Fun playing hockey - how?!

[SolarWind 23]

the topic is serious for me so I'd appreciate any intelligent responses

my son is 7 years old, and was playing hockey since he was 5

he was showing much promise developing in a very strong skater in the first year & was one of the strongest players for his age group in the second year

but then his progress has slowed down, and he even chose not to play the last season of minor hockey due to the lack of interest...

Despite all his individual skills probably due to his minor attention disorder he always had trouble following the game for the entire duration, and so never really had fun playing hockey :(

he's involved in other sports (judo, mtb) getting the level of exercise required for his age, but I was hoping that he'd get the hockey bug one day

I keep him on the ice once a week just to maintain his skills, but certainly it doesn't look like he's going to develop the love for the game all of a sudden...

so the question is - what's the best course of action here? Any chance to ignite the spark & make hockey fun for him somehow, or just forget & move on?

Thanks!

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

I say give him the option. If he isn't really having fun with it, it would be a lot better to let him do something that he would enjoy. You don't have to forget about hockey completely; always keep it there if he wants it. I just think it would be wrong to force it on him if he isn't 100% on board with it.

[shooter27 116]

You've got to leave it up to him, the love of the game is either there or it isn't. I started playing when I was 5 because I begged my parents to let me play. I tried to start at 4 but they wouldn't let me, they made me taking skating lessons for a year.

If he doesn't love the game you can't force it. And if you try to push him to play when he doesn't want to, all thats going to do is turn him off from the game for good. Let him play the other sports he likes, maybe eventually he'll want to give hockey another try.

[Scoobersti 0]

I agree with the other replies that giving your son the option to play or not to play is a good idea. He may later on develop more interest in hockey down the road, it may be a year from now or 10 years from now.

I do however think that the love of game can be somewhat taught or influenced. I think taking your son to hockey games and watching it on tv together would be a great way to maybe spark your son's interest a little bit and go on from there. He may not enjoy watching it right now but, one day it might just all of the sudden be fun. I was somewhat like this with football, growing up I never understood the game and wondered why my dad even liked watching this, I had no clue what was going on. I didn't even know they played once a week on Sunday and had no clue why Monday Night Football was a big deal. One day I was randomly watching some football game on tv and all the sudden I thought it was one of the most entertaining sports to watch and I got really interested in learning about the positions and the rules.

[Da Beez 0]

I have a 13 year old son who has no interest in hockey, soccer or any team sport except for baseball. He is a decent skater and he was a good soccer player but he has no interest in playing those sports. He decided he would like to start playing baseball last summer after showing no interest for years. He currently trains in Judo and snowboards for winter activities.

I tried to expose him to as many sports as possible but in the end if the interest/work ethic isn't there it isn't worth the fight to get him to play. I have come to recognize that not everyone enjoys sports to the same level and I should be happy that he plays the sports he currently does. I was quite surprised he wanted to play baseball, that just came out of the blue (although he has been watching me play slowpitch for years).

My recommendation is to allow your son to experience a variety of sports and see which one he likes the best, hockey may not be for him but something else may really appeal to him later on. If he doesn't really enjoy hockey I wouldn't push him to do it, there are a lot of other sports that he may enjoy much more. He may be much more of an individual sport person, as long as he is playing something it is a positive.

[Jordan 13]

Maybe try other versions of the sport to fan the flames.

For example, three on three hockey, or shinny or skills sessions. Maybe it's just the pressure of traditional organized hockey?

[Husker 0]

It comes in phases. I loved playing when I was young was all I looked forward too. Went to high school played two years and didn't like my coach so it made it suck for me. Now I can't get enough again and take hockey just as serious as my job. The coach also inhibited my style of play he wanted a stay at home defensemen, and I didn't want to do that it wasn't how I played my whole life and it wasn't how I made the team. Thinking back it would of been much better for me to of just played juniors, but besides supporting me financially and rooting for me my parents didn't really know the game and what my options were.

I would talk to him and see what it is that doesn't grab his interest. Do his friends play hockey or even like hockey?

[Jarick 5]

I think I liked playing hockey when I was very little, then lost interested and didn't want to play at all for many years (parents made me). In hindsight, it was all the daily practices and just lack of fun. Also, we lost our hockey team in MN so I couldn't follow it on TV.

What I'd do is try to get my kid involved in some activities. Besides the exercise, it's good to get out of the house, socialize/interact with other kids, for a number of reasons. If the kid didn't want to play hockey but wanted to play basketball, or snowboard, or karate, whatever, I'd support it. I'd probably want to get him into a summer and a winter sport. And for both, I'd rather find a program that emphasized playing and having fun over practicing and hardcore skill development...at least until he hits the teen years.

As for motivation, if you enjoy watching hockey, you'll probably enjoy playing hockey. High school and college games can be just as fun as pro.

[RadioGaGa 162]

You can't make him love it. Encourage him in the sports that he does take an interest in as far as his activities/fitness goes.

Keep hockey around him even if he stops playing, and maybe he will catch the bug again at an older age.

[Aussie Joe 0]

You always hear about people coming back, maybe he just needs to develop in other areas first before he can find what he's really looking for.

I have a buddy in hockey, he played many sports as a kid and because he was a state champ in Athletics, baseball and basketball he was a natural when he got to hockey. He wouldn't have been the same sniping speedster he was without all that. He started hockey at age 21.

[Konig von Kuhlem 0]

Maybe try other versions of the sport to fan the flames.

For example, three on three hockey, or shinny or skills sessions. Maybe it's just the pressure of traditional organized hockey?

There's always non-organized street hockey. Back in the day we played rod hockey... hours of fast pace action. :D

[SolarWind 23]

thanks for the responses gents - much appreciated!

the consensus is unanimous and is in line with what the common sense has been telling me: to each his own. forcing kids is not cool.

it does make me sad a bit that the 3 year journey didn't lead anywhere, but then again - irrespective of what the original potential was if there's no desire & will to play the game there's no point of "pushing the rope uphill"...

there're however exceptions - Pavel Bure in one of his interviews said that he hated hockey (and everything that surround it: waking up early, endless drills etc) with passion, but at the end was obviously very glad for his parents for pushing it through. There we go - my dual personality is taking me away from the common sense :)

[Scoobersti 0]

Funny you mention Pavel Bure, he was actually one of my reasons for getting interested in playing hockey, he's still one of my favorite players.

[ktang 34]

I'm thinking that, if your son has minor attention deficit disorder, team practices would be even tougher for him to swallow. Like

Jordan said, maybe stick-and-puck with you, where he can take breaks or stop when he needs to, would be more enjoyable?

[Jason Harris 31]

I've always had the view that parents have far more experiences than children, so they should be able to lead the kids. Whether they do so properly is another issue.

I had read on many occasions that girls who play team sports become better adjusted socially (less teen pregnancies, alcohol or drug use, etc), so I knew I'd have my daughters play sports. It was just a matter of finding the ones they liked -- and which I thought they'd still be able to enjoy as adults. So far, they've been playing hockey, baseball and soccer, and their rankings of each sport has changed over the years. In the beginning, the oldest daughter wasn't skating as well, so she didn't like playing hockey. However, I knew she'd eventually learn to like the sport, so I told her I wasn't going to have her sit in the stands by herself while her younger sister and I were on the ice. Today she freely admits she likes hockey, although she likes playing soccer (where she's a goalie) better.

Once difference, however, is we've kept every sport to the "rec" level. It allows them to play multiple sports and doesn't put needless pressure (or time requirements) on the kids. I believe they could have made some of the competitive teams if they had tried out, but it will all shake out come high school anyway, so I figure it's best to just let them enjoy the ride until then.

[SolarWind 23]

hockey is a very complex sport to learn because of too many completely unnatural components to it, but the mental component is probably the toughest to grasp.

Ability to control feet separately from hands (controlling the puck while skating) while still maintaining awareness of the surroundings & following the game might come easier to some, but is quite difficult to others.

As the game level increases where my kid is coming short is connecting pieces together & applying in game situations.

That’s why there might not be too much enjoyment for him at the moment, so other then what most of you have suggested (just forget about hockey for now) the answer might simply be time & maybe signing him up to rec levels of hockey instead of minors…

[Jordan 13]

One thing that I have noticed with my son that might help...he has always loved going to the outdoor rink in our neighbourhood and either just to fool around with me, passing, playing "hit the post" etc. Even better if we arrange for a friend to meet us there and they join in a game of shinny with other kids.

I think with kids...generally find a way to keep fun in the game, and at the same time, find things that improve their skill level. Confidence is the result of an eager attitude plus ability as compared to those around him.

Be patient, it will come in time.

[jcp2 2]

My son liked mini-mites and wants to go again in the fall in mites, but despite being in the advanced skater group (the ones being groomed for travel mites), had no interest in playing spring hockey. I'm actually happy that he told me this because I didn't want him to be doing it because he was trying to please me. He's going to continue tennis, get back into swimming, and join the summer T-ball team.

The one hockey thing he keeps on talking about was the two times we made it out to a frozen lake or pond to play some shinny. He wants to skate on the black frozen ice again. I think that's the best time he had all winter playing hockey. I'm definitely going to go more often next year (weather cooperating).