Re: LSSU Laker Hockey 2012-2013, Part 2
I played House for most of my life -- back when Sault Hockey had a thriving house league program, and I did just fine. My father would tell me, "If you're good enough, they'll find you." They did. The advantage of House hockey is playing time, and lots of it, in an enviroment that encourages creative playing rather than forcing 9-year-olds into a coach-based strategic system geared toward winning games. It is this theory upon which winning Canadian systems like Tim-Bit hockey are built. More ice, more kids playing, more people involved, more opportunity to grow as a player. Also -- and not to put too fine a point on it -- more opportunity for poor kids to play without having to beg for hand-outs to pay for a AAA team. But of course that is just my opinion. I happen to agree that its a rigged system. Politics dominates.
So lets say I am a parent of a 9-year-old boy who wants to play hockey? Where does he go? "Sorry, your mom and dad should have starting spending thousands of dollars a year when you were age 4. Nine years old, sorry son, you're too late." I don't know . . . I just think we are not letting kids "play" hockey. But thats just my opinion. I think it heps explain the lack of quality flowing from the Soo vis-a-vis hockey players.
NOw, is the Soo a hockey town? Oh my, yes. With rare exceptions, there is hockey being played on virtualy every sheet of ice in this city almost every waking hour, on every sheet, seven days a week, all winter long -- and often all summer long too. Its a hockey-mad city. There are some amazing people who volunteer so much time and effort. Of course, there are some real nasty grinches out there too. There are some good coaches, and some bad coaches. And there are varying definitions of what constitutes a "good" coach and a "bad" coach. I would like to see more Soo kids go on to bigger and better hockey, fly the flag -- so to speak -- for the Soo. But anyone who has spent any amount of time in our fair city knows that there is a silent invisible but still very real grip of poverty on our population. Poverty not just of the bank-account, but in the mind too. And there is a real belief -- unspoken of course -- that young kids shouldn't try to raise above their station. This silent killer has stalked Soo kids for generations, at least since the Base closed and probably since the mines out west dried up. Its is a nasty disease, ad infects everyone. Why should hockey be any different. Its a tough place to raise kids -- if you want your kids to dream big dreams and attempt big things. There is always a few people, at every turn, who are way-too eager to grab you and drag you down. Anyhow, those are m two cents. I love this city, but I am not blind to some of its problems.
I played House for most of my life -- back when Sault Hockey had a thriving house league program, and I did just fine. My father would tell me, "If you're good enough, they'll find you." They did. The advantage of House hockey is playing time, and lots of it, in an enviroment that encourages creative playing rather than forcing 9-year-olds into a coach-based strategic system geared toward winning games. It is this theory upon which winning Canadian systems like Tim-Bit hockey are built. More ice, more kids playing, more people involved, more opportunity to grow as a player. Also -- and not to put too fine a point on it -- more opportunity for poor kids to play without having to beg for hand-outs to pay for a AAA team. But of course that is just my opinion. I happen to agree that its a rigged system. Politics dominates.
So lets say I am a parent of a 9-year-old boy who wants to play hockey? Where does he go? "Sorry, your mom and dad should have starting spending thousands of dollars a year when you were age 4. Nine years old, sorry son, you're too late." I don't know . . . I just think we are not letting kids "play" hockey. But thats just my opinion. I think it heps explain the lack of quality flowing from the Soo vis-a-vis hockey players.
NOw, is the Soo a hockey town? Oh my, yes. With rare exceptions, there is hockey being played on virtualy every sheet of ice in this city almost every waking hour, on every sheet, seven days a week, all winter long -- and often all summer long too. Its a hockey-mad city. There are some amazing people who volunteer so much time and effort. Of course, there are some real nasty grinches out there too. There are some good coaches, and some bad coaches. And there are varying definitions of what constitutes a "good" coach and a "bad" coach. I would like to see more Soo kids go on to bigger and better hockey, fly the flag -- so to speak -- for the Soo. But anyone who has spent any amount of time in our fair city knows that there is a silent invisible but still very real grip of poverty on our population. Poverty not just of the bank-account, but in the mind too. And there is a real belief -- unspoken of course -- that young kids shouldn't try to raise above their station. This silent killer has stalked Soo kids for generations, at least since the Base closed and probably since the mines out west dried up. Its is a nasty disease, ad infects everyone. Why should hockey be any different. Its a tough place to raise kids -- if you want your kids to dream big dreams and attempt big things. There is always a few people, at every turn, who are way-too eager to grab you and drag you down. Anyhow, those are m two cents. I love this city, but I am not blind to some of its problems.
