Look, I won’t lie to you. I’m someone who takes part in coaching in the summer. It might be camps, private lessons, or spot clinics. These are typically for the older kids who want to still be on the ice and get better, but I’ve worked with kids that are Mites.
Outside of that- and now since I’m not a Director I can say this (though that never held me back before)- once the fall/winter season is over, I’m a firm believer in the hockey bag being thrown in the garage and tucked away until the end of summer.
In my opinion, youth players need to play other sports to become more well-adapted athletes. I’ve seen kids who have gone and played primarily lacrosse and soccer over the spring/summer and come back in great shape and adding some extra dimensions to their game they didn’t have before.
Did they need to shake a bit of the rust off when coming back?
Yeah, but it took less than 3 or 4 skates and they were back to being normal, if not better because they’ve taken some of the new skills or concepts they developed in those other sports to their game (agility, speed, strength, ability to protect the puck, shooting/passing, etc.).
That said, I think we’ve got too much parent involvement in the summer especially on the leisure side of hockey.
Earlier last week I went to watch some of my younger family members play in a full ice 3 on 3 game.
See they are in a league with 11 other 18U teams playing in a league that’s got their own abbreviated rules (such as if the goalie makes a save the attacking team must leave the zone and now are on defense, shifts are 1 minute in length so if you are smart and you can’t score with 5 seconds left in your shift you throw the puck back into your end or towards your bunch, etc.).
There were barely any parent’s there watching, which was fine as the kids played, got their workout in, and had some fun with their buddies.
I saw a lot of things you typically wouldn’t see in a regular game with shots and passes through the legs, even someone trying to pull off the “Michigan”.
Now…. I watched a 14U game beforehand. This one had all the parent’s in the stands.
There was a lot of quality positive cheering for the players and the kids, but there was also a lot of your typical instruction yelling from the stands (“Move your feet”, “Pass it”, “Shoot the puck”).
Mind you, there are no coaches on the benches, the kids are there to figure things out on their own and go out and play.
Yet some moms or dads still can’t just let their kids PLAY without getting in the way. It still has to be game 7 to them and I say that’s hogwash.
Parent’s I beg you, let your kid have some fun and go out and enjoy the time away from the structures and high expectations coaches and parents will place on them starting in September.
Refocus your vision for your child on FUN hockey right now, and I personally, hope it carries over into the fall.