Here is my response to a coach’s complaint about my equal
play for all kids pre puberty. He believes in shortening the bench in some
cases for 10 year olds.
Let’s be clear here, just because something like this is
being done doesn’t mean it is right and should keep being done. Have you
followed our political elections and system lately? That doesn’t seem right to
me at all!
Medical science says puberty changes everything, so anything
before 13 should be about development, both mental and physical. You are only
giving a child a head start to a race that does not exist. Also, why are you
putting a value on their play? They are just children.
85% of all people who
lose their jobs except for massive layoffs lose them because they don’t get
along with other employees. Let’s teach them life skills. 70% of these kids who
play youth sports at the age of 10 are quitting by the time they are 13. There are 2 to 8 times more injuries for
children who play one sport year round.
When did we start
teaching to the few at the expense of many? So an answer is to keep doing more
of this, this way? Why are we adulting kids? Let them play and have fun. I was
told by a coach who did not play a child in a blow out championship game that
the child told him it was the most fun he had. That was very sad to me. Wonder
what he says 10 years from now?
Just because they are
getting drafted to an “elite” team or are on a prospect list doesn’t mean they
are going to good at 18. Only about 10% of the kids who are the best at the age
of 12 are the best at the age of 18. Let’s follow these kids and see where they
end up 10 years from now! We have and the results are not pretty.
Most colleges have 20
year old freshmen playing hockey. Where are these kids that were on the list back
then when they were 10 years old? The human body doesn’t develop fully until
22.23.24 and mentally about 27 and 28. Why are we trying to microwave
development when it should be slow cooked? PLAY FOR FUN!
There are only so many scholarships to DI programs in hockey
*(18) and over 60 DI college hockey programs with 25 players on each roster.
There are only 700 players in the NHL, however when you deduct the 60 goalies
its only 640 skaters and 60 goalies, I
have yet to hear of a goalie leaving the net and playing forward in the NHL or
a defenseman changing positions to play goal.
The average career life of a professional athlete is 4.3
years with an average salary of $80K.Only 1% of ALL the children that go to a 4
year college play at the DI level and half of the 1% play for free, so I ask
you how is it even remotely possible that so many kids being drafted onto elite
teams are making it?
The average DI scholarship is $10,780 a year, so the cost
spent on playing travel youth sports is not made back by the people spending it
in most cases. There are 77 times as many non athletic scholarships as there are
athletic ones for college. 25% of the children going to college get some kind
of non athletic financial aid while only 1% gets athletic financial aid.
Ryan Callahan, Brian Gionta, Wayne Wilson (NCAA DI coach of
the year 2010), Terry Gurnett Women’s D3 Soccer coach of the decade, Dr. Mike
Maloney nationally known Orthopedic Sports Surgeon and Director at URMC Medical
Center, Dr. Tom McInerney President of the Academy of Pediatricians, Andy
Duncan CEO of Orthopedics and Rehab at University of Florida, Corey McAdam All
American basketball player at Nazareth college, Phil Steckley a Certified
Athletic trainer, Sue Moak an Elementary Physical Education teacher for 10
years, Katie Spring an elementary Education teacher for 10 years, and a mother
of two children who went through youth sport with her kids, myself, and many
others are trying to put some medical facts behind the decisions made for children
playing youth sports.
They ALL agree that it should be equal play for kids’ pre
puberty. They all agree that we should be not specializing in one sport for our
kids and we should be ramping down the pressure on these kids.
It is unhealthy for a child, and these are children, not
mini adults or micro professional athletes attached to adults personal joy sticks,
to play for anything but fun prepuberty. 3.5 MILLION Kids went to the hospital
last year for overuse injuries in the USA. $1.2 billion was spent on overuse
injuries to kids.
Go to my website frozenshorts.com and watch video after
video from many experts in their field and you will see that parents, children,
and organizations are chasing a dream that is equivalent to chasing the lottery
for success.
The farther you go up the ladder the better teammate you
have to be. Then there is luck and timing. These children are going to be
adults for the next 50 years of their lives and how are they going to react
with this hangover when things don’t work out.
I’m a huge believer in choice but let’s make sure we have
all the facts before we make choices for our children that are going to shape
and impact their lives for the next 50 years.
As a college hockey coach for 21 years I can tell you and
Wayne Wilson will agree, that there are no more hidden talents. If you are good
college coaches will find you. It’s 80% of our job.
Only 20% of the coaches have any kind of formal training in
youth sports and yet somehow they and the parents are deciding what is best for
the children? They are learning coaching techniques by watching D 1 and
professional level coaches’ coach. There is no correlation to the way those
professional coaches coach to the way you should be coaching kids.
The same people that
have $$ invested or are making $$ and status on the journey through childhood
playing youth and high school sports are the ones calling the shots?
I see this as a
conflict of interest.
As a parent, have you witnessed your older sibling fighting
with a younger sibling? Have you seen the older one take something away from
the younger one? We need to teach them how to get along better with a sense of
community. The competitiveness is already there.
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