Spring & summer hockey…..Is it for us?

One question I have been fielding a lot lately is “what should I do for spring hockey with my player?” This is a question that has become more complex over the years with many opportunities being advertised and provided locally, regionally and even nationally.

Let me do what the old timers do and tell you how we used to do it when we were kids. “It was uphill BOTH ways, in snow, barefoot!” You have all heard that song and dance. The only reason I pull on this thread is to give you context to what USA Hockey recommends for athletes nowadays which is taking a break from hockey to play other sports.

When I was growing up playing, we had defined seasons for playing hockey and it wasn’t because we didn’t want to play in the spring and summer. The City of Kamloops removed the ice from all our arenas once hockey seasons concluded. These surfaces turned into ball hockey or lacrosse arenas for the spring and summer months. When hockey was over my parents put all the Hay kids in summer sports. We played soccer, we played baseball, we went to the lake to waterski and wakeboard, we golfed and we spent time outside camping & fishing with our grandparents. We gained understanding and perspective of all these other disciplines by doing them. The great thing was because the ice was out for everybody, that all our friends were on the same teams in the other sports we were competing in. What did we learn by doing these other activities? That when the City of Kamloops put ice back in the rinks in late July, we were JACKED to be back!

My point- You HAD to do other activities. Exactly what USA Hockey prescribes for our kids now.

I understand how dated I sound speaking about those times and this is not the landscape presently. I also understand how many parents and players look at these seasons as opportunities to continue “hockey development.” I also understand as a person in the hockey industry how lucrative these opportunities are for business. But then I ask myself as a parent, and as a coach who believes in the information that USA Hockey publishes on the Long Term Athlete Development Model, what way is best? What is best for my son? What is best for his development? Will spring/summer hockey give him an advantage come tryouts? How is he going to get 300 points this hockey season if he is hitting a baseball all summer? He needs to be on the ice!

All quality questions and concerns. So I say this with absolute certainty. There is no right answer for this question. There are no absolutes and there is no “one size fits all” answer. In all my years in hockey, there is one thing I know without a shadow of a doubt. EVERYONE is different.

If you will humor me and continue reading I hope to provide some information to help you and your child make the best decision for YOUR situation. Hopefully provide help in navigating these choices in front of you.

Here is a fantastic article from the folks at USA Hockey explaining how they view these times in your child’s hockey development. One question I ponder is this… If the federation that governs (my specific sport) is advising me to at least try other things shouldn’t I hear them out and see what they are talking about?

Wouldn’t THEY benefit if I continued to play hockey all year round? Wouldn’t that make the sport better if we all focused all our energies on being the best hockey players we could? Does any other national body in sport advise their athletes to do any other sports in their off seasons? Does USA Baseball recommend playing hockey over the winter time? It’s an intriguing question and a rabbit hole I hope to illuminate. 

I get that there are going to be people that believe in different options for their son or daughter. I am sure there are plenty of articles out there that speak about the benefits of spring hockey and the number of NHL stars that made it their singular focus. As someone that supports the work and information USA Hockey advocates, here is some reading from a traditional hockey state promoting the benefits of playing other sports. If it works for them, can it work for us?

Let’s say you are on the other side of the fence. A person that believes that hockey, hockey and even more hockey is better for your child. That playing 24/7/12 is going to allow your player to “develop” the best for their futures in the game. Is there a sweet spot when to focus your efforts on 1 particular venture? An interesting commentary by medical doctors in pediatrics & sports medicine on when athletes should start “specializing” in sport can be found here.

I will provide a list of talking points that I hope you ask your spring program/coach. The idea is to get answers and information before you decide YOUR path in this system.

DEVELOPMENT - This is the biggest buzz word in hockey. You hear this from every program and every coach that wants you to join their program. You will see it blasted in triplicate wherever you look sometimes. What exactly is “development” in hockey. Is it singular across all of hockey or do different programs and coaches have different interpretations of what IT actually is? The thing I look at the most is what the programs and coaches say is their model and how closely it aligns with USA Hockey's published data. I believe that the definition of development can be different for every group but should answer the question, “does my child improve?” When answering that question what are the parameters for improvement? Whatever your coach or program believes development to be, get them to express it to you. How can you hold the program accountable to your child’s “development” if you don’t know their measuring stick for development? The other question to ask is what responsibility does the player have in developing? I don’t know much, but what I do know is that development is not just on the coach or the program. Development is on the athlete as well and the sooner they take ownership for their growth, the better the overall development plan can work. My point: figure out what development is supposed to look like within the group you choose to be in so you can see if it’s actually taking place with your player.

COACHING - What is the level of your coaches running these programs? What is their experience in the game? This is not the part where I advocate for former players that have played at a high level. Some of the best coaches I ever played for were not the best players. Wayne Gretzky’s tenure as the Phoenix Coyotes coach serves as my argument about great players transitioning into the coaching ranks. Just because you were a great player does not equate to being a great coach. Just having played the game at a high level doesn’t mean you can coach/teach the game at ANY level. Plus if that’s our measuring stick, what does that do to the credibility of all the amazing volunteer coaches who didn’t play in “ The Show?” The best coaches are the best communicators & teachers of the game. They make the content the simplest and easiest to absorb. Are you able to communicate it to an 11 year old so they can understand it? Quality coaches understand the development process for ALL ages and make all their players better. Think about the great coaches, the great teachers, the great mentors you have trusted in your own life. What makes them great? What makes them valuable? What puts them on that list? I would bet dollars to donuts it would be because you: felt better/ you played better/ you improved/ you reached your potential/ you were accountable under their tutelage. More time doing (hockey, baseball, football, golf, soccer…..) with bad coaching doesn’t make your player better. The only place “time served” counts is prison. We don’t want the rink feeling like jail.

COST - What is this 3 day, 1 week, 1 month, 8 week, 3 month commitment going to cost? Not just in price for the program but in everything else. Travel costs, food costs, lodging costs. These go into the equation and all add up. What about the cost of your time?  Most folks have jobs or occupations that require their presence somewhere for 40 hours/5 days a week to be able to finance these programs. What is your return on investment? How do you know if the juice is worth the squeeze? I don’t know the right answer for you and your family. I do know it’s something worth considering. I may sound like a lousy hockey parent saying this, but sometimes, I just like going away with my wife for the weekend and not even think about hockey.

Sidenote - I am well aware I lead a “Hockey Development” company that bears my name. This is not lost on me as I write this. I make income on camps, schools, classes and programming. The last thing I ever want to do is be a hypocrite. My reputation and authenticity are 2 things I will not compromise. I never want the finger pointed at me saying “ you run spring/summer programs and tell us to play other sports! You’re a quack Hay!” All I ask is when we have these discussions, all cards need to be on the table. That’s how I believe we make the best decisions - on a case by case basis utilizing the data we have in front of us.

SHORT/LONG TERM GOALS - Does doing this spring/summer program help you achieve what it is you are working towards? Is it your goal to become a better skater? Score more goals? Make the travel team? Play junior hockey in Canada? I don’t know what you are working towards but does this choice get you closer to what you want? I love when players start setting goals and start pursuing the path of self development. I believe we learn so much about ourselves in the pursuit of the things we want in life. How we handle success. How we handle setback. How we develop relationships with coaches. How we develop relationships with peers. How we learn to compete. How we learn to plan. How we learn to prepare and eventually how all these things in sport can be applied to our pursuits in life. As a retired/former “once was” I can tell you that this is the real benefit of our game. It sets us up with the tools to chase a successful life.

Can't work in a team dynamic? Having a career working with others could be tough.

Mom and dad have done everything for you? See how that works in college/career/marriage. 

Not a big fan of doing “extra” work? See what levels you reach in life unwilling to do extra. 

Don’t like coaches telling you what to do? Wait until you have a boss or deadlines to meet.

I know this for sure. The odds of you playing THIS sport for a career are a long shot. However, the skills you can acquire and develop through the game can translate into a lot of other professions. It’s like personal “development” *BUZZ WORD*

At one juncture or another, whatever sport you choose, you are going to come to a crossroads. Is this the sport WE put all our time into? I find nowadays that choice has to be made earlier and earlier for players. When I asked my wife her opinion after proof reading this article, she posed this thought about our kids,” I guess our job is to open up as many doors as we can to help them find something they love to do.”

Whether it’s athletics, academics, music, art or any other avenue. Our duties as parents are to make the best decisions with the information we have and support our children on whichever path peaks their interests. I would love my son to skate in the NHL like Cale Makar. I would love it if he became a legendary guitarist like Eddie Van Halen. I would love it if he penned the next great American novel like Ernest Hemingway,“There’s no one thing that’s true. It’s all true.” What I would love even more? If he took the lessons he learned from hockey to be the best “anything” he wanted to become.

I will try to sum up everything I have written about in these paragraphs with this final thought.

There is power in knowledge. Ask questions. Talk to people you trust. Talk to people who have made the choices you are about to make. Speak to coaches. Speak to programs. Speak to people that have a history of developing players. Ask as many questions as possible about how they will develop your child. Do your OWN research. Develop an understanding of the process that your player will be a part of. Try to make decisions based on the facts. Use those facts to develop the feelings that go with making good decisions. At the end of the day we all have to choose the right path for our player. No two paths are going to be identical or produce identical results. Those choices will lead us to our next choice and then, to the choice after that. This game is full of them. Choices that I hope bring you back to the rink and the game your player loves.

My father used to tell me that the rink should be a destination. A place you “can’t wait to get back to.” My hope is that the rink can be your destination too. That it gives you the same feelings my friends and I used to get when the City of Kamloops started making ice in late July. JACKED to come back!

article written by Darrell Hay

February 28/2024