Minor Hockey Talks - Hockey Forum

1. Costs
2. New Canadians don't understand the game and have safety concerns.
3. Douchebags running hockey at all levels.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/w ... 56f1a.html

Need more programs like First Shift to help reduce those initial costs of hockey.

Also, if you are not in hockey by the time you are 6/7, you'll never catch up.

Guest wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 4:27 pm Need more programs like First Shift to help reduce those initial costs of hockey.

Also, if you are not in hockey by the time you are 6/7, you'll never catch up.

Hockey parents are psychopaths, play recreationally. Choose another sport to play competitively. If this site doesn’t tell you all you need to know about the hockey mentality nothing will.
kids can catch up if they start later. If they’re athletic and have grit and put in the work they can excel. And, their little bodies won’t be ruined from being on the ice 20 hours a week before they can read a chapter book.

Guest wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 5:27 pm

Guest wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 4:27 pm Need more programs like First Shift to help reduce those initial costs of hockey.

Also, if you are not in hockey by the time you are 6/7, you'll never catch up.

Hockey parents are psychopaths, play recreationally. Choose another sport to play competitively. If this site doesn’t tell you all you need to know about the hockey mentality nothing will.
kids can catch up if they start later. If they’re athletic and have grit and put in the work they can excel. And, their little bodies won’t be ruined from being on the ice 20 hours a week before they can read a chapter book.

I am not a "pyschopath" parent and am heavily involved at the recreational level. Registration is down across the board and we need new and fresh ideas to get more kids involved, regardless of age.

Let me expand on my 2 comments above:

First Shift - $299 for 6 weeks of on ice training plus a full set of Bauer equipment for ages 6-10 for those who have not registered with a Hockey Canada association previously.
It is a great program for those who want to try hockey out and gives you a good foundation to start playing minor hockey. The only drawbacks are that they get filled up rather quickly, it only goes to the age of 10 and it's short.

Older kids that register for hockey start off behind. With house league hockey you get 1 hour a week to practice but the coaches aren't there to teach the basics to brand new players. They are there to help improve on skills and work on game type situations / strategies. I've seen this first hand where kids struggle to keep up because they have not gone through "hockey school" at a younger age. Unfortunately, the only way to catch up late in the game is to take skating lessons. Not sure where everyone else lives, but all skills session near me are at least $50 / hr. You do get the kids that are athletic and pick it up quickly but a lot of kids will quit when they can't keep up.

Honestly, I want to increase registrations and have more people involved n hockey at the lowest levels. Those who are new to the game, I do point them in the direction of First Shift and try to give them cheap alternatives (stick and pucks, open skating) to get them up to speed to play house league hockey.

And let's not get started about the goalie issues...................