So many of today’s youth hockey teams are focused almost
entirely on performance. Coaches push kids to play at their best and make them
practice almost like they’re professionals. Parents, in many cases, can be even
worse, spurring their kids on and putting tons of pressure on them to perform.
Performance, though, isn’t really what hockey is all about, and in fact,
putting too much emphasis on performance, really ruins the heart of the sport.
When kids are pressured to perform, they undoubtedly feel
and internalize that pressure. And, while it may cause them to excel at the
sport for awhile, it will eventually, in most cases, lead to burn-out. Kids
won’t want to play the sport that they’ve been spoiled on, and if they do, it
will only be because their parents are making them. For them, all the joy and
fun has been taken out of the sport, and they’ve reached serious burn-out at a
very early age, the exact opposite of what those well-meaning but high-pressure
coaches and parents wanted when they were doing the pressuring.
So, how can coaches and parents avoid burn-out and a loss of
passion for the sport? The answer is actually quite simple- it’s to focus not
so much on performance, but, instead, on long-term development.

The result, surprisingly, is often better, more skilled,
happier, and more well-rounded athletes...ones who don’t burn out before high
school and who develop a lifelong love of the sport. With results like that, it
is certainly worth a try!
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