Game Thread: BRONZE

[dash]

TSNBobMcKenzie: As @Russostrib alluded to earlier, barring any last-sec emergency need, MIN's plan is to return Matt Dumba to Portland of WHL. Timing TBD.

 

[Dacks]

I also like what Bobby Orr has said (and I think wrote in his book) - Too many kids are playing hockey year round these days at the exclusion of other sports. When we were kids, we played hockey during the winter, but when spring/summer rolled around, it was baseball, soccer, football, tennis, golf etc. You need that variety or else things get stale pretty quickly.

I definitely agree with this. I also think parents and coaches are pushing young athletes too hard, and they get burnt out. Sports should be more about enjoying it and having fun (not at the expense of winning - for me, winning is fun). Don't worry about the pros or Olympics or whatever until you're done with puberty at least.

I've seen a lot of young superstars in multiple sports, top for their age category (in all of Canada), quit a sport at fourteen, after years of intense training and year-round coaching. It's stupid.

 

[pixburgher66]

I also like what Bobby Orr has said (and I think wrote in his book) - Too many kids are playing hockey year round these days at the exclusion of other sports. When we were kids, we played hockey during the winter, but when spring/summer rolled around, it was baseball, soccer, football, tennis, golf etc. You need that variety or else things get stale pretty quickly.

This is actually a big deal with other sports as well...kids need breaks, and they need some different sports. If you do the same sport, all year, minimal breaks, you'll get burn out and chronic injuries.

 

[pixburgher66]

I definitely agree with this. I also think parents and coaches are pushing young athletes too hard, and they get burnt out. Sports should be more about enjoying it and having fun (not at the expense of winning - for me, winning is fun). Don't worry about the pros or Olympics or whatever until you're done with puberty at least.

I've seen a lot of young superstars in multiple sports, top for their age category (in all of Canada), quit a sport at fourteen, after years of intense training and year-round coaching. It's stupid.

I've mentioned this here before I think...maybe not. But, one memory that resonates with me, and pisses me off, is this: one of my clinicals for undergrad was going to a performance gym. The type of place with no resistance machines persay, but with tires, box jumps, ropes, etc. Body weight stuff was important there. Anyway, a group of us were there training, a bunch of college kids...and the only people there training were probably two 8-11 year olds (hard to judge the age, definitely pre-teen). Kids were flipping tires, doing rope work, busting their butts...working one on one with a trainer. After we were done with our session, the one kid pukes. The trainer was all proud. It's a kid. A freaking kid. Sorry, there's a lot of reasons to not do this. Resistance training is minimally impactful at that age, and learning about the sport is far more beneficial. As a kid, I know what I was lacking...it wasn't weight lifting...it was a knowledge of the game. The ins and outs. Even all the way to HS, that's what I lacked. Teach the game, let them have fun and learn it, and when they hit HS, then you let them get serious.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I definitely agree with this. I also think parents and coaches are pushing young athletes too hard, and they get burnt out. Sports should be more about enjoying it and having fun (not at the expense of winning - for me, winning is fun). Don't worry about the pros or Olympics or whatever until you're done with puberty at least.

I've seen a lot of young superstars in multiple sports, top for their age category (in all of Canada), quit a sport at fourteen, after years of intense training and year-round coaching. It's stupid.

I agree as well. Kids who have excellent athletic ability usually play more than 1 sport in the U.S.. Pierre Turgeon played Baseball. John Tavares played Lacrosse.