Children Need Fun, Not Stress in Hockey

GRANT KERR
British Columbia Bureau
Wednesday, July 12, 2000
Vancouver -- Young Canadian hockey players often are bombarded with too much technical information for their own good, a former pro star believes.
Give the puck back to the kids, not overburden them with complicated drills and instruction, stressed Steve Larmer, who scored 441 goals during 15 seasons in the National Hockey League.

"We need to allow kids to play with some creativity and not be penalized for making mistakes," Larmer said last weekend during an international coaching conference he attended as an observer.

Larmer retired from the New York Rangers five years ago and now works with the NHL Players' Association. He also has coached youth hockey in his hometown of Peterborough, Ont., and observed how the minor system functions.

"Those kids [nine-year-olds] taught me more about hockey than I could ever have taught them," Larmer said. "They're playing the game for the right reasons. They love it, it's fun and they want to learn.

"But have we got to the point, with all this technology, we've got information overload? We're throwing all this information down to the kids.

"It's not that complicated of a game, especially for kids to play. You need to know how to skate, shoot and pass -- and how to think. If we develop the creative side of the game at a young age, we will have better players as they get older."

Larmer played major-junior hockey for coach Gary Green of the Peterborough Petes and later in the NHL for Mike Keenan at Chicago and New York.

"It's still a great game to play and we've got to understand that it is a game, not life and death or the most important thing in the world," Larmer said. "Players can be taught life skills through playing hockey and team sports.. They can learn problem solving and communication skills.

"We need to educate parents about what their expectations should be for players in minor hockey. Our role as coaches is to develop not just hockey skills, but life skills so people can have self-confidence and self-esteem and sportsmanship."

Larmer, whose young daughter intends to play hockey this season, endorsed the theme of the conference held at the University of British Columbia and with the Canadian Hockey Association as host.

"When winning becomes more important than teaching skills, as these kids get older, they don't have the proper skills physically or mentally," Larmer said. "Being able to think and make decisions quickly out on the ice . . . I often wonder if we've taken that away from the kids."

Curt Fraser, head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers, also is worried about the direction of Canadian hockey in the new millennium.

"It's a challenge for Canadian coaches to develop these kids better," said Fraser, who played minor hockey in North Vancouver. "We're still the best, but other countries are catching up quickly and we're going to have to respond to that by doing a better development job."