Last month, Hockey Alberta announced that body contact would no longer be allowed at the peewee level. Since then, Hockey Canada has made a similar decision, making body contact in peewee hockey a thing of the past across the country.
The reaction to the news has been wide and varied. Some have lauded the move, believing it will mean fewer injuries and increase participation.
Local hockey officials arenít so sure, however.
ìMy opinion is if you want to reduce the number of injuries, you start contact hockey at the atom level. Education should start earlier when the game is slower; it gives the kids more time to think, read and react,î explained Boyle Minor Hockey president Larry Radmanovich.
ìAt the atom level there is more distance between the player with the puck and his opposition. By moving (contact) to bantam, the game obviously is way faster, body size increases, there is less time to think, read and react. The gap is a lot less from puck to player to player, which equals less time to make choices on delivering a check and also preparing to receive one.
ìItís a lot safer to introduce it at a younger level than postpone it to an older level when kids are that much bigger and carry that much more mass.î
The concern Radmanovich and other critics of the decision share is that unprepared kids hitting (and being hit) at the bantam level will result in more injuries, not less.
ìItíll probably reduce injuries at peewee, but I think injuries will be the same or a lot more severe at bantam because they donít know how to hit.î
Adapting to the rule could be even more challenging for kids from small rural communities like Boyle, according to Radmanovich. He believes a young player who has just finished peewee and has never given or received a body check will be hard pressed to adapt to a competitive bantam league.
ìIt does take that extra level of competitiveness out of hockey when youíre in a small town and only have four or five teams to play against.î
Darcy Tangedal, president of the Athabasca and District Minor Hockey Association, is also skeptical about the change.
ìADMHA has mixed feelings on changes like this. I believe we have members that both fully support and fully disagree with the change; plus everything in between,î said Tangedal.
ìFor the players already playing body checking hockey, it will be difficult to go back to non-contact hockey. For the players that now have to wait for bantams, it may be disappointing. I think the majority of players enjoy the physical play with full contact.î
Like Radmanovich, Tangedal also believes that injuries are likely to increase in bantam now that education in body contact is delayed.
ìI donít have the data that Hockey Alberta is reviewing. I donít remember many injuries at the peewee level. I think there are more injuries at the midget level and then bantams and so on down to pre-novice,î he said.
ìI believe most of these injuries are a result of how fast the game becomes as the kids get older. Less room, way more speed. Contact is a risk but it has always been the accidental collisions that cause the most harm. I believe there is far more risk to Canadaís youth sitting in their house all winter playing video games than playing our unofficial national sport.î
However, Radmanovich and Tangedal agree the change may keep some kids in the game longer, which is a positive thing, and player safety at all levels remains a top priority for both organizations.
