I have been seeing and hearing quite a bit as of late about how children’s sports are becoming a little too intense, both for the kids in question and for their parents. My husband has heard from a few people he knows that hockey, specifically, is one of the worst sports environments for children because of the measures coaches are using to train kids.
Hockey is an incredibly physical sport. I’ve never played it myself, but this much I know; dry land training is a term used to refer to the training hockey players engage with throughout the off-season, and while teaching children the importance of fitness and discipline is important, I certainly don’t think it needs to reach the level it sadly has.
I think a lot of sports organizations are viewing the kids who play sports as future professionals, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I take no issue with wanting to instill core life values in children from a young age. The problem that arises with this coaching method, however, is that you are going to quickly deter any kids from wanting to play this game simply to have fun and enjoy themselves – not train like animals to become professionals years later.
It breaks my heart when I hear about young kids who have been deterred from a sport they love because of the intensity of the environment in which they play. Some kids are there to become professionals, sure. But, there are plenty of other kids who are there simply to have fun, and it seems as though more and more organizations and clubs are approaching how they train kids with the ‘future professional’ mindset. I question if any of these coaches have contemplated the emotional damage that could occur when these children become older and realize that they are not going to become a professional, and that they have lost their love for the game.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
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