Nine Year Old Kelowna Boy Explains Leaving Hockey Team

[troutman]

The heart-breaking reason this nine-year-old boy quit hockey

http://infotel.ca/newsitem/the-heart...hockey/it19174

The Lescarbeaus don’t take quitting lightly, he wrote, but he explained why it was acceptable this time, given the circumstances.

“It was important to share why Sam and I decided to leave the team,” Lescarbeau wrote. "Like every nine-year-old on that team, Sam dreams and lives hockey, and when hockey is no longer fun, when you find yourself crying on the bench because as a nine-year-old, you have only played two shifts in the game, no matter how important that game is… it is time to have a talk with yourself and re-evaluate why we do this.”

“On the ice and on the bench, Sam no longer felt part of the team and it was really sad to see him crying in the middle of the bench with his gloves off when he watched the same kids over and over on the ice. Too often this season, I saw players with sad faces or crying on the bench and looking at me with their small eyes and disappointed little faces to see if we were going to put them back on the ice. Too many times on the drive home, my son asked me, 'Dad, I thought I played hard today, why did I not play in the third period.'"

Lescarbeau emphasized he has no personality conflict with the coaches of the Westside Knights although he clearly disagrees with their coaching style.

The Knights of West Kelowna are a spring hockey club described as a developmental hockey program for young players from the local area.

WTF? What kind of 9 year old team does not share ice-time?

[CMPunk]

Teams that want to win. Minor hockey is a gong show. If your kid gets on a good team, count your lucky stars.

[corporatejay]

Wotherspoon knows this kid's pain.

[GioforPM]

I wonder if the "2 shifts a game" or "no shifts in the third" might be an exaggeration. I've never seen that in Novice level. Heck I haven't seen it in Pee Wee. I saw it last year on my kids team with less than 5 to go, down a goal, in a tournament final.

[CrazyCaper]

It's an unfortunate reality in minor sports. I can't relate directly to the hockey side of things but my 10 year old plays baseball and was definitely more than skilled for the A squad. Instead, however, the dad's who's son's played competitive hockey with the head coach made the team instead. Hopefully this little guy finds a new sport that makes him excited again.

[Poe969]

ahhh the old Daryl Suter System of only playing the vets.

[evman150]

My eight year old nephew barely played all year on his all-level soccer team.

But then again, soccer in this country is an unmitigated disaster, so it's not really that surprising.

Parent coaches can be really bad. Really really bad.

[Dion]

Since when did minor hockey become so competitive that a 9 year old is crying over the ice time he got???

Bobby Orr was right when he said.... "So many of today's programs are about trophies and jackets, and we think that's a big mistake." "Everyone should have the same opportunity, and in many areas that's not the case because programs are built around the elite."

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by Poe969

ahhh the old Daryl Suter System of only playing the vets.

Is this Daryl Suter you speak of related to Gary Suter?

To the people who say this doesn't happen.

It only takes one coach, on one team to do something like this. With the number of coaches and teams out there, I'm sure it happens more than you'd think.

Crazy that people take the game so seriously, even at 9 years old.

[Coach]

Terrible. I feel this kids pain as I was that kid in AAA Bantam. It's the reason I stopped trying for high-level hockey and went back to community. And the reason I have the coaching philosophy I do, even at high levels. You earn your ice-time. It's easy to see who works hard, regardless of skill level. No on gets better sitting on the bench.

At 9 years old it shouldn't even matter.

[GioforPM]

My kids teams have usually had regular shifts. My only issue was that coaches didn't do much about kids who were shift-length hogs and had sudden deafness when being called off the ice for a change.

My kid was almost too disciplined about keeping shifts short and he would end up with way less ice time than guys who skated by the bench while the door coach was calling him.

[Muta]

This kid should have tried harder, instead of being a whiny baby.

[GioforPM]

In Calgary, that type of coaching gets you cited (if reported of course).

[robertsfan]

I think the Vancouver Canucks will trade a second round pick for him.

[CroFlames]

This reminds me of a different problem, but can be solved with the same solution.

Germany has completely revamped their development of soccer players on a national level starting in the year 2000. 14 years later, they are back on top not by chance, but by calculated and smart planning to become the best.

This link http://static.bundesliga.de/media/na...ren2011_gb.pdf describes in detail how they national bodies & leagues demanded that devolpment at the grassroots level is at paramount importance. The invested heavily to professionally train amateurs.

This link http://www.businessinsider.com/germa...-system-2014-7 is a much briefer rundown of how Germany recreated the way soccer is played at youth levels. They have professionals running the academies and youth leagues, not volunteers and nepotistic coaches and managers.

I don't think it's possible to replicate what Germany has done, given that the NHL is a bi-national league, but I think something needs to be done by the CHL, that is fully supported by HC and the NHL.

I'm not sure exactly what the solution should be to revamping development in Canada, but it needs to be at the national level.

[troutman]

^^^
What are we developing? A national team, or happy children?

[Burke Salad]

We had one of those Dad coaches that always play'ed his son in soccer at age 4. That is when all the kids are just running around chasing the ball. People are awful!

[IgiTang]

Is this a house team or a rep team?

I'm guessing house and for that reason this is absolutely unacceptable and disgusting. I coach bantam house in BC and that would never happen on my team nor have I ever seen it happen.. In house...

Now Rep, that is an entirely different story.

These kids are picked based on skill level and the parents pay a premium to be on a Rep team.
The best players play. Period. If you are on a rep team and aren't getting any shifts.. You probably don't belong on that team.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

This reminds me of a different problem, but can be solved with the same solution.

Germany has completely revamped their development of soccer players on a national level starting in the year 2000. 14 years later, they are back on top not by chance, but by calculated and smart planning to become the best.

This link http://static.bundesliga.de/media/na...ren2011_gb.pdf describes in detail how they national bodies & leagues demanded that devolpment at the grassroots level is at paramount importance. The invested heavily to professionally train amateurs.

This link http://www.businessinsider.com/germa...-system-2014-7 is a much briefer rundown of how Germany recreated the way soccer is played at youth levels. They have professionals running the academies and youth leagues, not volunteers and nepotistic coaches and managers.

I don't think it's possible to replicate what Germany has done, given that the NHL is a bi-national league, but I think something needs to be done by the CHL, that is fully supported by HC and the NHL.

I'm not sure exactly what the solution should be to revamping development in Canada, but it needs to be at the national level.

Coaching in the NWCAA, they have been part of a pilot program with Hockey Canada where we get use of their training programs and coaches and we (coaches) have HC support for pretty much anything.

There's been bumps, but it's nice having that support. They want to eventually spread it Canada-wide and have a situation more like soccer. The idea is better development for high-end kids, and more equal competitiveness for rec kids.

[troutman]

The article says it is a developmental spring league. Why would you care about winning games in a spring league like that (and with 9 year olds)? Don't the less skilled players require more ice time to develop? How many late bloomers is hockey losing to unequal ice times?