USA Hockey Magazine

"Be careful what you wish for," Naylor warned. "Do you want the best looking 10-year-old on the ice or do you want the best-looking 20-year-old on the ice?" At What Cost? When it comes to specialization and over-doing it, the costs go way beyond skill development. There are mental and emotional tolls on the young athlete. "It is alarming for several reasons," Lauer said. "One is the emotional psychological toll it takes to play that many games. You just can't keep coming with that same emotion and intensity. It's hard to keep bringing that intensity night after night. And if you factor in practices, if kids are burning out it wouldn't be a surprise." In addition to the emotional ramifications of playing so many games, there is also a huge concern on the physical aspects of such a grueling schedule at such a young age. "I played 13 years, and at the end of every NHL season I spent the first three to four weeks after the season rehabbing injuries—trying to build my body back up from the depletion of the grind," Johnson recalled. "My question is, how much wear and tear is there for a kid who's playing that many games? I think they're starting to see it in other sports of kids who don't take time off and let the body recover. "If it's a grind at the NHL level, what's it like for a 12-year-old?" "Just do the math," Bloomer implored. "If you consider the season at [approximately] 250 days long, from September to April, and you play 80 games. There's not a lot of room for the recom- mended 3-to-1 practice-to-game ratio for skill development." Too often coaches take the easy way out to satisfy the whims of their players and parents and load up the schedule with games. "If I'm a kid and you tell me that I can play this number of games, I'm probably going to do it because I'd rather play a game than practice. And I'm sure that parents would rather watch a game than practice," Naylor said. And that can lead to a drop off in the basic skills that help play- ers succeed at the highest levels of the sport. USA Hockey has long advocated for that 3-to-1 practice to game ratios and now advocates for more quality practices that promote skill development. "We've gotten away from the hard game limits over time. It's more about the practices," said Ken Martel, one of the architects of USA Hockey's American Development Model. "If teams shoot for a 3-to-1 practice to game ratio that would be a great mark to hit for kids development. "Games are not inherently bad, they are just less efficient for development when compared to a quality practice." Rock And A Hard Place So, what's a parent to do? Who can they turn to for sage advice? Today 's players and parents are constantly bombarded with mixed messages from various factions from around the hockey world. More than one coach has threatened kids that if they didn't play for a specific team during the spring and summer, or didn't attend a certain camp, they would find themselves behind the proverbial eight ball when the fall hockey season rolled around. "There's a lot of pressure on a parent to feel like they've done everything possible for their kid. They think their kid will get behind if they don't do X, Y and Z," Naylor said. "I always tell parents that if you hear a coach give a definitive statement, such as 'if your kid does not do this camp or play on this team he will not get to where he wants to go,' that should be a huge red flag because the one thing we do know is that there are a million different ways to achieve excellence." While most agree that there will come a time when an athlete may need to focus his or her energies on a single sport, sports psychologists like Naylor and Lauer tell parents not to rush it. Studies show that the sooner a child specializes in a sport, the sooner he or she reaches his or her potential. 32 // SEPTEMBER 2021 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY USA Hockey Magazine Archives 3:1 3:1 USA Hockey has long advocated that teams maintain a 3:1 practice-to- game ratio as a way of improving skill development at all ages of play. To learn more about age appropriate training guidelines go to ADMKids.com. E I G H T D A Y S A W E E K

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