Defense

Question
My son is now 9 years old and playing AAA hockey. He loves playing forward. He is a real two way player which i don't see much of at this age. Unfortunately, his coach realizing his ability at defense has now asked him to play back which he is not at all excited about. He is not having fun anymore and i am wondering if this is all worth it. I have spoke to the coach about this but he says he needs him back there so there is not much i can do about it at this time.

The major problem i have is i have now been with this coach for 3 years and during that time he has not asked any other forwards to try defense (including his own son). This will be my sons second stint back there. The coach is very "goal oriented" and the only thing he notices are kids who put the puck in the net. He does not reward hard work and backchecking with extra ice time and i fear this is teaching the kids the wrong things about hockey and sports in general.

I asked my son the other day what he would like to do next year and he said he would like to switch teams if the same coach is still coaching the team. I tend to agree with him.

Answer
Hello Mac!

I agree with you!  At this age - regardless if it's AAA hockey - there should remain an element of FUN along with skill building, fitness, athletics and life lessons!  Dominating on the tactical front to WIN games - TO ME - is NOT SERVING!!

If your son can not have FUN - while learning about the game of hockey and Life... then in my opinion we're on the wrong track...

Doing a temporary and shared stint into areas that are "not in our comfort zone" is fine - but to KEEP it that way in a prolonged manner deserves to be questioned!  YES!

So I agree with your son...  MOVE ON.   There should be plenty of teams - and skill levels to play in.   Sometimes playing "down" one level can bring in ALL KINDS of new opportunities for growing, learning and evolving.   (It's not really about "making it to the NHL!!!!) ...

Hope this can help!

Feel free to follow up with any more questions if you wish!

Cheers and Good Luck!

Martial