Years ago I was a young athlete; I played football, baseball, soccer and wrestled. It was difficult at times but I always had the support of my coaches and parents. Now years later I find myself giving back to the sports I loved so much, as a coach. Surprisingly one of my biggest frustrations as a coach, isn't over-enthusiastic parents, or non-motivated athletes. It's the arrogance of our minor hockey associations.
I have been coaching football and wrestling for over 15 years now at different levels. I have coached many multi-sport athletes and for the most part other coaches like myself have worked with the athletes to share time between their sports of choice.
I can honestly say most minor sports associations such as soccer, rugby, volleyball and baseball have forward-thinking coaches that are aware of the benefits of multi-sport athletes. I think the only association that is so ignorant towards the athletes well-being are minor hockey coaches.
There have been so many studies produced lately that illustrate the benefits a multi-sport athlete has, and the negatives of a one-sport specialization. I can go on and on with all the available stats but to just quote a few: an Ohio University study shows that one-sport athletes are more prone to adult physical inactivity, studies also show one-sport athletes are more prone to burn-out and injury than multi-sport athletes.
So with all these studies that have been released, I still can’t get over the ignorance of most minor league hockey associations. Where most minor sport seasons are three to four months long, it seems hockey is six to eight months with assessment camps and training camps that are "mandatory.” I realize that this is Canada and hockey is and always be No. 1, but I sincerely hope that the hockey coaches and parents realize the benefit of working around schedules and compromising with the athletes when their sports overlap.
As a coach, my train of thought has always been that an athlete is always excused for a practice for a game in other sports and I expect if there is overlapping practices to compromise and split time as evenly as possible. I hope one day hockey will come around to the same train of thought.
Geoffrey Richer, St. Albert
