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The season is just beginning...the offseason that is

05/18/2021, 9:00am CDT
By Paul Antonenko

“This is when we need to have things come together!”

“We need to execute on everything we have been planning and working on all year!”

“The real season is upon us and now is the time!”

“What we do together at this point will define our entire year!”

“Support each other, work hard, make the effort, and you will find success NOW!”

“Plan the work and work the plan!”

“This is a contact sport, and we all need to grind harder to achieve our goals!”

It is February 28thas I write this and district play is coming to an end throughout the State of Hockey.  We are looking forward to district playoffs, regional and state locations are announced, and preparations are underway by host associations for these year-end tournaments.  It is an exciting time of year, and the quotes above are what one would expect every coach and parent to be saying and/or thinking. 

Yes, playoff season is just starting, but the season I am talking about is the inevitable off-season, or what I have lovingly termed, FOMO Season.   Yes, Fear of Missing Out Season is upon us.  The fact is the quotes above are and should be stated by the business owners who provide opportunities for our kids to continue their hockey during the off season.

We are blessed and cursed at the same time living in Minnesota.  We have so many incredible options for our kids to keep playing all year long, and we see some of our friends enrolling their children in these programs for a variety of reasons.  Like many of you, I have begun seeing emails about AAA clubs, skating schools, off-ice training programs, overseas trips for hockey, summer hockey camps, combines for higher level hockey such as the USPHL/NCDC, USHL, and the NAHL.  Many of us will join in so our kids don’t fall behind with the thoughts like, “What if we don’t enroll Jannie in the summer training options that her friends are enrolled in?  What will become of her budding hockey career if she takes time off from the game?” 

So many off-season programs are fun to be part of for the kids and the parents and are run by good people who are talented hockey minds. The challenge we all face as parents, however, is how should we engage in these options, when do they truly become ‘important’, and WHY are we signing our kids up?   Let’s remember that parentssign their kids up for these summer training options.  I remember asking my kids if they wanted to play and of course they said they did. They were 9, 10, 11 years old. What else would the say to dad?? 

We are seeing kids at younger and younger ages spending more and more time at the rink, on skating treadmills, doing off-ice training, etc. that there are now documented cases of over-use injuries in 11 and 12 year old players.  (It is not just in hockey either.)

I had the opinion with my kids, and now hear it from other parents, that they are enrolling their children in these summer hockey programs (sometimes multiple) because the kids love the game.  That might be, and frankly most likely is, true.  At the same time, many kids love to eat ice cream and would do that every day if they could.  But as parents, we don’t let them do that do we?  

Is there something else going on in the back of our minds as parents that pushes us to make the decisions to enroll our young children in these sessions?  Maybe: “What will my friends think if we are not as ‘committed’ as they are to their kids’ passion? Or, “Will I still be part of the hockey-crowd that I thoroughly enjoy if we are not part of the summer hockey programs?” Yes, I said it, there is social pressure in our communities for parentsto stay engaged in year-round hockey.  It is real, I personally felt it as a parent, and as a coach and association leader.

So, we are concerned about our young players ability to advance as we think they should and perhaps even have social pressure as parents to keep them going.  What should we do?

The first thing I would say, is educate yourself. Not necessarily just about the options available to your children, but about the long-term athlete development models that are based on physiology and psychology.  USA Hockey and Minnesota Hockey have done a particularly good job providing educational materials around why a long-term purview is so important and how to manage it.

The second thing I would suggest, which I didn’t do but wish I had with all of my kids, is when you are examining options for the off-season, try not to get caught up in the FOMO for yourself, or for your child.  In other words, be strategic and planful.  Set some guidelines based on the long-term athlete development model for your son or daughter.  This needs to start with the end in mind and I would encourage parents to start this process early if you think hockey will be part of your child’s and yourlife in the coming years.  At the end of each season, ask them where they want to go with the sport, and what is important to them.  Then, decisions can be made about which off-season programs are best for them and you.

If I were to start over, here is what I would be considering with my kids at certain ages:

  1. U8 – fun in the sun, enjoy the sunshine, play other sports, go camping.  Maybe do some shooting and stickhandling, but I would avoid the rink.
  2. U10s – fun in the sun, enjoy the sunshine, play other sports, get back on the ice with about 6 weeks before your evaluations and focus on fundamentals and fun.  Maybe consider a good skating school and a fun summer camp.
  3. U12s – fun in the sun, enjoy the sunshine, play other sports, and consider a skate or two a week after 8 weeks off without touching your hockey equipment.  Focus on fundamentals, and a summer league where you can have some fun, however you might define it.
  4. U14s – fun in the sun, enjoy the sunshine, play other sports, and depending on goals, do the same as U12s, or if your player is committed to playing at higher level, take 6-8 weeks off at some point, and get engaged with skills specific options to shore up your players game, work on their hockey-specific physical strength and conditioning, and look at a competitive option in late summer or early fall. (See Fall Tier I Leagues through Minnesota Hockey)
  5. U16s+ - fun in the sun, enjoy the sunshine, play other sports, find a time for a break during the summer, engage with programs to improve your fundamentals, and find camps and leagues that are geared towards competitive hockey players with exposure to different coaches and players.  Continue to work on hockey-specific strength and conditioning.

While this might not be perfect, and there is no perfect way to do this, I hope this gives some of our parents out there some idea as to how this could look for their young players.  The reality is that by the time your player gets to bantams/U14s, the decision making will get to be a little easier.  The biggest challenge is for us not to push too quickly, too soon.

Here’s to a terrific season! (Off-season that is.)

 

As a former goaltender growing up in the Detroit, MI area, finishing his High School Hockey in Thief River Falls, MN, and getting his coaching start with East Grand Forks Green Wave High School in 1991 while attending the University of North Dakota, Paul Antonenko is a lifelong advocate for the game of hockey.  He is a USA Hockey Level 4 Coach, USA Hockey Level 1 Official, Former Hockey Development Director for Armstrong/Cooper Youth Hockey, Former Coaches Board Chair for Orono Youth Hockey, and has coached teams of all ages and skill levels since 1991, girls and boys, from Mites through high school throughout the upper Midwest.  He is the father of 3 girls and 2 boys who have all played through various levels of competitive hockey including the Girls Tier I Elite League outside of Minnesota, Minnesota High School Hockey, and juniors in the USPHL Premier League. He is currently involved as a non-parent coach in the Orono-Westonka Warriors girls hockey program.

Tag(s): State Of Hockey