Kids and Summer Hockey.

So what do you think? How much hockey is too much? Summer completely off? Skate a league? As much as the kid wants?

As much as the kid wants. Time off is needed for sure. A lot depends on age and what goals the kid has in hockey.

League not necessarily.

Camps to help develop certain skills are another option.

3 on 3 leagues to develop small game skills.

All sorts of options. Depending on age let him decide as I am sure he talks with his buddies about it.

I’ve been out of the organized youth hockey scene for 25 years. When I played as a kid, I can recall participating in a couple of spring leagues after the winter one was over in March. I never played any summer hockey. I played little league baseball and went fishing. Probably why I was never good enough to play on the A teams in youth hockey.

I’m sure things have changed. There was no girls youth hockey when I played. And checking was permitted in pee wees. Composite one piece sticks didn’t even exist.

I know that they want the athletes to focus on one sport. Nothing wrong with taking a summer break from it though. Just my opinion.

If he is a B1 or A player then most play AAA hockey during the summer but is only a few practice and 4 or 5 tournaments.

At higher age levels that is probably important. Lower not necessarily.

This

Ripjiggen wrote:

As much as the kid wants. Time off is needed for sure. A lot depends on age and what goals the kid has in hockey.

League not necessarily.

Camps to help develop certain skills are another option.

3 on 3 leagues to develop small game skills.

All sorts of options. Depending on age let him decide as I am sure he talks with his buddies about it.

And this.

gimruis wrote:

I’ve been out of the organized youth hockey scene for 25 years. When I played as a kid, I can recall participating in a couple of spring leagues after the winter one was over in March. I never played any summer hockey. I played little league baseball and went fishing. Probably why I was never good enough to play on the A teams in youth hockey.

I’m sure things have changed. There was no girls youth hockey when I played. And checking was permitted in pee wees. Composite one piece sticks didn’t even exist.

I know that they want the athletes to focus on one sport. Nothing wrong with taking a summer break from it though. Just my opinion.

My daughter played 8U hockey (1st season) last season and last summer played 8U fastpitch (2nd season). At the beginning of the hockey season this year , she told me hockey was her favorite sport and fastpitch was her 3rd favorite, behind soccer. She’s doing a prep league this spring which consists of 10 hours of a practice like atmosphere, then a 3 c 3 tournament at the end. That starts in a couple weeks and ends in May. After signing up for that we got invited to play in a AAA league. This consists of a 2 hr practice/scrimmage once a month through August. I almost cancelled the prep league but I asked her what she wanted to do and she said to do the prep league too. Basically after May it’ll be one day a month so not too overwhelming. The cost to do both was about $500 total so not bad but I know some AAA programs are north of $1000-$1500.

She’s also doing 8U fastpitch again this spring/summer but it might be on the chopping block if she’s tired of it. Then the decision will be to do a fall prep league or not. I’ll ask her if she wants a break from hockey.

Must be quite an athlete you have Biggill.

How old is your kid?

A camp or two, maybe a 4 on 4 scrimmage league that lasts a month or two of the summer. Less is more. I’d argue they will develop more as a hockey player if they do other sports in the summer and mix in some dryland training and plain old shooting pucks versus playing as much hockey as they can all summer. That will just burn them out.

Get the kid a net or tarp to shoot at and a 5 gallon bucket of pucks to shoot in your backyard. Have them set a goal of X number of pucks to shoot over the summer. Shooting a couple thousand pucks over the summer will do more than you think. Plus teaching a kid how to set and achieve a long term goal (over the summer) builds character.

Also, it’s crazy how many AAA teams there are these days. Back in the day, only the better players were selected to tryout for the AAA teams. Now it seems like there’s just as many off-season AAA teams as there are regular teams during the normal season… and you can just sign up for AAA teams without a tryout?

Finally a topic I have expertise in! (At least from a parent standpoint). It’s as much as the KID wants applied to what the PARENT is willing to pay for. I have a First-year Pee Wee and Second-year Bantam who just wrapped their seasons. We’ve done some clinics (not camps) the last two summers for both as they both wanted to keep skating and be in good shape for fall and it’s was relatively affordable. My oldest wants to explore Summer league this year on top of clinics as his youth career is officially over and he has a goal of making JV, so he wants to dial-up the intensity. Jury is still out on if it’s what the parents are willing to pay for! I think we will though, there are worse things to spend your money on and this wont last forever. My youngest will still just do clinics.

gimruis wrote:

Must be quite an athlete you have Biggill.

Thanks, the backyard rink is a huge advantage. I tell everyone that most kids on her team get about 2 hours of hockey a week while mine get 10-20 because most of it is in the back yard doing whatever they want and more recently inviting over friends and teammates to play against.

My 4 year old son just started skating in December. I keep telling my daughter he’s catching up fast. He’ll be playing hockey next year and I’m just trying to figure out if he’d be able to skip mini-mites and go right to C mites next winter.

I have no intention in keeping them in hockey full time for all 12 months. The AAA league they have here is pretty light commitment. Unless they turn out to be something special when they are teenagers and they ask for more ice. I’m letting them lead the way.

I will say this Biggill. There is no rush in mite hockey. I did what you are thinking about. Mostly the associations decision and it was the right move at the time, but doesn’t mean it’s the right for all either. It is just as important to play with classmates as it is to move up to a little more competition. Puck touches are super important at early development as well.
My kid is semi lucky in that his neighbor and best friend are a year older. He does wish and say that he would like if some of his classmates were out there with him.
Some probably will next year.

Backyard rink helps a lot. Especially if they go do it on there own.

As much hockey as your kid can stomach and you can afford. Its always said that Colleges prefer kids that are multi-sport athletes because they tend to be more athletic and its a good balance of athleticism switching up sports. A buddy has two kids both with full ride scholarships to college and one was drafted in the second round of the NHL. He has paid handsomely for all the hockey his kids have played but it seems as though it definitely worked out. They will both get great educations and one potentially an NHL career. We often teased his son that once he signed his NHL contract that he had to buy this island in Canada where we fish.

Not really thinking about moving up but more about skating with kids closer to his abilities. As the 8U coach this year it was a challenge to keep the first year skaters (there was 5 of them) progressing while we tried to keep the 2nd-5th year players challenged. I’d prefer to get him with kids a little more advanced than he is and work at home to get him caught up than to put him in the same scenario as my 3rd-4th-5th year players were where I struggled to give the attention they needed.

After doing HEP evals last night with the C mites, I’m pretty confident he can already skate with some of them.

Unfortunately where I live, pretty much all our sports organizations are having kids play up to fill vacancies. It sucks. They tried to pull my daughter up to 10U Fastpich but I, and a couple other parents, said NO. They pulled up other kids instead though.

I’ve already been told they’re looking to probably pull up our top returning 8U girls next year to 10U to fill vacancies. The only thing here is that our top girls are better than pretty much all the 10U C players. I was told the 8U B team didn’t win a single game this year. The only way to stop this is to either start cutting kids or boost registrations, IMO.

Sorry, I veered way off into the weeds.

Oh, and luckily for my daughter, literally almost half of her 2nd grade class is either on her team or on one of the mite boys teams. Pretty cool for her.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Backyard rink helps a lot. Especially if they go do it on there own.

“Daaaad, will you tie my skates?” Is a pretty awesome sound. Much better than “daaaaad, can I watch a show?”

I say let it be up to the kids to decide what they want to do or how much as long as you can make it work. Mine don’t play hockey but I have 2 that wrestle and the youngest(12) has practiced 2-5 days a week year round for the last 3 yrs and the oldest(16) has only done it during wrestling season by his choice which is fine. My youngest started travel baseball last year and really liked that and is talking about playing fall league instead of football this year. I just want them to do something extracurricular but leave it up to them on what and how much within reason. I will say this though the kids that do practice or play year round with any sport usually do better with all sports they play due to constantly being active and in better shape.

Ask your self these questions.
Why is the kid playing, for their passion or yours?
What is the kids (I said Kids) end goal?
HS star? College? D1 or D3? NHL? NBA MLS WNBA
If the answer to any of these are yes, Consider Community size, are in in North branch or Edina (or the like). If Edina, what level athlete were you, your wife, family members? If not at a very high level, promote cabin life and re-set goals. Genes mean a lot. Its not coincidence nearly every College team is filled with kids of former high end players.
I saw way too many families marching around the super rink in little Juniors AAA outfit. Walking with their chins in the air even though dads was the highest chin at 5’4″ but sporting an XL outfit. Size matters, no really it does I dont care what she says.

What is your income level? how much will you commit to reach the kids higher end goals…. Cuz I guaranty you whatever you are willing to commit, there are many many willing to commit more. If you think $5-10k annual is too much. YES millions to their kids hockey goal. Enjoy cabin life, fishing and set new goals. I know a family, you likely have heard of them, that committed Millions.
If your kid wants to play college, do you want to delay college 2-3 years for them to play Junior hockey? They will have to unless they are in the top 1-3% of all high school players
The hockey world is big here in Minnesota but contrary to what we know of our little bubble, the hockey world outside Minnesota is HUGE.
The trickle down affect as kids age is very impactful.
In Junior your kid will sign a tender and think he has it made, but then a kid is cut from another team and a cascade of player movement begins often leaving kids sitting out seasons, Junior outside of the elite of the elite players is very political and money driven, it is brutal.
When you have been through all this, and witnessed things first hand, you think back and wish there was a handbook. I could write one at this point. I have seen a lot. One players junior track spanned from Shattuck to Ottawa to NY to Michigan to Nova scotia and then to Kenai……In one fall. Guess who payed for the kid to get to all these teams he was dropped to or traded too? Mom and Dad. I have so many stories, from USHL, NAHL, NA3HL USPHL. In the end it feels like it is survival of the fittest.

Bottom line, wake up in the morning throw a glass of cold water in your face, look at the reality of the world, set goals and make your decisions accordingly.

I hear ya Biggill. Daaaad tie my skates…Daaaad i need a snack. Daaaad we are thirsty from skating. Daaaad such and such shot the puck into neighbors yard.

And I love every minute of it and so does he.

co workers of mine play year round all 3 then throw baseball, xcross on top. I dont envy him in the least. Told my buddy he could have a hell of a lake house and the toys to go with it for what he pays out yearly.

breakerbreaker wrote:

Told my buddy he could have a hell of a lake house and the toys to go with it for what he pays out yearly.

Lol its probably true. I was in a Pure Hockey store last weekend and the cost of equipment these days is outrageous. You could easily drop several thousand on new skates, sticks, and other equipment. Then they grow out of it in a year or two, and you have to replace it. There is nothing cheap about it by any means.

And if you have a goalie, YIKES.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>breakerbreaker wrote:</div>
Told my buddy he could have a hell of a lake house and the toys to go with it for what he pays out yearly.

Lol its probably true. I was in a Pure Hockey store last weekend and the cost of equipment these days is outrageous. You could easily drop several thousand on new skates, sticks, and other equipment. Then they grow out of it in a year or two, and you have to replace it. There is nothing cheap about it by any means.

And if you have a goalie, YIKES.

one of his is a goalie orders alot of his stuff out of canada for the exchange rate

breakerbreaker wrote:

co workers of mine play year round all 3 then throw baseball, xcross on top. I dont envy him in the least. Told my buddy he could have a hell of a lake house and the toys to go with it for what he pays out yearly.

No offense but it isn’t about what you or your buddy want. It’s about the kids and what they want to do. I know plenty of people with cabins and their older kids don’t go anymore because they get bored there. There’s no right or wrong answer as long as long as you aren’t in it for yourself.

I played baseball, football and hockey in HS. Never a serious injury. My kid played baseball, football and tennis. Again, never a serious injury. Kids focused on a single sport and playing only that sport have a higher incidence of injury than those playing more than one sport. Also agree with Wormdunker’s analysis. Take a realistic look at goals and opportunities. Be the adult and parent, guide them rather than follow them.

So far I’ve bought nothing but used equipment except for sticks. I don’t have any plans to do otherwise in the foreseeable future.

Something I’ve noticed regarding skates and goalie equipment is that they have a much larger selection of models that fit all price ranges from $200-$1200. It’s rumored that a lot of NHL players don’t even opt for the top models. Most of the time the top skate models are the stiffest which not all players prefer. Same goes for sticks. Some are over $400 but a lot of pros are using a $150 stick because they like them better.

I’m a goalie and I remember top of the line catch glove was $350 back in the 90s. You can still pick up a middle of the road glove for that which is 1000x better than the top of the line stuff back in the 90s.

The Hockey equipment market is a marketing racket.

I’m a goalie

This explains a lot.

CaptainMusky wrote:

As much hockey as your kid can stomach and you can afford. Its always said that Colleges prefer kids that are multi-sport athletes because they tend to be more athletic and its a good balance of athleticism switching up sports. A buddy has two kids both with full ride scholarships to college and one was drafted in the second round of the NHL. He has paid handsomely for all the hockey his kids have played but it seems as though it definitely worked out. They will both get great educations and one potentially an NHL career. We often teased his son that once he signed his NHL contract that he had to buy this island in Canada where we fish.

I think if you’re having your kid play youth sports in the hopes they get a college scholarship or making it to the NHL, you’re in it for all the wrong reasons.

As long as they are playing other sports, playing around the neighborhood/with friends and have time for life, I’d say let them skate as much as they would like. Hockey is a little different than other sports due to the skills and skating required, plus in MN everyones Uncle played for the Northstars back in ’72, and kids/families devoting their entire lives to it. But at the end of the day the best ATHLETES move on to college. Regardless of the sport, if they want to be very good, they need to develop their athleticism, not sport specific skill.

I remember a director of youth hockey from a very prominent program call summer hockey “checkbook hockey”. He was against it. He said let kids be kids and if they want to mix in summer hockey, so be it. Just make sure they go swimming, fishing, and not get so consumed if they weren’t playing at every league/camp possible. A very healthy approach to children’s well being.

BigWerm wrote:

Regardless of the sport, if they want to be very good, they need to develop their athleticism, not sport specific skill.

I totally agree with this and this is exactly my philosophy. The problem is that at least with hockey, this is why they have extensive dry land training programs. They develop the athleticism without “wasting” time and commitment on other sports. It’s unfortunate for those kids caught in that loop but it’s the way it is now for many.

Kids will grow up successful and self sufficient human beings if you aren’t constantly plotting their course their entire life. That’s the goal in the end anyway.

Let kids do as much or as little as they want. Present the options once and then it’s up to them. It’s their life, goals, and dreams that they should pursue – not yours. If your kids find a sport they like, continue to expose them to others. What a kid loves at age 8 could be something they cannot stand by age 15. Their all around athleticism will vastly improve with the different sports they engage in.

I absolutely lived and breathed athletics from early on up. I’d regularly go from one practice to the next for different teams and sports in the same night. I was never more than a 3 sport all conference athlete all through high school but loved every minute. There are some memories I will never forget and things that clearly made me who I am today. There’s also a reality that I missed out on some family trips, time with friends, or even just peace and quiet. My wife was even more invested in athletics as she was a x4 year starter on a Division 2 college softball team and an all-state athlete in high school on a state champion volleyball team.

^With all that said, there’s a reality factor that I am 5’11, 180# and my wife is a feisty 5’4 athletic lady. Genetics trump most everything. Our daughters aren’t going to the WNBA or getting paid to play any professional sports. Odds are they will be average athletes who could maybe achieve a bit more if they are intrinsically motivated. I will love them the same and support them in whatever they want to do. If they want me to throw them BP until my arm falls off, I’ll be there. If they want to lift weights I’ll drive them there every single morning. If they want to get involved in the theatre or dance, I’ll be there cheering them on too (but might need a beer or two first as I won’t know the slightest thing that’s going on).