Busting More Youth Hockey Myths- Injuries and Early AM Practices!

School buses are running their routes, the leaves are beginning to turn and the State Fair has come and gone. All signs that summer is coming to a conclusion and that winter will soon be here.

The Roseville Area Hockey Association will be holding its annual registration on Sunday Sept. 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Monday Sept. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m.  The event will happen in the Olympic room of the Roseville Ice Arena. 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 consistent – there is a lot of misinformation about youth hockey. In the days leading to registration, I will list and debunk the top 10 myths of youth hockey.

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

Since today’s myths are fairly easy, we will knock out a couple of them.

Myth #5 My kid will get hurt

Well, I am going to partially debunk this one. Injuries do happen. They happen at the rink. For that matter they happen in any athletic event. They also happen at home, at the play ground and while in the car.  250,000 kids a year are injured in car accidents. Accidents happen, it is a fact of life.

Hockey has long been leader in the sports in dealing with injuries. Checking was eliminated from youth hockey until kids become Bantams (8^th & 9^th grade). Every coach on the ice goes through rigorous training in preventing, treating and recognizing injuries. Roseville Area Youth Hockey is a leader in a field of leaders.

Last year, we had every age appropriate player do a baseline test for concussions, and held an awesome pre-season checking clinic run by Roseville High School Coach Jeff Pauletti. The clinic focused on the “Why” of checking as well as proper body positioning in delivering and receiving body contact. This year RAYHA will continue to pioneer in safety training by delivering the same checking instruction during warm up ice.

Kids can get hurt in any number of crazy ways, it is just unavoidable. But if my kid does get hurt, I want it to be someplace where there are people that know what to do.

Myth #4 We do not have the time for hockey, and I do not want to be at a 4 a.m. practice!

Now this is the kind of myth that just bugs me.  I looked up the schedule for one of the mite teams. They were on the ice 2 to 3 times a week from November til the beginning of March. The earliest they practiced was 7 a.m. (they only had one of these!!!) and most of their weekend ice was between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.  Most of the time is spent at Roseville Ice Arena. How could it be any easier? 

If your kids stick with it, and get into traveling hockey – sure there is more ice time, no doubt about it. But at that point, they have already developed a passion for the game. They have to want that much ice, it is not forced on them. If they just want to skate, they can play in house hockey and hit the ice 3-4 times a week.

For some, hockey is like an un-tasted food. They might think they won’t like it, even come up with all kinds of reasons why they will dislike it. Until they try it, and realize that they have been missing out all along.