There is No Off Season?
Youth Players Hockey season is complete. I hope 2023-24 was a spectacular season that saw you and your player (s) improve, build relationships, and enjoy some great victories. But before you turn the page onto 2024-25, its important to take a break. Whether you like to believe it or not, everyone and everything needs a break. A vacation. A time off to rest and relax. To clear the mind and recover.
Vacation Is as Important as Sleep
It’s a little like sleep deprivation, according to physicians and psychotherapists. Just as lack of sleep impedes your ability to think clearly and act decisively, lack of playtime keeps you from taking in information effectively and seeing the totality of a situation. Lack of sleep and play both have a negative impact on your reflex time, general resilience and ability to ward off infection. Recreation deprivation also makes you cranky, and often more than a little critical of the people in your organization who do have the good sense to take care of themselves. The Importance of Vacation | Monster.com
Why do some parents think this doesn’t apply to a sport like hockey? During a Hockey Game:
- Physical Exertion
- Mental Exertion
- Travel to and From the Rink
- Players deal with critical peers
- Players deal with Coaches
This sounds like a job, just as much as a game to me. At your job you have to deal with the exact same obstacles and barriers to overcome and work through. The struggles of a hockey season are very real mentally and physically, and although your young player may have a true passion and love for the game it is important for them to take a step away from the competitive aspects of it to appreciate that true passion. Let them discover going into the driveway and shooting pucks on goal. Let them take a week off and then want to pick up their stick and stickhandle in the kitchen. Let them invite friends over and play knee or street hockey.
By taking time away and allowing kids the freedom to find their way back to hockey or to miss hockey, you’ll help them find their true love for the sport. It won’t be a grind.
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. – Steve Jobs
Andrew Trimble is the General Manager and Co- Owner of the New England Wolves Hockey Club. He is also the Owner of Scoring Concepts LLC, a New Hampshire based hockey training company that offers camps, clinics, private lessons and teams. He has coached at all levels from Learn to Skate to College Hockey. For more info on his teams and programs check out- www.scoringconcepts.com or www.ne-wolveshockey.com
