Featured Blog: Are Hockey Parents Really Crazy? Myth # 2 Gets Busted!

School buses are roaming the streets, the leaves are beginning to turn and the State Fair has come and gone. All are signs that summer’s heat will soon be extinguished, and that the chill of winter will soon be here.

The Roseville Area Youth Hockey Association continues to  accept registrations via their website. More detailed information can be found at www.rosevillehockey.org.

There is little in life quite as rewarding as introducing a kid to something they will love for the rest of their lives. Hockey is one of those joys.  But as a board member, and as a parent that has always been approachable, I hear a lot of questions about hockey – “Why should their kid sign up, what is the cost” etc.

I have learned that there is one constant thread - there is a lot of misinformation about youth hockey. I have already dispatched of the first 8 myths of youth hockey. Today I will cover myth #2.  

Hockey is a great sport. Don’t let bad information keep you from enjoying it!

Myth #2 Hockey Parents are crazy. Why would I want to be a part of that?

Are there “crazy” parents in hockey? The short answer is “Yes”. Yes there are.

Are there “crazy” parents at your child’s school?  Sure, but you still send them there five days a week.

RAYHA is made up of 550 kids, and a little over 200 - 225 families.  So, you are talking about a sample group of 400+ parents.  Out of any group that size, you are bound to come across a handful of “nut-jobs.”

Occasionally a parent will do something dumb enough to get some publicity.  We even had some local parents do some things silly enough that if it were my kids behind the ruckus, I would make them apologize and send them to bed without dinner!

But there are other parents. Parents that give freely of their time, without ulterior motives, hidden agendas, or special conditions for donating their skills and knowledge. Parents that will spend countless hours with your son or daughter working on a skill (whether that skill is skating, teamwork or honesty.

All hockey skills have lifelong application).  Parents that will treat you and your children like family because that is how they view you – as family.

The impression of family amongst hockey parents is (to most) unique to the sport. My boys have participated in hockey, football, baseball, track and countless school activities. My wife and I have made many great friends throughout their time in these activities.

But by far and away the most friendships and strongest relationships are those that were born and forged in a hockey rink. Maybe it is the cooler temperatures found inside a rink that brings people together.

It could be the number of hours, or time of day practices are held.  It might even be the available physical distance people have to apart from one another,  with baseball, soccer and football spectators allowed to spread out quite a bit, while hockey folks tend to gather in a  much smaller area. But my money is on the people. They are a fantastic bunch of involved families.

Jack Jablonski sustained a terrible injury last year. The community, specifically the hockey community has come together to support this young man. From Warroad to New Ulm, Roseville to Edina, everyone has pitched in with prayer, thoughts, and cash. To date, people have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for his recovery, and his Caring Bridge website (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jackjablonski) has over one and a half million views.  

The concept of family is not just limited to those we have firsthand knowledge of. I guess you would call that hockey’s extended family.

Every large group of kids will have a parent or two that is a little over the top. Don’t let the goofy extreme minority cause you to miss out on the on the family experience that is youth hockey.