[Isbrant]

I don't think this is necessarily a bad idea; it just depends on the execution. In contrast, the Ottawa idea is just stupid.

For background, I am in my second year of coaching Initiation hockey. My oldest son has played 3 years of soccer and my daughter is in her first year of soccer.

There have been a few comments about not keeping score means not competitive. I disagree with this statement. The kids will know the score, regardless of if it is written down or not. With my initiation kids, they typically know what the score is when they are on the ice. When they are on the bench they don't really pay attention to what is happening on the ice. They compete hard every shift, regardless of the score.

I think there are 2 ways of looking at coaching; for developing the players and for winning games/league standings. When the score is not being kept, it is easier to coach to develop the players. You can get them to try things, and it is not as critical they don't make mistakes. The start of each shift is 0 – 0 and the kids can work on developing their skill. It takes a good coach to coach to develop the kids. In a league where everyone is to get equal ice time, it is easier to do when the score is not kept.

I have found in house league soccer the coaches are not very good. There is no training and there has not been much formality yet. It is easier to coach to win games than to develop the players. Keep score also seems to be as much for the parents as for the players.

This post is getting a little long so I think I will end it here. In the end, I don’t think is a bad idea as hopefully it will force the coaches to become better coaches.

Edit
I agree with ma-skis.com. I think in hockey they can keep score earlier as the coaches are better or at least have more training available.