Over the weekend, Hockey Canada made a monumental decision when it comes to the development of young hockey players and their safety.
The organization's annual meeting was held and the board of directors voted unanimously to disallow body checking in peewee level hockey throughout the country. The only opposition was the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.
Now, any study would suggest more 11 and 12-year-olds playing contact hockey will suffer injuries, and specifically concussions, than those playing non-contact. Any study would also suggest you score more goals as a forward than a goalie.
It's obvious being hit gives you a better chance of being hurt, but that shouldn't be the issue. The real issue is, does an 11-year-old have a better chance of being hurt by being hit than a 13-year-old?
What it really comes down to is odds. It's like a poker game, the more hands you're dealt, the better chance you have of winning. The more seasons of contact hockey you play, the better chance you have of getting a concussion, regardless of age.
Something worth considering is players are bigger and faster in bantam than in peewee, some have hit growth spurts while others haven't. The same is true in peewee when it comes to size, of course, but to a lesser extent. Getting accustomed to hitting against smaller, slower players is far less devastating than against a bigger, faster player.
I played peewee hockey, one season, with contact, and suffered a concussion. I played bantam, two seasons, with contact, and suffered no injuries worth noting. The difference? In peewee I skated with my head down, not used to worrying about being hit. I was small and I paid the price. It was a devastating injury I would wish on no one, but when I came back I started keeping my head up and never had to miss more than a shift from injury again.
Do I think getting a concussion is a good way to learn? No, of course not. But that's how I learned, and it just might have saved me from a tougher lesson. I missed a week of hockey and the effects of the concussion lasted only a few hours. I say only because some people go years feeling the effects of a concussion.
A study from the Canadian Paediatric Society found there was a 33 per cent increase in injuries lasting seven or more days with bantam players in Quebec (where peewee body checking was disallowed) than in Alberta (where there was body checking in peewee at the time of the study).
There's substantial evidence to suggest you're safer starting at a later age, too. Educating players when they're young just makes more sense. Don't teach a child to read at an older age because they have less time to fail, teach them young when there's still the opportunity to learn. If you wait too long to teach someone to body check, they've already been brainwashed to go out looking for blood, and that's when it's too late.
It's always tragic to see anyone get a concussion, especially children, but contact is a big part of the game at its highest level, the level which every player hopes to achieve. Glorifying bone-jarring hits is the problem. Teaching players to use checking as a form of getting the puck is the solution.
