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thegerkin

Alberta Peewee Hockey Bans Body Checking

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Problem is nobody teaches these kids how to check or how to take/avoid one. And kids at that age aren't out there to kill one another I would be willing to bet 90% of those injuries come from illegal checks or situation where the player being hit was unprepared.

I don't know man, we spent a ton of time on checking from what I recall, and this was 10+ years ago. I played AAA, not sure if my experience was different than people who played house or travel. But I do remember spending a ton of time on checking, every practice we'd have drills where we would check other at the blue line, in the corners, in front of the net etc. And being stressed how to protect yourself by getting closer to boards, and not turning into boards to receive a check.

And not all injuries come from illegal checks, injuries will happen from legal hockey checks, and that's something I don't think people are taking into consideration, even if you could guarantee every kid protected himself 100%, and every check was 100% clean, there is still plenty of injuries from legal hits. Subjecting kids to that kind of body trauma at a young age isn't smart in my opinion.

The more we learn about the brain, the more we understand the consequences of concussions, and they aren't good. Hitting should always be a part of hockey, but it can and should be something introduced when the kids can handle the responsibility.

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Problem is nobody teaches these kids how to check or how to take/avoid one. And kids at that age aren't out there to kill one another I would be willing to bet 90% of those injuries come from illegal checks or situation where the player being hit was unprepared.

For me, ~20% of practice time during the weeks before the first games in peewee were spent learning to hit and to take a hit. Coaches have a big responsibility in educating their players

I do think players should learn to play the body before full checking is allowed. This was sometimes allowed before peewee, depending on the refs.

Edited by WorkingOvertime

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I'm not crazy about this. I feel that the size disparity is greater between the largest and smallest 13 year olds than the largest and smallest 11 year olds.

Edited by The Greek

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I don't know man, we spent a ton of time on checking from what I recall, and this was 10+ years ago. I played AAA, not sure if my experience was different than people who played house or travel. But I do remember spending a ton of time on checking, every practice we'd have drills where we would check other at the blue line, in the corners, in front of the net etc. And being stressed how to protect yourself by getting closer to boards, and not turning into boards to receive a check.

And not all injuries come from illegal checks, injuries will happen from legal hockey checks, and that's something I don't think people are taking into consideration, even if you could guarantee every kid protected himself 100%, and every check was 100% clean, there is still plenty of injuries from legal hits. Subjecting kids to that kind of body trauma at a young age isn't smart in my opinion.

The more we learn about the brain, the more we understand the consequences of concussions, and they aren't good. Hitting should always be a part of hockey, but it can and should be something introduced when the kids can handle the responsibility.

In the sameish time period I remember having clinics and stuff available and learning to check but it was minute vs everything else.

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I understand all of your points, but disagree. Kid's would be better prepared if they developed skill with the fear of being checked... because that is what they will face when they play the real game. Beyond that, I see it as a deliberate bottom up approach to making hockey a softer game, which I don't agree with.

"You had a number of players who were just out to hit and didn't have the basic skills down" Sounds like hockey to me! Relatively speaking, a lot of the goons in the NHL today don't have the basic skills down, at least compared to non-gritty players on the team. Sounds like your just describing a microcosm of the NHL.

The problem is that kids coming up into PW hockey were just hitting and not developing the stickhandling and skating skills. You had kids just out there to hit, and while this is all said and good, the quality of the hockey at the PW level was pretty bad. These kids then couldn't cut it when they got up to Bantam level.

Personally, I would prefer to see less goons and more skilled players. There is a place for fighting and checking into the game, and IMHO, starting the hitting out at the Bantam level is the right thing to do. At the PW level, it was very questionable.

Yes, the coaches are teaching their kids on how to hit and take a hit. This starts small at the squirt level and goes up from there. There is a great program that USA hockey has going and that goes from the coaching, player training, evaluations, and refereeing. I really am glad that checking is removed from PW hockey.

Here is a good story on the stats and injuries in relation to youth hockey.

http://www.usahockey.com/uploadedFiles/USAHockey/Menu_Education_and_Training/Menu_Body_Checking_Rule_Proposal/Emery-%20Body%20Checking-%20JAMA%202010.pdf

Edited by Nightfall

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And have you guys heard the latest outrage? Young kids all over America are hitting baseballs off a tee instead of being pitched to. How will they ever learn the requisite skills to play a sport if they're not doing it EXACTLY as the pros do from the earliest possible age?

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And have you guys heard the latest outrage? Young kids all over America are hitting baseballs off a tee instead of being pitched to. How will they ever learn the requisite skills to play a sport if they're not doing it EXACTLY as the pros do from the earliest possible age?

You're totally right, we need to get checking out of timbits...

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I'm old I remember being all excited to get to pee wees and start hitting. I don't remember anybody really getting hurt, but it makes sense. Luckily puberty was on its way for me and I was bigger which made it fun knocking kids on their ass. That being said it probably was a good idea to ban it till bantams. I remember playing with a kid in pee wees who would rock kids and had a ridiculous slap shot for a 12 year old. Comparing him with the other smaller kids was like a man among boys and I could see how kids could get hurt. At least in bantams more kids are on their way to puberty and can even the playing field a bit physically.

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Taking centre stage...from CBC:

Hockey Canada's board of directors have voted to eliminate bodychecking from peewee-level hockey.

The decision came at the group's annual general meeting in Charlottetown on Saturday, where it was agreed that hitting would be taken out of the game for players under the age of 13.

The old policy allowed bodychecking for children aged 11 and 12.

...

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