Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
I think they should only have hitting at the elite level, for kids that might be going on to Junior hockey.
I gave up hockey at 12 because I was small and was getting creamed.
Why risk concussions for kids that are just playing for fun?
How many gifted players do we lose, because they are small for their age?
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Yup, I gave up around 13-14 for the same reason.
If you're below say div. 3, the focus often drifts from playing the game, to kids lining up each other for crushing hits.
When there's such a difference in size around the age hitting is introduced, it makes it pretty dangerous for the smaller guys.
Hitting should either be reserved for the top few division, or introduced much earlier, so that everyone is familiar with it and it's no longer a novelty by the time kids are hitting puberty.