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"Youth athletics are
nuts"
Posted by
Sherry B on 12/12/2008, 5:30 pm
Here is a great
article written by Dan Bauer, a high school hockey coach in Wausau,
Wisconsin. I think this relates to all youth sports, wrestling included. For
more tidbits, visit his website at www.hockeybybauer.com.
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It is official, all youth athletics are nuts. Hockey may have earned the
right of getting there first, but every other sport has now fallen in place.
They are all too organized, travel too much, too expensive and too time
consuming. We place put too much emphasis on keeping score and winning and
too little emphasis on having fun.
As another youth hockey season descends upon us I have some simple advice
for parents to help make your hockey experience more enjoyable.
Skip tryouts. Leave the rink, go to a movie, have dinner with your spouse,
just stay away. If your child makes the A team, be happy and humble. If your
child makes the B team, be happy and calm. Next to skill, the most important
quality of a good athlete is confidence. Benefit: Stress Reduction.
Every rink has a water fountain. Save time and money on the Gatorade,
because I’m not certain that 10 year-olds even have electrolytes. And if
they do, I bet they have a lot of them. We only start losing things when we
get older. Savings: 80+ games & practices @ $2.00 = $160.
They can carry their own bag and if they can’t it’s too big. You don’t carry
your kid’s backpack to school for them; you shouldn’t have to carry their
hockey bag either. Donate your wheelie bag to a stewardess and get one that
has to be carried. Benefit: Increased leg strength.
Kids can dress and undress themselves—go get a cup of coffee and relax. Once
they have been through it a few times they can figure it out. And if they
can’t, that is why they have teammates. Eventually they will get it on or
off. Be patient. Benefit: Team Unity. (PS: Coffee is cheaper then Gatorade)
Teach them to tie their own skates as soon as possible—good skaters have
loose skates, so let them get use to it early. As long as you keep tying
them they are going to let you. Haven’t we learned this “helpless” lesson
before? Benefit: Ankle strength.
New equipment is for Christmas, maybe a birthday—but should not be a
birthright of every new season. Buy used equipment—a 58lb squirt doesn’t
need the support of a $300 pair of skates. A $300 pair of skates could be
worn by a 58lb squirt for ten years and still not be worn out—it’s basic
physics. Today’s skates are as rigid as marine core training. Savings:
$200+.
On the subject of skates, as soon as they are old enough to drive, they are
old enough to get their own skates sharpened. If they tell you they don’t
have time, compare your schedule to theirs, then hand the skates back to
them. Benefit: Time for you & responsibility for them.
Buy wooden sticks. Force dealers to put them back on the stick rack; it is
supply & demand economics. A 9 year old doesn’t need a composite stick
unless he is 6’ and 200lbs, or you can buy a 10 flex. A wooden stick will do
fine. Save me the sales pitch on response and feel. Until they can feel the
difference between clean and dirty hair save your money. And like tying
skates, they can learn to tape their stick much sooner than they would like
you to believe. Savings: $200+. Benefit: Wrist strength & eye-hand
coordination.
Kids believe that the concession stand is an essential part of hockey—like
their skates. If they go out and skate well, have fun and come off with a
smile on their face—they don’t need a reward, except maybe a pat on the
back. Walk past the concession stand a few times—I know we need to support
the rink, but it shouldn’t be the place where you eat most of your meals.
They also don’t need breakfast at Perkins or lunch at McDonald's after every
game or practice. Let them learn that the reward is hockey! It is a
privilege to be able to play and if they don’t make their bed and feed the
dog you will take it away. Benefit: Discipline, help around the house, more
money for coffee.
Herb Brooks said it best, “The name on the front of the jersey is a heck of
a lot more important than the name on the back”. This is a team sport; the
sooner kids learn that, the better. Names on the back of jerseys are for
when you get to the NHL. You should be able to figure out which one is yours
without that visual aide. If you can’t, remember that is why we put numbers
on the jerseys—those numbers aren’t a ranking system—they are for
identification. Nobody wears two nametags at work, right? Benefit: Team
Unity & Humility.
Don’t watch every practice—let them tell you about a few—they’ll enjoy it.
Send them the message that you have more important things to do than watch
the practice. This is not neglect, but common sense. If parents spent as
much time helping kids with their homework as they do watching practice, our
kids
would all be getting straight A’s. This is their experience—not yours. Turn
them loose. Benefit: Time.
Let your kids have fun. If their best friend calls on a Friday night and
wants them to: a) go to a movie, b) go to the outdoor rink, c) go sledding,
don’t say no because they have a game tomorrow, or in most cases three
games. They are kids, if you haven’t noticed they don’t get tired. Do you
ever remember being too tired as a kid? Let them go swimming at the motel,
play football in the snow. AJ Hawk might need to sleep in a hyperbaric
oxygen chamber, but your kid doesn’t. Benefit: Balance, & a Happier Child.
Don’t try to coach—your team already has one. Pat them on the back after a
tough loss and thank them for their time and effort. Buy them a cup of
coffee and talk about anything, but hockey. Benefit: Respect.
Last, but not least, at an athletic contest you can be a player, a coach, a
fan or an official—but you can only be one. For those parents who are
confused, you are a fan. Cheer when your team does something well. Drink
coffee the rest of the time, it tastes better than your foot. Benefit: More
friends, fewer enemies.
Enjoy your season! |
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