Hockey Edmonton bans hitting at lower level Bantam/Midget

[GioforPM]

All I know is that at each level in my area where hitting has been removed/delayed in the last few years (Peewee and then Bantam), the participation rates have gone way way up.

[Northendzone]

I keep wondering why football is not moving in this direction? is hockey worse due to kids likely being faster on skates? the fact the playing surface is surrounded by hard unforgiving boards?

as an aside, my son's community team this year started the season in the no contact division, while we did move up a division, we could not move into a contact division because we did not start the season in a contact division. We also had difficulty finding tournements to play in because we were no-contact.

My son also played a spring hockey tournament for kids born in 2002 this weekend, and it seemed as every team but ours had a kid who was twice as all as our shortest players (who is shorter than the average kid).

I should also add, that for the most part I don't have a strong opion one way or the other as my kid is a goalie, so contact is soemwaht of a non-event for him.

[Weitz]

What would football change? I am sure there are flag football leagues for those interested.

[CroFlames]

Jeez, what's next?

(obligatory)

Spoiler!

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by H2SO4(aq)

Contact was a huge part of my childhood. I loved throwing hits and i loved getting hit, i loved the compete level and the toughness. I really think this jeopardizes the tenacity and courage of hockey. For me, hockey (and lacrosse) was about overcoming the fear of getting hurt, battling against my peers, and it taught me how to be courageous in life. I wouldnt be the person I am today if i never had to step on the ice and overcome the fear of being hurt to try and win. That internal confrontation is what makes hockey such an empowering sport, and i hope it is not lost on my children.

Sorry for the overly dramatic post, I just feel very strongly about how important violence was on my life. I needed it.

It's a sad day when you have the minority of people ruining a sport for the masses. It's the ones that aren't interested in pursuing contact hockey that should be pushing to have a more robust network of non-contact leagues put in place and sends a terrible message to the "lower level" players.

I completely agree that there is something to be said, regardless of skill level, to playing a sport within the rules, as it was intended and even overcoming fear.

[PeteMoss]

Its low level hockey. There's no need for their to be hitting. No one is making the pros (statistically speaking, I'm sure 1 of every 50,000 makes it). Tons of kids quit when hitting starts but they are small or late developers or just don't want to bother with it. Even when I think back to my low level hockey as a kid, in Novice and Atom we had 6 teams in our own little organization by the time we hit bantam there was 1 team.

I'm sure all of the ultra tough guys here could have joined a wrestling team or mixed martial arts to get over their lack of body checking in their low level hockey.

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

It's a sad day when you have the minority of people ruining a sport for the masses. It's the ones that aren't interested in pursuing contact hockey that should be pushing to have a more robust network of non-contact leagues put in place and sends a terrible message to the "lower level" players.

I completely agree that there is something to be said, regardless of skill level, to playing a sport within the rules, as it was intended and even overcoming fear.

Is it really the masses who want body checking? I doubt it. Most players are out to have fun and compete, not get hurt by being hit (even if they aren't injured).

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

Is it really the masses who want body checking? I doubt it. Most players are out to have fun and compete, not get hurt by being hit (even if they aren't injured).

I think the large number of beer leagues that have hitting speaks to the numbers of people that want to play hit hockey.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I think the large number of beer leagues that have hitting speaks to the numbers of people that want to play hit hockey.

I know they exist, but are there really that many? More than non-contact? I am an old man, so I wouldn't dream of playing contact.

I think it is great that there are contact leagues, for those adults that want to play. The issue here is for much younger players, where there may be greater long term risks associated with contact hockey. I used to think that by raising the hitting age, more injuries would result of bigger boys causing more damage, but from what I have gathered, that simply isn't the truth. It depends how you do the math, but I think the result of raising the age will be more kids playing longer, without unnecessary risk of injury.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I know they exist, but are there really that many? More than non-contact? I am an old man, so I wouldn't dream of playing contact.

I think it is great that there are contact leagues, for those adults that want to play. The issue here is for much younger players, where there may be greater long term risks associated with contact hockey. I used to think that by raising the hitting age, more injuries would result of bigger boys causing more damage, but from what I have gathered, that simply isn't the truth. It depends how you do the math, but I think the result of raising the age will be more kids playing longer, without unnecessary risk of injury.

Sorry, I should have used green text.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Zarley

The pansification of hockey continues.

Brain injuries don't care how much of a pansy one is.

[GreenLantern2814]

Outside high level hockey with the potential for advancement into major junior/college etc, there's really no need for hitting. If your kid is that desperate to smash into things, there's football and combat sports.

The lack of time spent on hitting would leave more time to focus on skating, puck skills, positioning etc and if someone blooms a little bit later on, you can teach him to hit. He'll have the other tools developed to handle contact hockey, and he'll be able to bring more to the table.

I played goalie for 9 years and forward my last year midget - anecdotally, learning to hit is really not that hard. Keep your arms down and your head up.

Conversely, I played with a kid from peewee to midget who suffered at least two concussions a year. Another kid would get destroyed every other night because he was a pest and world class **** talker who couldn't stay on his skates. And he got the crap kicked out of him. We were playing division 2 midget hockey. Ain't nobody on that team representing Canada in Seoul.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Reaper

Brain injuries don't care how much of a pansy one is.

Tough guys get their bell rung, pussies get concussions.

[pacde]

I'm a hockey parent with a view on this

As the article points out, Calgary did this for bantam teams already last year so those crowing about how soft Edmonton is for doing this need to read the article.
Another thing is this is for lower level kids or kids who are just learning the game basically...

Just to be clear I was one of the parents who thought hitting should be in the game for all kids at all levels but my perspective has changed for younger kids and kids at lower levels.

The reason for this is that its way easier to learn to hit than to learn to skate with the puck with your head up and have the awareness on the ice that we as adults may be expected to have. At lower levels and younger kids, anyone can torpedo anyone else, really doesn't take any skills and you can seriously hurt a kid who is just in rec hockey trying to learn to carry a puck and keep their head up at the same time - which takes quite a bit of time to master.
At its most basic part this protects kids who we cant always expect to have learned to do everything they need to do on the ice and still keep their awareness as sharp as some of the lounge chair coaches sitting in the stands... gives the kids time to grow and have a positive experience.

That being said, I hate that they call physical contact as a penalty in Novice here in Calgary.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by pacde

I'm a hockey parent with a view on this

As the article points out, Calgary did this for bantam teams already last year so those crowing about how soft Edmonton is for doing this need to read the article.
Another thing is this is for lower level kids or kids who are just learning the game basically...

Just to be clear I was one of the parents who thought hitting should be in the game for all kids at all levels but my perspective has changed for younger kids and kids at lower levels.

The reason for this is that its way easier to learn to hit than to learn to skate with the puck with your head up and have the awareness on the ice that we as adults may be expected to have. At lower levels and younger kids, anyone can torpedo anyone else, really doesn't take any skills and you can seriously hurt a kid who is just in rec hockey trying to learn to carry a puck and keep their head up at the same time - which takes quite a bit of time to master.
At its most basic part this protects kids who we cant always expect to have learned to do everything they need to do on the ice and still keep their awareness as sharp as some of the lounge chair coaches sitting in the stands... gives the kids time to grow and have a positive experience.

That being said, I hate that they call physical contact as a penalty in Novice here in Calgary.

100% agree on this point. There is a HUGE difference between body checking and body contact and there is nothing wrong with body contact (it is legal). My daughter plays in female hockey at the midget level and there is no body checking but the games can get quite physical depending on how much the ref lets them get away with. Nothing wrong with a good physical game and it drives me nuts when they start calling every little bump as a body check.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

You know I used to like to use a sack of fresh Oranges, it not only left fewer bruises because they were smaller, but it would provide several cups of nice freshly squeezed orange juice every morning.

That's advice you can live by my friend.

Bonus tip: If you use your child's tears to marinate the oranges after the beating, they make excellent marmalade. I used to have it on my toast every morning, until I ran out of children.

[GGG]

As Adults how many of you play in contact leagues?

[burn_baby_burn]

In regards to the strength of the equipment being used for protection. There is a lot of emphasis on blocking shots in todays game, so we are not going to see a reduction or "softining" of the pads (although one might ask how many shots get blocked with the shoulder?).

Modern hockey helmets, or any hockey helmet on the market today, were not designed to reduce concusions. There are designed to reduce skull fractures and lacerations (someone else already mentioned they were designed to protect the head from the puck and sticks). The Virginia Tech Five Star rating for hockey helmets found only one helmet on the market today that had an adequate rating (3 stars), the Warrior Krown.

The technology is in it's invancy when it comes to hockey helmets and concussions. We are going to see hockey helmets get much larger. Just look at a football helmet compared to a hockey helmet. Big difference!

[Zarley]

Aren't there recreational leagues available for those kids who don't want to play contact hockey?

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Aren't there recreational leagues available for those kids who don't want to play contact hockey?

Yes, the ones in Calgary and Edmonton that banned body checking. The contact leagues are also available for the children who play rep hockey. It is a good balance as the children who play at a higher level and may actually play elite hockey are in contact leagues. I am not sure if there are full contact rec leagues for the child who is unlikely to play pro but wants to risk long term concussion damage, that appears to be a gap in the system.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Zarley

Aren't there recreational leagues available for those kids who don't want to play contact hockey?

Yes, that is what the thread is about.