Questions to Ask Yourself

As You Make This Decision, Ask Yourself…

As discussed elsewhere, this isn’t an easy decision to make. However, ask yourself the following questions as you determine if this is a fit for you, your player and your family.

1. Do my coaches truly understand hockey and athlete development?

2. How much ice time should my player actually be getting to practice?

3. Are you putting your child in youth sports to win? Or are you wanting to help them reach their potential both athletically and personally?

4. Is getting the puck deep a unique skill at the age of 18?  Has your son/daughter ever participated in a skills session that involved dumping the puck in?

5. What are the results that you are measuring to know if your child is improving?

6. At what age will your child be an expert skater, passer, puck handler and shooter?

7. Should you teach your child to pass before they know how to confidently handle the puck?

8. If your child’s 11 year old team has the best power play in its age group, will that dramatically improve every kid on that team reaching their full potential? How about the kids that don’t get power play time?

9. If your child’s team wins a hockey game at age 9, does it matter?

10. Do you enjoy videoing your childs attempt at making a highly skilled toe drag move on an opposing player or, banging it off the glass and losing possession?

11. Will your child have a better chance at being an elite player at 18 if they know where to stand on a breakout at the age of 9?

12. Is ‘high, hard, off glass’ a skill your child should work on at home in the driveway?  Should you buy some plexi-glass for your driveway?

13. Knowing that NHL hockey players make mistakes almost every shift, is it acceptable that your 10 year olds make mistakes during a youth hockey game?

14. Why do the Swedes and Finns produce more elite level hockey players per capita than the US or Canada?