Coaches, does this make sense?

[TellItHowItIs]

Good Post, I bet this comes up on ever team that has a pre-game ritual. probably half agree with it and half do not. elementary kids in my opinion may be a little young, but i would guess their young for alot of things in life they have to do.

[black sheep]

Typical MN Hockey responses. Stop comparing hockey to school. Hockey is just as much a mental game as a physical game. And if you do not think so I question how much hockey you have even played yourself.

It is much less of a mental game at 12 years old than at 20.

I think we should stop comparing 10 and 12 year olds to adult athletes. They are physically and psychologically very different animals.

Having a 12 year old put on a shirt and tie to go to the rink is red-iculous (my opinion).

Having that same 12 year old immediately take it off to put warm-ups on is even more red-iculous.

Waste of time for the kids. Waste of time and energy for the Mom's who have to launder the stuff (do the kids have to put it back on to leave the arena when they're all sweaty? Does the tie get thrown in the bottom of the bag?)

Save the shirt and tie for the school chorus/band concert. And church. And (hopefully) that state tournament banquet.


But I will agree w/ dogeatdog ... don't undermine the coach in front of your kid. If you think the majority of the parents (and players) think dressing up is stupid, then get the parents and the coach together to politely make your case. Maybe there's a compromise. If you're in the minority, then suck it up and go along with the team.

Actually kids at this age need to be able to visualize the the elements of the game before it happens...USA hockey provides this info to coaches through the CEP program. Even at squirt age children need to understand this concept. The particular attire may be up for debate...but...

If your coaches are trying...ewe should be happy.

[loveitorleaveit]

A co-worker of mine told me today about her son's hockey team. They have to dress up to show up to the arena, walk in the door, go to the locker room then change into sweats to do pregame stretching her son's in 6th grade

is it just me or is this comical? is this a bit overkill. I understand high school and above.

Of course it makes sense - at any level. My child does it at school for gym class. There are countless jobs that we would change out of clothes for.

[no_shaft]

This subject reminded me of a hockey memory that I have been carrying around for 17 years now. I played for a Bantam A team from a small town on the Iron Range. We came down to a tournament in the Cities to play against some "612er" teams. We suited up with players having different colored helmets, holes in our 10+ year old jerseys (some didn't match completely), and we didn't even have matching socks. The teams we played against all came in with their fancy matching jackets and hats, brand new jerseys, gloves and helmets all matched, etc... They also had huge cheering sections, whereas most of my team's parents couldn't get work off from the mine, or just couldn't afford the trip. During warmups, we all heard the "612ers" making fun of us and acting really stupid. As soon as the puck dropped, they immediately found out that we were faster, tougher, and meaner and we kicked the crap out of three Cities teams to win the championship. We even heard some players from our opponent in the championship game telling their coach that they didn't want to go back out on the ice. I am still good friends with a lot of my teammates from this team. We didn't become a team by wearing fancy clothes, or having matching jackets - we became a team by playing hockey every night at the outside rink, and by understanding what this game used to be before all this money started getting thrown at it.

[Faceguard79]

deleted

[HockeyGuy81]

Here's another true story: A Bantam A "612" team in the mid 90's wore shirts and ties to every game they had that year. They won the state tournament. That is all.

[funmom]

I don't think thats bad. All the teams we played on we had to wear dress pants and polo shirt and when the boys got there they changed into warm clothes to warm up in. There are more important things in life then to be upset about such a little thing. I know of a squirt team that had to buy expensive sweatsuits and are required to wear them to all practices and games. Now whats the purpose of wearing matching sweatsuits to every practice? Thats a little overboard if you ask me, and sweatsuits also can look a little sloppy !

[TellItHowItIs]

[quote="funmom"]There are more important things in life then to be upset about such a little thing.


I don't think there was any mention of getting upset anywhere in this dialog, looks like someone is just questioning things to get other thoughts. I see more bantam teams and up do this for sure.

[funmom]

(TellITHowItIs ) I know the guy who posted this question and I know he was upset about this matter. He's just saying it was a co-workers team when really its his own kids team!