ADM Kids

Q: How important are the small-area games in my child's practices?

A: Along with the many physical skills that are important to the development of your 12U hockey player, there are also many tactical skills that must be taught and practiced during this phase in their development. Because of that, small-area games (SAGs) are extremely important in a 12U player’s development.

USA Hockey’s American Development Model suggests that coaches at 12U should spend 65 percent of practice time on hockey skill development and hockey habits training, 25 percent of practice time on hockey sense, hockey concepts and awareness, and finally, 10 percent of their practice time on team play and systems. One of the things that make SAGs so important during practices is that all of these areas can be covered at once, through any number of SAGs that are available to the coach.

For example, in addition to using SAGs to encourage creativity in an unstructured play environment, they also emphasize:

• Competing at the puck to win one-on-one battles and loose puck races,
• The four game-situational roles in hockey: puck carrier, offensive support player, defender at the puck, and defender away from the puck,
• Basic situational role knowledge and experience,
• The application of core skills in basic hockey decision-making situations,
• The introduction of basic team systems,
• Elements of coordinated attacks such as 2v1, 2v2, 3v2, etc.,
• Vocal communication between players, and
• The reinforcement of ethics and rules (e.g., no hitting from behind)

In short, SAGs are extremely important to the development of all 12U players. Youth hockey coaches who use these games as an integral part of their practice planning are doing the player a great service in advancing his or her development.