I can’t look you in the eye and tell you that your son our daughter NEEDS to play spring hockey if they want to succeed beyond minor hockey. I can say, with conviction, that if he/she has a chance to play another sport this spring, DO IT. The advantages multi sport athletes have over early specialization athletes has been well documented. Many experts believe we have a generational crisis on our hands. Ottawa Senators strength coach Chris Schwarz says the focus on year-round hockey has led to elite prospects who lack basic athletic skills that used to be learned on the playground and other sports. Read more.
“I think if you are going to spend money on hockey development, it should be on developing skills and fitness, simple as that. Mike Johnston, Head Coach and GM, Portland Winterhawks WHL, to me at the West Coast Hockey Prep Camp.
Early Specialization
“The trend towards early single-sports specialization — defined as nine months or more of a single sport, to the exclusion of others — has been fingered as the main cause. While other activities, like video games or the rise of alternative, non-traditional sports, have contributed to the bleeding, specialization is the cause of most of it, from overuse injuries, emotional and psychological damage, to straight burnout.” JJ Adams, Vancouver Sun, April 1, 2018.
Check out what youth sport advocates Glen Mulcahy of Paradigm Sports, Matt Young of Innovative Fitness, and many others are saying about the state of youth sport retention, early specialization, and burnout in this Vancouver Sun Article: Fear, Greed, Broken Dreams: How early sports specialization is eroding youth sports.
5 Reasons Spring Skills Development Trumps Spring Hockey:
- There is time to play another sport, or simply just play! The over structured and jam packed schedule of a child in our current culture is proving to be counterproductive. This sounds crazy, but we need to schedule time to have no schedule. As parents we know it in our gut, so why are so many kids so overscheduled and specializing in 1 sport so early?
-
Richmond Olympic Oval
Burnout and overuse injuries are real. Kids often can’t tell they are burning out until it’s too late. Taking time away from competition is critical for every athlete at every level. We believe that working on skills in a fun, rewarding, and positive environment without fear of failure can help many kids find greater passion after a season of pressure filled games and commitments.
- It’s much more cost effective with no extra trips across the continent for tournaments, no extra gloves, backs, track suits, etc.
- Our Spring Hockey Skills programs allow players to work on their technical skills, without fear of failure, of fear of losing ice time. This fear is too prevalent amongst players in high stakes ‘AAA’ youth hockey.
- We work on developing the skills that a team setting can stunt, as on a team kids are often forced to ‘make the safe play’, which is often the play requiring the least amount of skill and critical thinking.
Our LGS and Elite Goalies on ice coaches are professionals, and most of us are former professional players. Click for bios of UBC Coach Mike Sommer, long time WHL coach Mark Holick, WHL record holder and current pro Neil Manning, former pros Nate Leslie, and lead skills coaches Ben Mackay, Shaun Lymer, and Kenta Muraki.
The Richmond Olympic Oval High Performance Strength & Conditioning Team is world class, and so is their training facility. The same Strength & Conditioning coaches that lead our sessions work with National Teams and Olympic/elite athletes. Against criticism of some demanding parents, the Oval HP team is committed to teaching fundamental and functional movement patterns to athletes first and foremost. Many parents believe ‘dryland needs to be hard.’ We know that without proper body awareness and functional movement stability and coordination, ‘hard dryland’ is counterproductive. It can lead to injury and dysfunctional movement but if it wasn’t the injured person’s fault, one of the personal injury attorneys in san diego can figure something out. First our team teaches athletes how to move well, then we grind.
Click for More Info: Spring Skills by Leslie Global Sports & Richmond Oval High Performance.
If you can’t join us because you need time off, time to play, or time to try another sport, we support you! We will never try to convince a family that our program is the only path to success. When you need us, we will be here for you. Coach Nate Leslie.
