HockeyCat has some concerns about 10 and under Travel programs. Most of these programs apply the same principles to 10 and under boys and girls as they do for the 11 and older players, including off-ice training, extra skating and more and more structure. There is also a greater focus on winning.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to win, but that ignores some basic facts about the 10 and under players. They are usually not as emotionally mature as the older players. They are also not as physically mature as the older players. There just is not enough difference in talent to justify the existence of competitive teams bent on playing in and winning 4 Tournaments every month for 7 months out of a year.

NCAA College teams may play about 50 games in a season (including playoffs). European professional teams play about the same. Some of travel teams play that many or more with 10 or even 8 year olds. By the time a child is 11, he or she will very likely begin to hate hockey and all of the travel.

These programs also tend to emphasize a few players and limit the other players to fewer minutes per game. So that extra playing time against better competition doesn’t really occur. Your little player may get more practice, but their may be other, less expensive ways to get that than 2 or 3 intense practices every week and sitting on the bench for 30 minutes out of a 36 minute game.

This is where things get difficult for parents. If your child is a 3rd line player on a “good” travel team, is that player any better off than taking a regular shift or even being the star of a House League team?

Motivation

As a parent, you may see the benefit of extra structured practices, but does your child?

Some kids are very motivated from day one. They want to be a hockey (substitute any sport here) player. They will go out and shoot pucks for hours or do off-ice training on their own. This is very rare in a 10 and under player and will give them a definite advantage over other players their age.

Of course, by the time they are 12 and especially by 13 they are not alone. Players will be there for their own reasons, not because their parents put them there. By the time these kids are in Middle School, they provide their own drive to succeed.

It is quite likely that any advantage gained by extra practice as a Mite or Squirt will go by the boards. It may be that your little hockey player decides to hang up the skates and become a lacrosse player.

Before you get too upset, realize that they will apply that same drive and motivation to their new sport and will very likely become a star in it.

The bottom line is that while you can do everything from extra coaching to travel squads. It is your child’s motivation that will drive them to succeed. If they don’t want to do it, all of the training in the world will not help.

The Winning Team

This brings us back to the purpose of these Travel teams. There is just way too much focus on winning over the course of a season to be healthy for anybody.

HockeyCat sees the value of winning. If you aren’t playing to win every shift and every battle, something else may be a better choice for you. This is true for House and Recreational players. However, these are personal goals for each player. Team success will come if every player does this.

The problem is not wanting to win, but measuring player development by wins. If the Detroit Red Wings had measured things that way with a young player named Steve Yzerman, would they have won all of those Stanley Cups with Stevie Y as their Captain?

What HockeyCat finds fascinating is that winning has become a measure of success for any youth program. Pro teams don’t do this. Sure you will hear them pay lip service to it, but if they think they have the nucleus of a good team, like the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche or the Tampa Bay Lightning. They will suffer a few losing seasons to allow their prospects to develop.

Why is that different in youth hockey? Why is it a matter of urgency that we put out winning programs every year?

The Right Way

At the 10 and under level, player development is paramount. If you look at teams that play all of their kids in all situations, you will see that these kids learn more and play better. As a 10 year old, you would much rather play and lose than not play and win. These kids will also be more likely to take on larger roles with their teams as they get older and more mature.

You will find these players love of the game continues into Peewee and Bantam. They may not be the next Sidney Crosby, but a solid program doesn’t create talent. It allows it to flourish. At higher levels, having one good player isn’t enough.

When coaches punish players for creativity, the result is a boring game and a player who reaches Bantam having failed to learn how to do anything special. Ironically, this lack of creativity will be noted and reduce their opportunities to play at higher levels. 3rd line centers are a dime a dozen at college programs. Should we really sit an 10 year old who tries something and fails, if they made an effort? Should we sit a pro?

As much as we would like to believe that we can teach kids to do the “right” things, success and talent cannot be bottled or coached.

A good 10 and under program will encourage creativity, correct mistakes in a positive manner and teach basic skills and concepts. It will also allow for your star defenseman to try an end to end rush now and then. Or a forward to hang on to the puck too long and lose it. When they are older, these selfish players will have taught them how to make an unselfish play under higher pressure.

As adults, we expect our bosses to allow us a certain amount of mistakes. Should we really expect our kids to be perfect every time they step on the ice?

Hockey is a game of mistakes.

The House Select Option

While some view this as a half-measure, it may be the best course for 10 and under players. It is good for more talented players to get a chance to play with and against others of a similar skill level.

This type of competition and camaraderie is fun for the player and the parent. For a good player on a developing team, it is an opportunity to make a pass and have it result in a goal. Or make a mistake and have support. It will also help them to face players of better skill, so they can learn what they need to work on.

These programs are structured so that players can continue to play with their regular teams and still participate in some extra training at least twice a month. To some this is not enough, but for the 10 and under crowd this is plenty.

Picking the Right Program

Many people will judge parents for choosing this or that program for their child. HockeyCat doesn’t. Your child may be gifted, motivated and driven or need the extra difficulty of playing against tougher competition.

Different things are important at different levels. Many parents were not athletes as kids or have been out of it for a long time. With so many confusing choices, it is almost impossible not to be overwhelmed.

When choosing a program you need to ask yourself the following questions:

What are my goals for my child?

What are his goals?

Can I afford it?

Do I like the coaches?

Do I like the organization’s philosophy?

Does the organization reflect my values?

HockeyCat’s Paw Print

Travel Hockey does not have to be a bad thing. Travel Hockey at higher levels is a good thing as kids begin to differentiate themselves and decide they want to be a hockey player.

At the lower levels, a little extra training is not bad, but make sure that the programs at this level focus on developing all of the players and not just the stars.

Youth athletics is supposed to be about success as a team and growth of the individual. Unfortunately, the focus on winning at Mite and Squirt levels puts the focus on result of winning that season. Part of what is taught is how to win and lose gracefully.

Let’s give our kids the same opportunity to develop that the Detroit Red Wings gave Steve Yzerman. The results will be measured in that child growing into a young man or woman who still loves the game of hockey and becomes a leader on and off the ice.

Summary: Ice Time is a look at a High School hockey season in the town of Methuen, Massachusetts. It is a tale full triumph, pain and human emotion. Kind of like a hockey game.

This ain’t a book report, so don’t expect plot summaries and all of that mumbo jumbo. This book is about one man’s relationship with his youth, his community and the sport of ice hockey.

If you play the game or watch the game, you will get it immediately. If you played any other sport at a High School level, you will also understand it.

If you never even looked at a hockey stick, Jay Atkinson has written this so well that you will still get it. This book is that good.

Unlike most hockey books that spend time talking about that night in Philly when we… Well you know the type. This book is about hockey in its purest form: youth and High School. Jay brings you into the lives of Chris Cagliuso, Albert Soucy and his own son, Liam. The former High School hockey players, the latter a 5 year old beginning to develop a love for the game.

As someone who has spent my life around sports, it was refreshing to read a book that touches on the importance of High School athletics to small communities. With so much emphasis on scholarships, winning and losing, it was a pleasure to read about High School coaches using the privilege of playing a Varsity sport to stress the importance of being a role model. More impressive was the seriousness with which these young men take it.

This is no Friday Night Lights. Nor is it a sappy, romantic view where everything is roses. This is a book about young men and women doing something they love being taught by older men who are going beyond the X’s and O’s to try to inspire passion for hockey and life.

When you are sitting there at the rink, bring this book, sit in the snack bar and read it. It is worth your time, money and may just help you understand why you are there at 6 AM surrounded by the smell of stale sweat mixed with pizza, Gatorade and chewing gum.

Cascade (CascadeHelmets.com) is best known for its CPX, CPRO and CLH2 Lacrosse Helmets. However, I was wandering around the halls at the lacrosse show and got a sneak peak at the new Cascade CHX helmet.

The shell’s simple look is deceiving. It looks pretty much like any other helmet, but the inside is where Cascade makes its mark. The helmet may be one of the most comfortable hockey helmets that I have ever put on. While I have not had a chance to wear it in game play, this helmet promises to shake up the helmet market and give hockey players another option.

The Cascade CHX is completely customizable and will come with a steel frame mask and should be able to take the usual visor attachments for adult players. Cascade is bringing its know-how in custom lacrosse helmets to the world of hockey. Hockey helmets will never be the same.

Check it out online at: http://www.cascadedicehockey.com

I was a child official for baseball. I started when I was 15. I worked only 10u and 8u games that year, always with a more experienced partner at the 10u level and alone at the 8u.

It was challenging, but I was old enough to have a healthy disrespect for my elders. A teenager with a bad attitude and about the same height as the coaches has no problems on a field alone. Trust me on that. Even with that, I was assaulted by a coach at 16. While we like to imagine that things are worse today, this was in 1986. The coach was in his late 30s or early 40’s.

Now, I am a dad and I have a strict policy of not harassing child referees. I don’t even ask them questions which gets me in trouble, because the adult officials with them get tired of me yelling across the ice at them. The problem in USA Hockey is that it allows officials to be as young as 10. Officially, kids are not allowed to referee kids in their same age classification, but lately I have seen a lot of 12 year olds working 12 year old games.

I don’t care how good the referee is, this is a recipe for disaster!

In spite of popular opinion, hockey coaches are actually more restrained than baseball coaches. Unlike baseball, where the only penalty is ejection, hockey officials can hit you with a 2-minute penalty for being an idiot. It is an effective deterrent. Even with this having anyone below the age of 14 out there officiating is ridiculous.

I know it is hard to find officials to work these games, but this is ridiculous. It is not that these kids don’t have potential, but they are just too young to project any authority. When you do not have the upper body strength to break a net loose that is stuck into the ice, you should not be officiating. Sorry, that is just the truth. Do we allow 10 year old coaches?

The lack of professionalism in hockey officiating caused me to get out of it. As an official for 22 years of one kind or another, I am amazed at how pathetic the advancement path is for young officials. They also have no use for people like me who just want to work adult games and a few high level house games. Many of the officials at the higher levels are working for “beer money” and the younger kids are thrown to the wolves on the 6 am House games no one wants.

Compare that to the sister sport of lacrosse where there is a similar limited supply of officials, but the organization welcomes guys who just want to work lower levels in the same way it welcomes young guys (18 or older is the youngest you can be in lacrosse officiating). Of course, there are politics like everywhere else, but there are plenty of opportunities out there. The assignors are officials themselves and understand a little about official development.

Every year USA Hockey bemoans the fact that guys like me stop officiating and young officials leave the program after only a year or two. There is no secret here. The local associations are the problem.

I am not here to lob bombs at USA Hockey. The explosive growth of the sport and lack of infrastructure is creating these growing pains, but USA Hockey has the opportunity to fix them by following the same steps as every other sport. Hockey people like to think that Hockey is “different,” but that is a myopic view that has led to this mess.

Here is how to fix it:

1. Minimum age of officials – 14

2. Different Developmental Paths – Simply follow the model for youth hockey.

The current system doesn’t make a distinction between guys (like me) who could qualify for Level 3 based on rules ability, but not truly be qualified to work High-Level games for other reasons (skating). Simply having a recommendation system at the State Level would help a lot. Yes it would be political, but it would be better than it is now.

3. Better State Organizations. The current system is too weak and doesn’t have any teeth. When real issues are brought up no one listens. Just because someone is a good Hockey Ref, does not make them a great administrator. Not all complaints are just coaches griping, but my experience is that legitimate complaints are ignored are worse.

4. Emphasis on safety. Someone is going to be hurt badly in a game where incompetent referees are to blame and then that video will be shown over and over and the lawsuits alone will kill USA Hockey. If this isn’t fixed, it is coming. While the UK has a different legal system, there have been rulings against Rugby Referees. The legal term is: “negligence.” An assignor who schedules a 12 year old kid to referee 12 year olds or even 10 year olds is dangerously close to that.

Rome wasn’t built in a day. USA Hockey is doing a good job with the limited staff of volunteers. It is time to take it to another level with our young officials and old guys, like me, to bring the game into the 21st Century. I hope that this commentary will be taken in that spirit. There is a lot right about what USA Hockey wants to do, it is up the officials organizations to step up and take it to the next level.

This isn’t about “beer money.” This is about the love of the game and the safety of the kids playing it. I challenge the official’s organizations to step up and start developing young officials and stop throwing them to the wolves.

Allegedly, a minor hockey coach in Newfoundland allegedly told one of his players to slash another player. No, this is not Minor Pro hockey or even Junior Hockey. This is 8 year olds.

Read about it at CBC.CA by clicking here

The fact is that this is not the first time and it will not be the last. I remember one parent yelling at his son to hit another kid. This was in Mini-Mite. I have seen this continue throughout the age groups. The fact that a coach may have been responsible is reprehensible. Unfortunately, parents think that these jerks are good coaches, because they are teaching kids to be tough.

The rules allow for lots of ways to get out your frustration in hockey, but illegally using your stick or hitting from behind being taught by coaches is something that needs to get out of the game. There are all sorts of illegal things that kids will do on their own. Let’s run coaches that teach illegal techniques out of our associations and bring the spirit of the game back to youth hockey.

USA Hockey and Hockey Canada have gone a long way by enforcing all of the rules the same way up and down the ranks from Mite to Midget. This has discouraged stickwork and allowed teams that teach the right way to play the game to succeed at all levels and these thugs can go do something else.

It is the time of year when parents (me, included) are trying to figure out the best camps for our kids. Choosing the right camp is harder than ever now that every athlete has to be out on the Camp circuit in order to make money.

The good camps have more than just star power. They teach techniques and skills that build for the future. The most important thing is to choose the right camp for your child’s skill level. Not all camps are created equal.

Some camps are great for advanced players, while others are best for those just starting out. An advertiser here on HockeyCat.com – Sport International Hockey Academy – addresses both with advanced training for Elite players and developmental training for beginners. This makes it a perfect choice for families with players of varying degrees of experience and ability.

Other camps, like Skate Ranch and those run by the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh offer elite level training and specialized camps for higher-level players.

I bring these camps up, because they are run by the big names you see on the program. Your kid does actually get taught by Hurricanes players and coaches. Peter Laviollette does show up, as do many of the Hurricanes players living in the area. This provides more than just a good experience, it provides teaching from the pros.

I am very interested in hearing about your camp experiences both good and bad. Please feel free to add here and I will be happy to publish them here.

Thanks

Sports people usually find themselves drawn to businesses and opportunities that support their favorite activity. A genuine desire to help leads most folks to take active positions on Boards, organizations and national leadership roles.

Often a sense of loyalty leads people to buy from the people who are giving time to the organization. There is an inclination to go with the “local guy” even though his prices are a little higher than a national retailer.

This makes sense to me. The problem is that sometimes these folks take advantage of that situation. I have always had a strict policy of not doing business with friends. It never ends well. Too often someone tries to take advantage of a close relationship.

As a Board Member of a local hockey organization, I have to walk a fine line between my business interests and my personal interests, because they run in the same circles. If I bid on something and cannot match a price of another vendor, I don’t want the organization to waste its money – my money and that of other parents – if a better deal can be had elsewhere.

Business practices by larger Soccer Organizations have drawn scrutiny from the IRS. We in the hockey world need to pay attention to this as well. We may be next.

The North Carolina Trailblazers carried home the title from this year’s “Shop Till You Drop” tournament Dec. 2-4 in Charlotte, battling the Columbia Hot Flash to a 2-1 overtime victory at Eastland Mall’s Ice House rink.

The annual holiday tournament is a favorite for teams from states surrounding North Carolina, featuring fierce competition in the middle of a mall as holiday shoppers watch from store levels above the rink.

This year’s tournament drew eight teams: two squads from the Raleigh-based Trailblazers – North Carolina’s decade-old women’s hockey program – as well as the host Charlotte Ice Cats, the Greensboro-based Triad Thunder, the Richmond (Va.) Raptors, the Atlanta (Ga.) Lady Thrashers and two teams from South Carolina: the Hot Flash and the Charleston Lady Rays.

In their first meeting during the round robin, the Trailblazers C squad and the Hot Flash fought to a 3-3 tie. Jake Jacobson led the Trailblazers’ attack with a hat trick, with assists from Jessie Loiacono (2) and Sarah Wachs. The Hot Flash had a balanced attack with goals by leading scorer Courtney Gibson, Veronica Bolus and Tracy Ort.

The Trailblazers polished off the rest of the competition in the round robin, scoring a 4-1 win over the Triad Thunder, defeating Richmond 3-1 and finishing the preliminary round with a 5-3 win over Charlotte.

In Sunday’s final, the Hot Flash struck first with a goal by alternate captain Laura Fredrickson barely a minute and a half into the second period. The Trailblazers hit back 4 ½ minutes later as Robin Perron scored on a feed by Nicole Leech to tie the game at 1-1.

With a crowd gathering to watch from the food court above, the teams battled through a scoreless third period and neared the end of overtime with the score still knotted.

But with just over a minute left before the period expired, Jacobson – the Trailblazers’ leading scorer so far this season – took a pass from Debe Clarke and sent the puck home for the win.

The Trailblazers came away with a 4-0-1 record, scoring 17 goals as a team.

Jacobson earned 8 goals and 2 assists, while Loiacono added 2 goals and 6 assists. Perron, Clarke and Ashley Bennett each contributed a goal and an assist. Erin Cochran, Sharon Bailey, Georgia Gray and Sue Mitran each scored a goal, and Leech, Wachs and Kendra Millis each added one assist.

With the wins, the Trailblazers C team improves to 6-3-2 this season.

Hello everyone, I am HockeyCat’s newest correspondent. I hope to keep you all well informed about local hockey events. For my first assignment, I ventured out to the Raleigh Reczone where I was to observe a Carolina Hurricane’s practice.

When I first arrived I had no idea what to expect. The only things I could think of were: how I am just a high school student, I am new at my job, and I’m walking into this room without any credentials whatsoever.

I was certain they were going to turn me down for this interview. I was introduced himself to a sports reporter Maya Starks, from the NBC 17, Raleigh. She introduced me to Mike Sundheim, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Director of Media Relations.

The words barely came out, I was so nervous, but I managed to introduce myself. I asked if I could interview a few of the players. He told me that there was a possibility, after practice.

I was so excited, my mind was spinning and my heart was racing. To complete my initial objective, I watched the practice and took a few notes. With the speed of Staal, the gloves of Ward and Gerber, and the skills of Cole and Brind’Amour, they are all perfect as a team. Each player’s talent coincides, and put together they deliver a beautiful performance.

As I got caught up in the game, I became more relaxed. Mr. Sundheim approached me and asked who I would like to speak with. The lump in my throat seemed to disappear, and the words came with ease.

I explained my goal and requested to speak with Eric Staal and Erik Cole. He told me he would see what he could do. After watching for a little longer, Mr. Sundheim informed me he would be bringing out Eric Staal, Erik Cole, and Cam Ward.

At this point I was feeling thrilled and nervous at the same time. The door to the locker room opened, my heart stopped, before me stood Eric Staal. I introduced myself and not wanting to take much of his time I only asked a few questions:

Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals?

A: “Basically stick to the same routine. I skate in the morning, have a two hour nap before the game, and get to there (the arena) two hours before the game.”

Q: Do you have a NHL hero?

A: “Wayne Gretzky and Joe Sakic.”

Q: Have you always wanted to play in the NHL?

A: “Yes as soon as I knew what hockey was, and started playing.” He explained how it was a common aspiration among young Canadian boys, but definitely his.

Erik Cole was next to appear. I congratulated him for his amazing accomplishment of being selected for the Olympic team. I had to ask how that felt.

A: “Definitely a proud moment,” Cole said. Confessing he had been informed of the great news before it was officially announced, he told me, “It was hard to keep it quiet, I told some family and friends.”

Q: Do you have any pre-game rituals?

A: “Not really, I’m pretty low key. I drink lots of coffee, and keep the music going on the ipod.”

Q: Who is your NHL hero?

A: “Mario Lemeiux, I always wanted to play along side him for the Pittsburg Penguins.”

Q: Have you always wanted to play in the NHL?

A: “Yeah, it was my last will and testament in like the sixth grade when we did a where would you be in 2005 project.”

Next up was rookie goaltender, Cam Ward (Editors Note: we’ve loved Cam Ward around here since his time in Red Deer). As you all may know goalies are famous for their idiosyncrasies, our man Cam, however is an exception to this rule. “I keep it pretty normal, sticking to the same routine, and taking a pre-game nap,” Cam replied when I asked him to explain what he does to prepare for the game.

Q: Who is your NHL hero?

A: “Martin Brodeur and Nikolai Khabibulin.” He told me how honored he was to be on the same ice with those guys.

Q: Did you always want to play for the NHL?

A: “Yes, it was my childhood dream.”

I would like to give a big thank you to Ms. Starks, Mr. Sundheim, and Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Cam Ward for making my first assignment a success and a whole lot of fun. Staal, Cole, Ward you guys were so awesome, and easy to talk to, so thank you for your time. I can’t wait for my next assignment, until then GO CANES!!!

HockeyCat.com supports this effort to help out Fort Dupont Ice Arena, a non-profit rink. While we all know that many rinks don’t make a profit, this one is designed that way. Please help out in anyway you can. Hockey will never take off in the US unless it is available to everyone regardless of income.

The group needs $50,000 to do this. In sporting terms that is about half of the fine for instigating a fight in the new NHL or the cost of one of the new Composite Sticks.

Any size contribution will help, but if someone wanted to come up with the whole $50K, I am sure no one would complain.

If you own oil stocks, you need a tax-deduction right now, don’t you?

Here is the information provided by Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena.

Did you know?

· that Fort Dupont Ice Arena is operated by a nonprofit organization, Friends of Fort Dupont Ice Arena?
· that the Friends of FDIA has a free community skating program that serves over 10,000 children each year with Learn to Skate, Hockey, Speed and Advanced Figure Skating classes?
· that half of FDIA’s annual budget is met through donated funds from people like you who want to help share the love of skating sports?
· the Fort Dupont Ice Arena facility is 30 years old and the dasher boards are almost that old?
· That a donation from you for this purpose will be matched by two area foundations – thus doubling the amount of money you give?

We need to replace our dasher boards when we close for annual maintenance next April/May. This project will cost $100,000. We have received $25,000 grants from two area foundations, The George Preston Marshall Fund and the Philip L. Graham Fund. However, we must match these grants by raising an additional $50,000 from individual and corporate donors.

Please help by making a tax deductible donation.

Make checks payable to Fort Dupont Ice Arena and mail to

Fort Dupont Ice Arena
3779 Ely Place, SE
Washington, DC 20019

or turn in at the concession stand or to the manager on duty at the rink. Or, make a secure credit card donation online at

http://www.fdia.org.

All donors receive a tax receipt. All individual donations received between December 1 2005 and March 31, 2006 will be used towards replacing the dasher baords.