A number of SHAW Coaches have expressed opinions about the possibility of [WAHA or USA Hockey] mandating Mite cross-ice, not full-ice hockey games
There is a scuttlebutt that mites at two other local organizations are converting to cross-ice games next season. The prospect of a cross-ice State tournament was raised, but someone shot that down claiming that WAHA committed to full-ice for the Mite division at States in 2010. Most coaches expressed mild to total disapproval for cross-ice games especially for Mite A.
Want to hear a contrasting view? I encourage you to read this letter from Cale Politoski [former Milwaukee Pius coach. Current Assistant Coach Boy's U-16 at Shattuck St. Marys.] 2006-11-18 21:04:40 Coach Cale Politoski 2006-11-18 21:04:40
I write this article in response to both Coach Bauer’s and Coach Schmidt’s article on games and youth hockey. The thing is, I think both of the guys are right. Little kids love to play games. There are not a whole lot of youngsters who really can’t wait to go to practice. There are some of those kids out there. They are the ones who just want to be on the ice – no matter if it is a practice or game. Kids do enjoy the games better. It is that thrill of competition and the fact you can say, “I won.” So in those respects, games are great for the kids. We do want to keep the kids interested in the sport, sometimes the games are the way we keep them. Let’s face it, kids, like adults, get bored with doing the same thing all the time. Practicing all the time is boring. Games are more fun.
Even though the games are more fun, we should do a better job of structuring our games. For example, let’s do more cross-ice games, especially with the squirts and mites. This way they can touch the puck a whole lot more.
Why in any creation are mites playing full ice games? Their little legs get tired and that is a whole lot of ice for them to cover. Cross-ice games still give the players a chance to play the greatest game on earth and allow for them to learn the important things, like passing, shooting, and getting open. Cross-ice games, in my opinion do not take anything away from the game. I think they actually improve the game because our players get a chance to touch the puck a whole lot more.
I also think we need to take away Mite travel teams. There is no reason what so ever that a mite needs to travel out of town to play hockey. It is in the mites that the numbers tend to be the highest. Let the kids play against each other in their own town or organization. They do not need to sit for two, five or seven hour rides in cars for games or tournaments. These kids can have the same amount of fun in their own home rinks. In fact, a good friend of mine has two little guys who are playing hockey. Last season, as mites, they were having a blast playing cross-ice games and scoring and just having fun. Many parents were all over my friend to move his kids to travel teams. His response was why should I have them travel when they are having so much fun here. In my opinion he is right. However, as long as we have Mite State Champions, we are going to have this problem. And you know, we all remember Mite State champions.
Now, it is one thing to be playing games, but Coach Bauer is exactly right – we both are sick of seeing lousy hockey. You have youngsters being taught “systems” instead of skills. There is a great problem with that. If these kids are going to be playing the game, they should be playing the right way. They should be learning how to skate. They should be learning how to use their edges. They should be learning how to catch a pass and give a pass. They should be learning how to shoot. Too many kids are not getting these skills. That is terrible.
I have made the switch from coaching high school hockey to coaching Bantam “A” hockey. Kids at both levels are way behind. There are just many skills these kids should have and they do not have them. What is funny is these kids ask you what kind of fore-check are we running. What are we going to do in the neutral zone and so on? The problem is you can’t do anything with these kids if they can’t skate. You can’t get anything going offensively because these kids can’t pass or receive the puck. Then, when they go to shoot, they keep shooting off the wrong foot. This trend has to stop.
The place it can be fixed is with our youth. The Bantam team I coach is very skill based. The vast majority of my players want to play on at the next level whatever that may be. Let’s face it, there is no chance of them playing on if they do not have the necessary skills to play this game. My job is to develop those skills with these players.
My players will play anywhere from two to five games on the weekend. However, we have a nice luxury of being able to practice everyday, too. So I guess you could say we are a bit different from the norm. I truly feel playing 50-65 games is okay for us to do. We also take extended breaks during the long season.
For example, my players will be going on a ten day break and then over Christmas, we will go on a break for about three weeks. We also encourage the kids to get away from the game and play another sport in the Spring.
It is good to get away from the game. We need to keep doing whatever possible to keep our athletes from burning out. Playing only one sport year round is doing no good for our players. Kids are starting to hate the game by the time they are 16-17 years old. The more sports a kid can play, the better the athlete they will be.
Different sports bring different types of competition. That is better in developing well-rounded athletes. We need more well-rounded athletes than specialized athletes, especially in our younger programs. Young kids don’t need to be playing one sport year round. Play hockey, play baseball, play football, etc. There is too much organization in sports.
If you think I am wrong on this one, ask your young kids how to play Strike Out or Base-Runner. I guarantee very few can tell you how to play. I bet most will say – what is that. That is unfortunate. I loved playing on the playground or sandlot. Kids are missing this great time.
We need to do a better job teaching our kids. We need qualified coaches teaching our kids. Qualified doesn’t mean sitting through USA hockey coaching clinics. It means evaluating coaches before they step on the ice. It is asking what is these coaches’ playing experience. It is asking what are they doing in the off-season to better themselves. It is asking what are they doing in the in-season to better themselves. If the answer is watching ESPN or Versus or I have the NHL Package, that is the wrong answer. Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact people want to get involved with hockey. However, we do need quality on the ice with our kids, not just people who have coaching certification cards who now think they are qualified to be running teams.
I love the game of hockey and I am glad to be able to offer up my thoughts to you. I wish the best to all of your teams.
From http://www.pressenter.com/~ameryyha/ Downloaded April 1, 2009. “Amery Hockey.com:
2 differing opinions on the 3:1 practice to game ratio
