[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Kid get injured or are at a greater risk for injury in Lacrosse then any other sport, running on cement, borken wrists, concussions etc...

really, i have not heard this before, do you have something to back this up?

Here's what I posted earlier on the thread from my experiences


The OP was in regards to spring hockey, which is a whole different can of worms then minor hockey, so lets stick to that, I will outline some of the differences. Spring hockey is essentially unsanctioned, meaning no residential rules regarding where kids play. Also no governing body such as Hockey Alberta to handle discipline, officiating, game times etc... As well most spring clubs are private "for profit" businesses.

Perfect reason why I am against it.

There are coaches in spring hockey in central alberta that are banned from coaching minor hockey.....

I became involved in spring hockey in 2006 with a 6yr old. Back then there were only a handful of teams around. Top Guns, S A selects, Foothills Elite and the Wolverines. It was at the time considered AAA. Less then three years later there were nearly 10 teams in Southern Alberta. The focus was no longer on giving kids high level competition which really lackss until pee wee in many areas, but on, making money and parents trying to avenge hurt feelings. anyone with an ice time and 12 friends with kids became a AAA spring team. If your kid was cut from one team you just went to a different team, or stated your own. If a coach benched your kid, you just went to a different team or started your own. Spring hockey, like so many other kids activities became a showcase for the parents. Back in 2006 local tournaments such as the Stampede Challenge and the showdown in in Cowtown were top level competition having 6 or so teams in each age group with teams coming from Vancouver, Minnesota etc... 2009 would feature 8 teams in three divisions in nearly every age group tiered in to gold, silver and bronze no longer AAA, the teams were nearly all from Alberta as well. The the hockey was no longer elite competition.

Spring hockey tournaments are a full time job for the promoters, as the linked article mentioned. The same groups run tournaments all over from Edmonton to Winnipeg to Las Vegas which are usually poorly organized, poorly officiated and. There sole objective is to make money, and parents don't seem to care.

The costs vary from club to club depending n the number of tournaments, ice times and amount of travel. As well as track suits, jerseys bag, gloves etc.. but what has also happened over the years is that teams have a core of 12 or so players that play together and form the team, funding and all. When they go to a tournament they will bring in 2-4 star players who play for free because they want to win. The parents of the core 12 have bank roll the ringers in their original fees they pay at the start of the year. This has become the norm. I know first hand on several occasions where kids have gotten all expense paid tournaments air fare, food and hotel

So if spring hockey is no longer Elite is it still a requirement to progess?

I post this article before:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Wante...213/story.html

“You just don’t have as many players today that are as good athletes as they used to be,” Sutter said recently. “Too much today, especially in young players, is focused on hockey 12 months a year. They don’t play soccer, they don’t play baseball or tennis or the other things that people used to do.”

I also have a family friend who's dad is a scout in the NHL, he focuses on a player's complete athletic background/experience.