A hockey dad recently asked for my opinion about the decision currently being discussed by USA Hockey to remove checking from Boys Peewee (U12-U14) hockey. Well, here’s my opinion.

The Rule

The way I understand it, USA Hockey is concerned about loosing players in this age group due to the physicality (checking) in hockey when the boys make the “leap” from Squirts (U12) to Peewees (U14).

Participation

They (USA Hockey) have said they have studies on how checking effects participation and blah, blah, blah… Now, I’m not saying they’re not out there, I just honestly can’t find one of the studies or anyone that has seen them. I would think USA Hockey would want to publish this info to make their case seem more palatable to the opponents of this idea. OK, OK I understand the logic behind growing the sport of hockey through numbers, my concern is that we lose the quality of our sport.

Hockey is a “Contact” Sport

Hockey is a physical sport, Period. Can you imagine telling kids playing football to stop tackling, that would be up surd (my quick rant). Here is a fact we can’t ignore: With this decision we are telling our boys that they will only have 2… 2 years of checking before they go begin High School Hockey or start competing as young adults. This is Hockey not Football, not Soccer, it’s a fast, physical and some what complex sport. Experience and training is everything. For this reason Hockey has become a year round sport with the advent of AAA hockey leagues.

Injuries

Although Johnny’s mommy screams at the Official(s) from the bleachers when her little boy gets laid out when he was skating up the middle of the ice with his head down. The one reprieve Johnny has is that he got checked before the sport gets really fast and the players haven’t quite hit they’re adolescent growth spurts yet. Less training and experience does not equal less injuries. I predict that injuries in these boys will go up, not down when they begin to compete at the High School/young adult level.

Association vs. AAA Hockey

In Minnesota, my home state, the “State of Hockey”, there is a growing debate (maybe it’s an old one and I’m just new to it) around Association vs. AAA hockey (most of the hockey outside of MN operates on some sort of a AAA system). The athletes in the top 20% of developing hockey players (10-16 yrs. old) looking for more competitive hockey options have joined some of these AAA league teams in the off season and train with them during the season, because they have more quality training and better competition, obviously they’re playing with kids of similar skill levels. What has happened is that the associations have told these athletes they have to choose and they did choose, but the associations are loosing the top 20%.  Personally I am a proponent of association hockey for many reasons that will take to much time to explain, but I believe this No Checking decision will have a similar effect that will push more players away from Association hockey. The athletes and their parents will want their kids to be trained and ready to give as well as receive a hit before the players are bigger and stronger not learning on the fly. Are we prepared to tell all developing hockey players they have to choose? I think they will choose and the associations will loose not just the top 20%. I think it’s a cryin’ shame because at the end of the day this will hurt the long term goals of our High School programs.

My Opinion

Bureaucracy ruins almost everything. Boys Hockey isn’t Girls Hockey (No Offense). Chicks dig scars.

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