Love - Hate Relationship with Hockey

Oldguyjiujitsu

Oldguyjiujitsu

OAF
Trusted Member
Hockey parents....enough said??

We were never the parent that said "i want my kid to play hockey", we let our kids choose their own path. My son has played now for 10 years and we have seen the good - the character building, the team friendships, the parent parties, the pure love of sport and we have also seen the politics and crazy parents.

This week AAA and AA tryouts start for Midget level kids (15-17 years old)...WOW...Not sure what else to say. The amount of pressure on the kids is just stupid. Midget is the level where there are actually WHL scouts in the stands for a start. My son is a very nice hockey defensemen; big, strong, physical 15 year old...will never play in the NHL (nor does he dream of it) but loves to play. The atmosphere from the parents, coaches, independent evaluators, etc is to the point my son actually said in the car yesterday "i love hockey but Dad i hate tryouts...I want it over, just put me on a team...i don't care which level."

This is suppose to be his extracaricular fun?? Why do we the parents feel the need to push our dreams on our kids...we had our time, let them have theirs. The truth is that of these 120 very athletic talented kids, a few will make the WHL but MAYBE 1 will play in the NHL.
 
ill never have to worry about that. My grandson grows to fast and has the coordination of a baby faun, lol. Damn kid is 8 and almost 5’ tall. He flops around tripping on himself falling over if he hits a piece of dust on the sidewalk.
But yeah, they put on way too much pressure. It’s supposed to be fun.
 
Sorbate said:
ill never have to worry about that. My grandson grows to fast and has the coordination of a baby faun, lol. Damn kid is 8 and almost 5’ tall. He flops around tripping on himself falling over if he hits a piece of dust on the sidewalk.
But yeah, they put on way too much pressure. It’s supposed to be fun.
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That is the funny thing...my son is 15 and 6'3" he always played mid tier because he was tripping over himself...Then started lifting, and just matured and next thing we know he is getting called to play higher and higher. He hits like a brick and not afraid to mix it up and coaches love that. It is very fun to watch but its waaaaay too intense
 
Oldguyjiujitsu said:
That is the funny thing...my son is 15 and 6'3" he always played mid tier because he was tripping over himself...Then started lifting, and just matured and next thing we know he is getting called to play higher and higher. He hits like a brick and not afraid to mix it up and coaches love that. It is very fun to watch but its waaaaay too intense
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Well that’s good news. My grandson avoid any sports right now because he gets frustrated with his lack of coordination.
But he is starting to do a bit of lifting, his style, lol. He will likely be the same height as your son.
 
I've known a couple of pro hockey players over the years and the comparison between their skills and the guys who just about made it are monumentally different. It's a long challenging road and the guys who toil in the minors really do toil. The jump from juniour or college to the NHL is so very difficult.
 
Bagua said:
I've known a couple of pro hockey players over the years and the comparison between their skills and the guys who just about made it are monumentally different. It's a long challenging road and the guys who toil in the minors really do toil. The jump from juniour or college to the NHL is so very difficult.
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Exactly... what most parents don’t understand is that we are truly training our kids up for beer league.
 
Oldguyjiujitsu said:
Hockey parents....enough said??

We were never the parent that said "i want my kid to play hockey", we let our kids choose their own path. My son has played now for 10 years and we have seen the good - the character building, the team friendships, the parent parties, the pure love of sport and we have also seen the politics and crazy parents.

This week AAA and AA tryouts start for Midget level kids (15-17 years old)...WOW...Not sure what else to say. The amount of pressure on the kids is just stupid. Midget is the level where there are actually WHL scouts in the stands for a start. My son is a very nice hockey defensemen; big, strong, physical 15 year old...will never play in the NHL (nor does he dream of it) but loves to play. The atmosphere from the parents, coaches, independent evaluators, etc is to the point my son actually said in the car yesterday "i love hockey but Dad i hate tryouts...I want it over, just put me on a team...i don't care which level."

This is suppose to be his extracaricular fun?? Why do we the parents feel the need to push our dreams on our kids...we had our time, let them have theirs. The truth is that of these 120 very athletic talented kids, a few will make the WHL but MAYBE 1 will play in the NHL.
Click to expand...
there was a 20 or so year old kid who used to work door at a club part-time during his off-season and i have to say that in ALL circumstances you could count on him to be a 'team player' and have your back in any situation. I don't think he had many teeth left, and his fists were just massive, and his face scarred from being in so many scraps on the ice. He knew he'd never go pro, but that boy learned life skills and tenacity that he'll carry his entire life.
 
Oldguyjiujitsu said:
That is the funny thing...my son is 15 and 6'3" he always played mid tier because he was tripping over himself...Then started lifting, and just matured and next thing we know he is getting called to play higher and higher. He hits like a brick and not afraid to mix it up and coaches love that. It is very fun to watch but its waaaaay too intense
Click to expand...

Once they grow int their bodies...look out! Clumsy kids turn into something way different once they arent tripping all over themselves. Spatial awareness development can turn a kid 180 degrees!

Unfortunately all sports get this way when they get extremely competitive. No matter what...politics and all the nonsense that follows will always be there. In Canada though...hockey is probably the worst. Many others aren’t much better though. The only advice to offer your kid is to try to block out all the silliness and focus on what’s important....enjoying the sport he loves. don’t let other people take that away from him.
 
Cog said:
15 and 6’3 is a good start...Likes to hit....
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Ya he is doing good..I am pretty proud of his effort....at conditioning camp last week he weighted in at 171lbs...which is pretty good for 15. He deadlifted 225lbs for 11 reps and benched 135lbs for 14 reps. I am totally invested in him developing good athletic habits...I am absolutely NOT invested in what Tier he makes. I just want him to learn good life lesson and enjoy the sport.
 
Big and strong can take a defenceman a long way.I loved my iron puck at age 13.I used to play rink hockey with Mark Hardy.
 
I played relatively competitive hockey in my teens and was a decent player, not going anywhere but decent.

In my 20s I played in a beer league with some other pretty good guys. One night a marginal NHL guy came out who was friends with one of the other players. Nobody could even get a stick on this guy. So fluid and fast. He’d be up to full speed in two strides, and short coppy strides.

The level of skill and fitness these guys play at is pretty amazing.

@Oldguyjiujitsu my son started in hockey in a prehockey program. They had the kids chasing a beach ball around the ice. There were still parents yelling at their kids during this, he decided he didn’t want to play and went into Kung fu then BJJ.
 
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