Sweeping changes announced by the Pacific Coast Amateur Hockey Association (PCAHA) on Jan. 22 will eliminate body checking from Bantam and Midget hockey recreational leagues and potentially Peewee rep.
According to several members of the 麻豆社国产Minor Hockey Association (SMHA), the new direction should be a positive step forward.
With approximately 300 minor hockey players in its system, the SMHA and its members were overwhelmingly in support of the proposal, said association president Ian Sutherland.
"We talked about it the past few years and there was a PCAHA president's meeting back in October where it was discussed," Sutherland said. "There was pretty wide support for it."
After the PCAHA meeting in October, the SMHA sent out surveys to 麻豆社国产parents and the results seemed to back up the PCAHA's ruling.
"Probably 75 to 80 per cent of parents said we should take out body checking from house leagues," Sutherland said. "There will be an adjustment period for people playing Bantam and Midget, but you have the option of trying out for the rep team or we could even add a second rep team in a division if the demand is there."
SMHA coaching coordinator Tim Knight said it's all about introducing more kids to the game and letting them know that hockey isn't necessarily a violent sport.
"I think it's a good thing," he said. "In a country that's showing a decrease in numbers this is only going to help bring in those younger kids who might want to try hockey but maybe their parents prevent them because it can be pretty violent. Hitting can be intimidating for younger kids."
Knight pointed out that Ontario hasn't had hitting in recreational leagues the past two years and the number of recreational players there has increased. He also said the Maritimes, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan have put forth similar rulings.
He added that often lost in all the body checking hoopla is the fact that many minor hockey players focus too much on big hits and not enough on defensive coverage, something that will improve in recreational leagues with the new rules.
"Taking out hitting is only going to help those kids learn to do something else besides hitting to minimize scoring chances," he said. "They're going to have to learn how to angle, how to gap up properly and use their body to rub guys out against the boards. Kids need to know these basics, which can be used if they advance to body checking leagues. Right now kids just b-line for somebody caught in the trolley tracks and give an elbow to the head. There's no skill behind it whatsoever."
Knight said recreational players who want to jump to rep could take advantage of body checking clinics, which would hopefully be offered by the SMHA.
But the Peewee rep issue is one that Knight admits is more difficult to decide.
"I don't know how I feel about that one," he said. "I'm kind of split on it. I don't see hitting being taken out hurting it, but at the same time I don't see it staying in hurting it, either. I'll leave that up to the majority of people in B.C."
Chris Nunn, who coaches the 麻豆社国产Peewee rep team, agrees with Knight.
"I can see both points of view and it's not a bad idea," he said of the potential removal of hitting from Peewee rep. "I know there's a bunch of kids who I coached last year on Atom rep that didn't want to play on my Peewee team because they're concerned about body checking. But the funny thing is there hasn't been any huge bone-jarring hits on my team this year and no one has been hurt."
Nunn pointed out one potential problem in 麻豆社国产is a simple shortage of players. He noted that there hasn't been enough Bantam-aged players for a rep team the past two years and kids who wanted to play rep had to play elsewhere. In addition, there are three Bantam-aged players on the Midget rep team this season. He said he worked on body checking drills with his team in the gym but despite preparing his players, every youngster's comfort level is different.
"There are still a couple kids on my team that are intimidated," he said. "But some can't wait to get into it."
He also acknowledged the potential issues with Bantam and Midget recreational players who may not be pleased with the new rules.
"I've talked to a few kids already and they've already said they're trying out for rep because they want to hit people," he said. "It's going to be interesting, especially for the first bit in the house leagues, because kids will still want to hit. The refs will have to clamp down on it or it could get carried away."
In the end, Nunn said youngsters should be able to adjust to the new rules.
"The kids will adapt," he said. "One of the guys on my old-timers' team said we all played contact growing up and are playing non-contact now. But we're not full of testosterone like when we were 15. A lot of these kids will never play at a level where you play contact, they need to have skills and the recreational leagues should be able to teach them that."
The ruling on contact in Peewee rep hockey is expected to be released this June. For more information on the SMHA, visit www.squamishminorhockey.com.
