A plea to fellow coaches to clean up the game.

[Bandy]

I have 2 girls in hockey--one now in high school, and one in U10. With all the emphasis on skills and the "new standard" that USA Hockey is pushing, I have to say that I'm disappointed the game isn't getting cleaner at the youth girls level. I think it has gotten worse over the last 10 years. As more girls enter youth hockey, the competition has gotten more intense. For some teams & coaches, the desire to win means that they'll coach anything regardless of whether it's legal or in the best interest of the game and regardless of whether it's putting opponents at risk of serious injury.

I've seen this at all age levels of youth girls hockey, from U8 to U14.

At the U8 level, I've seen textbook body checks and rubouts (rubout is by definition a body check). I've seen 6-year-old girls get hammered in front of opposing nets by 9-year-olds who are twice their size. I've seen players jump on a puck carrier's back from behind, to take her down. U8 coaches know that there aren't any penalties, so why not? Lot of first year skaters at U8. Do we want them back next year? Why not have some fun and teach some puck and skating skills? Save the Advanced Body Contact for bantams.

At U10B this year, my daughter's team has received numerous body checks into boards, and several checks from behind into boards. Numerous times, someone gets taken down in front of the net with a hard check or check from behind. At the refs discretion, these should be called for checking from behind, cross checking, body checking, interference...take your pick. We've overheard coaches at U10B talking about how they've been drilling their girls to hit the body... "let's see how we do today--maybe that will help." We've heard coaches tell players to "trip her," knowing that the referees weren't calling anything. Plus a few hooks and slashes--girls coming off doubled over because someone jabbed them in the gut with a stick. There are a lot of first-year players at U10B. Are these the "skills" we should be coaching?

At U14 a couple years ago, I saw a couple girls' seasons end with broken collar bones after hard checks into the goal. We played one team whose only skills seemed to be cross checking, slashing, and fighting. We heard their coach telling his players to hit us. We beat them 5-1 with superior passing, shooting, and skating. Even better, we got out of there with no broken bones. I asked their coach if they're teaching cross checking..." Well, we play a physical style...." Bull s*!t, coach. Your team couldn't score much, but they could sure hack and talk trash.

I'm disappointed that the same officials who call offsides and icing with 90 percent accuracy only call illegal body contact 10 percent of the time.

I'm disgusted that we have some coaches out there--even at the youngest levels of the game--who are taking advantage of lax officiating and teaching their teams to body check, trip, interfere, etc. You know they're not calling most illegal contact. If you teach your girls to check, then you're teaching them to cheat. Pure and simple. And you're putting players at risk for serious injury.

Let's put the emphasis on puck & skating skills, game sense, and providing a fun experience for the girls. Don't coach your girls to cheat, and when you see it put a stop to it.

[mnhcp]

I agree the game needs to be cleaned up on the girls side if it's going to continue to be "non checking".

From my observations I "strongly" feel alot of this has to do with girls not knowing how to skate. I went to the State High School Tournament last year and saw girls who in my eyes couldn't skate. Compound that by going back 6 years or so. I see it all the time.

There is a disparity in size, girls not being able to control themselves on the ice ie stopping in time to avoid something that could cause harm and then you have the self inflicted stuff by girls not being able to defend themselves ie loosing control of the edges, not being able to get out of the way when harm is looming.

I pray and hope that we're one of the lucky ones as this can be dangerous sport especially with alot of loose cannons on the ice. When my kids were young particularily my daughter I made a concious effort for her to be a great skater. She was 8 years old when people were calling me crazy dad for sending her to skating camps whether that be Robby Glanz, Karn, Skating Dynamics and every clinic I could. I personally felt a STRONG FOUNDATION created early will only help her later. Not just skill wise but safety wise.

I've seen concussions, broken arms, broken legs, god aweful checks from behinds. Not all but many of these were avoidable by having a strong skater who can escape danger and strong skaters who won't cause it. Lets face it some girls have no business being out on the ice.

Then of course you have those other ones (I feel the exception) just looking to cause harm and their coaches endorse it! And of course you have the officials who aren't sending the message they should. Shame on you.

Not knowing how to skate isn't an excuse to cause harm either!

It's going to take another news story for this to maybe be looked into.

Referees we need your help on this!

[observer]

Good post.

Tough guy dad coaches are probably the biggest reason. It will not serve the girls well in the future. I wonder what they practice.

The best course of action is for your team to take zero penalties and whoop them while they're sitting in the box. I understand that requires the refs make the calls but stay the course. Refs pick up the fact that one team is better behaved than the other and will make the appropriate calls. The confusion for the refs comes when you have two poorly coached teams on the ice at the same time.

The 8Us get payback at 10U when all the trips get called.

[drop the puck]

Not seeing this in the 8 years or so that I have been involved with Minnesota girl's hockey.

Sure there are occasional checks, but I would say they are called 95% of the time. Many of the checks that I witness do not appear to be intentional, but typically just some one playing the body too aggressively. I have only seen one check from behind (it was called) in 8 years or girl's hockey. The girl hit was not hurt and resumed playing the game.

Some teams definitely are hackers with intimidation via trips, slashes, elbows and hooks. The coach does have influence with this. The level of what the refs call varies per game and by district. It certainly has become worse again as time passes from when the initial fair play rules went into effect ... same with the boys.

That said, there are plenty of mite coaches (and I suppose U. that just let the kids "fight" during practice. Checking, hooking, slashing .... is all too often tolerated. I suspect some "old school" parents look at this as a toughen them up process. Probably why some kids quit. Most of this can be eliminated by coaches putting problem kids on the bench for a few minutes and by practice plans that are skating and stick handling focused. Scrimmages are where most of the dirtly play arises and does not need to run 1/2 or all hour.

[James B Mcbain]

Not seeing this in the 8 years or so that I have been involved with Minnesota girl's hockey.

Sure there are occasional checks, but I would say they are called 95% of the time. Many of the checks that I witness do not appear to be intentional, but typically just some one playing the body too aggressively. I have only seen one check from behind (it was called) in 8 years or girl's hockey. The girl hit was not hurt and resumed playing the game.

Some teams definitely are hackers with intimidation via trips, slashes, elbows and hooks. The coach does have influence with this. The level of what the refs call varies per game and by district. It certainly has become worse again as time passes from when the initial fair play rules went into effect ... same with the boys.

That said, there are plenty of mite coaches (and I suppose U. that just let the kids "fight" during practice. Checking, hooking, slashing .... is all too often tolerated. I suspect some "old school" parents look at this as a toughen them up process. Probably why some kids quit. Most of this can be eliminated by coaches putting problem kids on the bench for a few minutes and by practice plans that are skating and stick handling focused. Scrimmages are where most of the dirtly play arises and does not need to run 1/2 or all hour.

Here is the problem I see, an obvious check from behind is give 1 minute 30 seconds. Referees are afraid to make an example. It'll take a another news story until that happens - when it's too late again.

[drop the puck]

Here is the problem I see, an obvious check from behind is give 1 minute 30 seconds. Referees are afraid to make an example. It'll take a another news story until that happens - when it's too late again.

In boy's hockey yes. The refs are too often calling boarding or charging instead of 2 (1:30) and 10 check from behind call.

[Bandy]

Not trying to argue with you, and I'm not surprised that there are different perspectives. Different districts may be cleaner than others, or may be refereed more tightly. Certainly, there are huge differences within a district. Some teams get known for being hacks, and I've faced a couple that we refuse to scrimmage. If your games are cleanly played by both teams, and refs call most illegal hits, count your blessings. That's how it should be.

I admit that saying they only call 10% was an exaggeration (to make a point that they're more concerned with offsides than penalties which involve player safety). But my experience is that most body checks, cross checks, and checks from behind do not get called.

Whatever the percentage is, I definitely think coaches, parents, players have a responsibility to teach and promote clean play, and that refs have a responsibility to enforce the contact rules by the book, just as they enforce offsides and icing.

Not seeing this in the 8 years or so that I have been involved with Minnesota girl's hockey.

Sure there are occasional checks, but I would say they are called 95% of the time. ...

[drop the puck]

Not trying to argue with you, and I'm not surprised that there are different perspectives. Different districts may be cleaner than others, or may be refereed more tightly. Certainly, there are huge differences within a district. Some teams get known for being hacks, and I've faced a couple that we refuse to scrimmage. If your games are cleanly played by both teams, and refs call most illegal hits, count your blessings. That's how it should be.

I admit that saying they only call 10% was an exaggeration (to make a point that they're more concerned with offsides than penalties which involve player safety). But my experience is that most body checks, cross checks, and checks from behind do not get called.

Whatever the percentage is, I definitely think coaches, parents, players have a responsibility to teach and promote clean play, and that refs have a responsibility to enforce the contact rules by the book, just as they enforce offsides and icing.

Not seeing this in the 8 years or so that I have been involved with Minnesota girl's hockey.

Sure there are occasional checks, but I would say they are called 95% of the time. ...

Based on my oservations District 6 and 2 call the "cleanest" games. Dont have enough experience with 8 or 3. District 10 does not call penalties unless obvious or when the game has become lost and out of control. Many years ago when fair play was rolling out - the head ref in D10 called it a bunch of "crap "... in public That attititude obviously rolled down to the D10 officials.

Consistency is absent. Coaches and players must adpat to each game day situation.

Certain associations are notorious for rough play on the girl's side. I could mention them by name, but that would just start something that I do not care to start.

[U10Father]

At the 12A level, there's a huge difference in playing styles, ususually along District lines. D6 and D8 will try to skate around you, D10 and D3 try to skate THROUGH you. Please note that I'm not saying one style is better, it's just the way things are.

You go Northwest, and you're going to get hit. D6 teams play with it on the outside, and when they go inside, they get slashed, crosschecked, and in general smacked. If you look at the successful teams like Elk River and Blaine (and Centennial to some extent), they will pack it in, and when you get near the boards or front of the net, you will get hit. And if you play a game up there, the refs don't call it. So, if you're those coaches, you play that style. Which is fine. Trouble is when you go back to D6, the refs call everything.

Which is why I know D6 coaches are looking to play more games up there. If you're going to succeed later in the year, you have to be ready to play that style if you get the refs who let that stuff go. Ask the D10 parent if their kids play dirty, of course they'll say no. And that might be true. But you'd have to be pretty blind to say that D6 and D10 refs call the game the same way.

It's also kind of tough to say to the 11 year old "Hey, just toughen up, kid" but you kind of have to. No surprise that the non-D10 teams who have some size are doing better. Chaska/Chan, Woodbury, Lakeville all seem more capable of dealing with the contact than Edina, Eden Prairie or Minnetonka.

But back to the OP, is the rougher stuff illegal or not? Depends on who you ask. But they do play rougher girls hockey in D10 and D3, and they have some pretty successful teams there.

[Bandy]

Great posts, drop the puck and U10Father. I think that explains a lot of my frustration!

[HSRef77]

I agree that coaches should spend more practice time on stickhandling, skating, passing, etc. I also agree that referees need to call more penalties. Let me give a few facts/opinions.

- Most coaches, including myself, teach girls to skate through an opponents hands (the area between the puck and the body). This is not body checking but rather separating the player from the puck. While checking an opponent is illegal, body contact and taking away your opponents space are very much a part of the game and legal.

- Most U8 and U10 games are officiated by new or newer officials. The players are not the only ones on the ice trying to learn the game.

- I've mentored and evaluated many younger officials and calling penalties is the toughest part of their training. In my opinion, it's much easier to officiate a high school girls game instead of a U10 game. In the U10 game, there is such a disparity in talent that some penalties are not black and white.

- I agree with every post that says officials play a role in cleaning up the game. I don't agree with the post saying the game has gotten worse the past 10 years, that is a ridiculous statement. What has happened is the girls have gotten better at an earlier age and some teams have a huge disparity in talent level. When a good skater grazes an opponent and she falls, that is not a penalty, although, most parents and some coaches think it is.

Girls hockey is a physical game, even without body checking. Coaches need to coach correctly, officials need to call the correct penalties and parents need to be their daughters biggest fan.

[CoachBG]

Body contact is very much a part of girl's hockey, body checking is not. Too many parents and even coaches do not understand that all body contact is not body checking. Skating through the hands, taking away space, clearing out the crease are not body checking. Girl's hockey is not a no-contact league.
The difference in size is amazing in 12U. I watched a game between Waseca U12B and Hutchinson, and the difference in size was startling. The largest girl on the Hutch team was smaller than the smallest girl from Waseca. This is why we, as coaches, need to teach our girl's how to make and take body contact the right way, especially the smaller kids. Hockey is like life, some times the deck is stacked against you, and you have to learn how to not make excuses, but motor on through to success.