It's definitely a job to these kids.

Fun should be the least common denominator when it comes to hockey. Everyone should have it, the ones that have the skill inherently will rise to the top and if they still have fun with the game they'll be motivated to play at higher levels.

The problem today are that the parents and alot of coaches believe that hockey skill, instinct and love for the game can be taught to anyone able to pay league fees.

I would much rather have my son enjoy the game through his whole life playing in rec leagues than burning out at 14 because he'll never be a pro.

[MDE3 0]

Amen!

[SharpShooter 0]

Md3 you are right and I am looking for definite warning signs from the kids themselves so we can go to the parents and say these are the signs and you probably should back off. The whole point is keeping these players who started out loving the game and coming to be (bored) and quit playing all together to keep playing while having fun. It sounds like your boy did it all and is still rolling (WHY) when many others burn out? I also know some that played a lot from very young and still are playing but some have quit, can through identifiying these signs we save some? I think it is worth trying to find out from the kids themselves. Get your son to post his views on this post it can only help. Thanks

[MDE3 0]

I will try, but usually I am his mouthpiece I am afraid..he is not a big internet talker and hates talking about himself most of all. He will barely even talk about his hockey to his friends. Unfortunately I am not blessed with his sense of restraint....

It's basically a sense of self fullfillment that drives him. He has been fortuneate enough to have some success to reinforce his efforts. Also he has only played inline hockey now for four years instead of the usual ice and inline grind. A combination of circumstances conspired to make this happen. If he had continued to try to play both, he too might no longer be playing anything but pick up hockey.

I think the true secret is that we keep our kids playing at levels where they can see an achievable dream and fullfill it. Reinforcing their striving for achievment by matching their playing levels more realistically, and letting them see their own success coming in proportion to the work performed. Understanding this relationship between effort and success by achieving "reachable goals" will then fuel their desire to improve and keep them happy to work to be more competitive. The goals must be far enough away to provide a serious challenge, and near enough to be achievable.

If we superimpose our own dreams upon them, often we may try to place our kids at too high a level...fueled by our own desire to see them "be more than they can be". When they have trouble being as successfull as we hoped, they often become discouraged facing their own version of "the impossible dream". We then place them in more private clinics, or extended training camps....often working them beyond their interest or desire and risking killing the true enjoyment of self discovery...the greatest fun of all.

On other occasions our(parents) ego's will place them in too low a level, where they conquer all challengers effortlessly..and learn nothing. This direction is simply out of control ego..more ours than theirs. Pretty soon this can only have only a negative effect, creating if we (as parents) are lucky..boredom, or at worst a truly skewed perspective on what is worthwhile and what is not.

Both these scenario's require a very objective..and often painfull perspective adjustment by we the parents in order to avoid the pitfalls, and a very straightforward evaluation by coaches of the probabilities for each child.

By having our kids play a variety of sports, we can evaluate their true athletic potential much more completely than by focussing all their energy on the one sport. In order for this to be true, I would recommend that hockey be reduced to a more "seasonal" sport..which will allow our kids a broader perspective, and keep them hungry to get back to the sport if they truly love it.

[iceburg19 1]

ive worked at a inline rink now for 8 years,my 3 sons and myself have played alot of hockey,burnout can come easy,try not to live hockey every day,try other sports,oh gotta go stanley cup is on.peace.

[Fox 0]

18 year old girl here. I always have fun playing in goal, but to prevent burn out I skate as D sometimes.

[Cavs019 702]

this year i played about 80 games between prep and travel, with practices about 5-6 times a week. Once march rolled around I didnt want to see an ice rink for the rest of my life.