Sometimes I feel like as a society, we’d rather go the route of “it’s always been this way” than trying to do what might (and in my opinion is) more logical.
Bringing this into the youth hockey scene, out here in Chicago I still can’t believe it’s 2023 (almost 2024 for those of you who need to buy new physical calendars) and we still have children who are 8 and under playing hockey on a full length, 200’ x 80’ rink.
I ended up seeing a lower-level 8U game this weekend and it was one of the toughest things I’ve seen in youth hockey in a while. This is no fault to the players on the ice, but it went like this:
Skater X from Team A gets the puck and skates the length of the ice. Skater X either shoots the puck on net, which results in a goal as the goalie is in a net waaaaaaay too big for them, or the puck rebounds/misses the net and then all 10 skaters on the ice converge on it to where the skater Y from Team B gets the puck and skates the length of the ice for the same situation to play out again, but on the other side of the ice.
I struggled to understand while watching, who was benefiting from this. This wasn’t hockey nor was it beneficial for 99.9%, a statistic I just made up but seems scientifically accurate enough to use, for anyone that day.
The amount of “action” or hockey-related play was so minuscule that you might as well have added another 3-4 pucks on the ice so everyone could be involved in something.
So again I ask, why in 2023 are we still having children who can barely tie their own shoes, play “competitive” (I use that term lightly) games on a full-sized, regulation ice sheet?
Why not take a look at every other youth sport in the US?
Soccer – The games are played on shorter-sized fields, with smaller nets and a smaller ball.
Baseball – Besides hitting off a tee, the field is extremely shortened, bats are lighter, the ball is softer and the outfield sure as hell isn’t 400 feet to dead center.
Basketball – The height of the rim is 8’ high, they use a smaller ball and the court is 50’x 42’.
Football – Many leagues are going to flag football to start, but they’re also playing on shortened fields and using a smaller ball.
Golf – Last time I checked youth golfers are not hitting from the pro’s or even men’s tees, but age-appropriate lengths.
So why can’t hockey in the US figure it out?
Maybe the biggest reason of them all is that most 8U hockey is played under AAU and not USA Hockey, which is against full ice hockey at the 8U age and promotes cross or half-ice games. But AAU, well they are all in with playing on a full sheet of ice with 4” x 6” nets and a regular puck. All you need to do is pay the insurance and fee’s and they’ll gladly have you involved!
So what type of development, if any, are we truly giving these kids and why must we stay stuck in the stone age of hockey development where most other sports in North America are jumping ahead?
Well, folks…. That’s a discussion for my next article.
-TDC
