ADM Kids

Q: My child plays on a losing team. Should I look to move them to a winning team?

A: It depends on what you feel is most important for your child.

First, you should ask yourself two questions:

• “Is my child getting sufficient playing time?”
• “Is my child being trained in a proper practice environment?”

The 10U stage is a critical time for your child to learn and develop their skills, and the only way they can do that is by receiving ample skill repetitions and playing time. Those reps and minutes should be the top priority if the goal is your child reaching his or her full long-term potential. Put differently, if you’d rather have your child on a 10U team with 40 wins but limited reps and playing time, then you’ve lost focus on what’s most important.

The concept of winning and losing matters, but the benefits of improving individual skills, like skating, shooting, passing and puck-stopping for goalies, far exceed the benefit of wins at 10U.

Some parents may feel that this priority structure promotes losing, or that it makes losing too easily acceptable, but ask yourself, what are the costs of placing wins ahead of skill development at 10U? This is merely a snapshot in time for your young child. For them, the 10U victories will be forgotten tomorrow, but the hockey skills they learn and refine will be essential building blocks for the climb toward their full potential today, tomorrow and beyond. Losing a key year in their development because they’re watching from the bench while a 10U coach chases wins over skill development will damage their individual chances for future success.

Many players, even at the higher levels, where winning is more important, have gained strides, skills and confidence by playing on teams that were viewed as not so good. These players were playing in all situations, gaining valuable experience and honing their skill set. This doesn’t happen by watching. It comes from doing.

So don’t let wins and losses determine the best team for your child. Instead, select a team based on whether they get abundant skill repetitions in practice and plenty of playing time in games.