Dan Replies:
Dear J.Z. - We think for a child under the age of 12 to either play only one sport or to play one sport all year long is counter-productive at best. We don't think it's that important for the child's hockey development and it certainly takes valuable time away from thing that we feel are more important -- family, school, other sports, other activities. Further, too much of even the best things can lead to burn-out. Having said that...
First - I don't know anyone who plays professional hockey who doesn't take two to three months off wherein they don't touch the ice. If that is appropriate for an adult whose livelihood depends on the game, it should be even more appropriate for a child for whom this must remain a game -- fun -- if there is any hope of his maintaining the enjoyment necessary for him to continue playing the sport.
Second, based on the number of college students who change their majors, not many college-age individuals know what they want to do with their lives. Even fewer eight year olds know what they want to do with their lives or what sport they want to play or will excel at. I think eight year olds should be about trying everything and having fun at it, not concentrating on one sport. If your son told you he wanted to be a doctor, you wouldn't allow him to only take medical courses when he returns to the fourth grade.
Third, I think young children should be learning to be good athletes, not good hockey players. There are lots of skills to be developed that soccer (moving the puck with their feet), basketball (pick and roll and hand-eye coordination), baseball (playing your position, the weight transfer in batting, and playing catcher for a goalie), and golf (maturity, emotional control, the hip turn, and hand-eye coordination) can teach and that carryover to other sports, including hockey.
Here's a stat for you to consider. Of the 1530 players who have played in the Little League World Series, only 21 went on to play major league baseball. But five went on to play in the NHL and 2 in the NFL. That's one third of the kids who wound up playing professional sports didn't play MLB. Who would have guessed? Obviously the five kids that wound up playing in the NHL played baseball in the summer.
Fourth, I'm not sure a person gets better at the skills necessary to improve by playing more games. In an NHL game, the player gets his stick on the puck for 45 seconds at most and shoots it only three or four times. I think that translates to about the same stats in kids' hockey. Stick handling and shooting a tennis ball for just one hour in the driveway may be more than the equivalent a whole season of summer hockey (and is a lot cheaper, even if you have to replace some glass in the garage door).
Lastly, I don't have a good read on this but none of the guys I know well enough to have knowledge about played hockey year around. And the kids I did know that played year around no longer play or are playing men's league hockey now. I think there's a correlation.
I am aware this is not the conventional wisdom. But -- I only played hockey seven months out of the year, and I didn't play travel hockey until I was 14... and I made it. How many kids can the well-intentioned folks who are encouraging you to have your son play year around point to that played year around and played past high school? That is to say its risk reward ratio is not favorable.
