Question #134:
Dear Dan and Jay:
I wanted to thank you for your advice on a hockey-less summer. We heeded your advice and wanted to share a success story with you.
Andy is 15 years old. He came off a long season of hockey last year, with his Bantam AA team making it all the way to the State Championships, losing only in a heart-breaking sudden death overtime. His Select team also made it to the State Playoffs but was eliminated in round-robin.
When we came home from the State tournament, we told him "no hockey until 1 week before tryouts next fall!" He was, of course, unwilling and defensive, but eventually gave in. Truth be told, he was a little tired from hockey. Baseball season kicked into high gear for him within a week and continued on throughout the rest of the school year.
Instead of driving to the rink 4-5 days a week for skating, hockey clinics, lessons, summer league, etc. like we had in the previous years, we encouraged him to explore other sports and activities. He did, however, want to "condition" so that he could be a better hockey player for the upcoming season. For 6 weeks in the summer he worked out with a personal trainer for strength, plyometrics, endurance, and balance 2 mornings a week, and worked out by himself 3-4 mornings. This summer, he also played baseball, tennis, and learned to water ski. All in all, the past 2 months had been "a lot of fun, much better than last summer" as he put it. He only skated once at public skating during the entire summer, and that was for his little cousin's birthday party.
True to our words, Andy was back on the ice 2 weeks ago in preparation for Midget tryouts. He skated a couple days at public skating and attended 2 hockey clinics. Just as you advise, he didn’t "lose" any of his hockey skills by not playing in the summer, contrary to the conventional wisdom.
However, there is a very ugly and disturbing side to this whole youth hockey politics -- the coaches had made it clear from the beginning that if the players did not attend the weekly clinics in the summer, they would not have any chance of making the "AA" team. I do not agree with this, but I was also not too upset by it. Andy will not turn 16 until end of this year, and with the age change in USA Hockey this year, would put him as one of the youngest players in Midget. I had no problems with him being on the "A" team. Also, he is not a "hitter", so that sets him back a little and I must admit that watching him last season, he was not the top Bantam AA player, but better than mediocre.
When Andy got on the ice last week for tryouts though, he played with a passion that I had not seen in him for over 3 years. He was a lot stronger and faster than last year, and a real threat to be reckoned with. He played better than I've ever seen him played. After the first night of tryouts, I asked him about it, and his reply was simply, "I'm not tired anymore, and I just wanted to play!"
After 3 stressful nights of tryouts, I received a phone call yesterday from the hockey director that Andy has made the Midget AA team. All the coaches and evaluators agreed that he belongs on the AA team as he is undoubtedly a much improved player from last year. They asked me where I sent Andy to hockey camp this summer and who he was working with. I told them, he did not play hockey all summer long, but he did work hard to condition himself for hockey.
Well, as for the youth hockey politics, the saga continues... some parents, mostly those of players who did not make the AA team accuse me of bribing the coaches (because Andy did not attend any clinics until the final week and therefore shouldn't be on the AA team). And some other accuses me of lying about Andy's summer activities and not sharing the secrets to his improvement. But politics aside, I'm a very proud parent of a Midget AA player. The politics will continue for as long as he plays hockey. I will also have no regrets if he quits hockey after this season, because he has had the best summer in recent years and his best tryouts ever.
Thanks for letting me share my story.
Sincerely,
Andrew
