This is right on. There should not be much focus on winning and losing until u14. Both are necessary and wins do show development but should not be the only benchmark. Don't be too quick to team hop and no player should be on 4 teams in 4 years as it will ultimately hurt development as confidence is a main factor in development and that comes from being in a comfortable environment on a stable team.
What are we developing for? Everyone in here admits only a very few play past HS. I focused on dev and my kid now wants to quit since he won only a few games in over the past few years. It gets old fast getting crushed every week. He has gotten better but he only cares about winning. Being a driven competitive kid being on a non winning team is bad for development
If your child is on a perennial loser, where they only hope is to eek a win or two against another bottom dweller, you probably need to leave. As was pointed out, teams that have this issue usually do so because of a combination of coaching & recruiting so he's probably not really developing from the coaching but rather simply from experience.
Make a list of things you care about, if it's winning #1 so be it. Use the checklist, do some research by checking standings, watching a game or three on LiveBarn and even taking in a game live. Find the coach's that click off all or most of your list and start asking to skate with them in January.
Your player hates losing but if the coach isn't a fit with him, he's going to hate winning as well.
My kid and I are gonna figure this issue out. He was a high level t1 black player for a team that was at the top of its division last year. Now he's struggling for a low end elite team this year. He has great coaching, but he had great coaching, so that's a wash. He practices against kids that are better than him instead of kids that aren't as good as him...and that is the type of thing that should be very important. But at the end of the year, if he hasn't bridged the gap, we'll see what happens.
My kid and I are gonna figure this issue out. He was a high level t1 black player for a team that was at the top of its division last year. Now he\'s struggling for a low end elite team this year. He has great coaching, but he had great coaching, so that\'s a wash. He practices against kids that are better than him instead of kids that aren\'t as good as him...and that is the type of thing that should be very important. But at the end of the year, if he hasn\'t bridged the gap, we\'ll see what happens.
Let me help you with this one. HE IS NOT THAT GOOD! sorry your kid is going to get cut!
Bantam Minor or latest U14 and beyond should be about learning to win and winning. This means the coach recruits and brings in the right players for the right level, teaches the right type of hockey and system for the level and they win. If you’re not above 500 you’re in a bad situation. Now I’m sure losing coaches will protest that statement however it’s their job to fully staff a team and get them to perform. If you have a coach that makes non stop excuses and blames the players, leaguebor too strong of competition for everything, leave.
For some reason some coaches these days think it’s their job to just stand behind the bench and roll out the lines and scream.
Like the ref situation its the same for coaches. With so many teams out there finding a good coach is very difficult these days. All daddy at youth level and a lot of wanna be hockey guys in midget and juniors. Prep has the best ones....
All I’ve heard over the years is “it’s all about development”. At what point does this translate to actual winning. After all, remove all the PC blah blah, isn’t that one of the top reasons a competitive kid plays competitive sports?
He’s getting better each year but so is the competition. When does a program and coach become accountable for doing the necessary things required to win, and if they never win, are they really developing?
The kids will always play to win, and they will always care about winning and losing regardless of which level they play at. That is what attracts the competitive kids to sport.
I think when people say "don't focus on winning" they are talking more about parents taking their kid out of a good situation to chase wins, or coaches shorting the bench, or parents making fools of themselves yelling at referees. Of course winning should be the focus...of the players! The parents should be more focused on finding the right coaching and team situation that will allow their son to develop their skills so that they are able to continue competing. You'll find as they get older that the level of play jumps up significantly from year to year, it is easy to be left behind if you make the wrong decisions for the development of your player.