Youth Hockey versus Adult Hockey: Cognitive Capacities and Punishment

Youth Hockey versus Adult Hockey: Cognitive Capacities and Punishment

by Gary Pilarchik LCSW-C

I don’t skate. I don’t play hockey. But I help my son learn how to play and I help teach him the mental aspects of a great sport. I am a cognitive behavior therapist and have been in the field of mental health for over 20 years.

My son loves ice hockey and I help him keep his passion alive by using my profession or my pocket. He is having a great time and that is what truly matters. He has been in checking hockey now for 2 years and has played nearly 75 games. He is a great kid. And that is the operative word. He and his fellow players are kids, not adults.


One major difference between kids and adults is their cognitive capacity or level of cognitive maturity. The brain and all its abilities, matures just like the body does. It develops in stages. At 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 you see kids of different physical size. The youth hockey players are little, big, medium – short, tall, giant – solid, fat, skinny and everything else between. That is also about how much they vary in their cognitive maturity and cognitive capacities.


With the weak way checking is introduced as a skill to move a player off the puck, it arrives and is translated in a kid’s mind to, “I get to hit them” or “I will get hit.” It is also taught by coaches to hit the player hard. The only thing on and in their mind is Step A or hit them. It isn’t really hit them and get the puck or to use checking in a skillful manner. It is just - hit them. Different kids will also express Step A differently. Some might hit lightly, some firmly and some just recklessly. Why are all these reckless hits and concussions occuring in youth hockey? Because the skill framework of checking, as a method to move a player off the puck isn’t really being taught or penalized. The kids are only learning two things: “I get to hit” or “I get to be hit.” Checking is introduced and penalized as if the kids were adults. This has to change. They don't know how to check. Teach them well and penalize them firmly.

One problem with teaching checking is the principle of cause and effect in a kid's mind. As an adult, your brain has matured and you can better process cause and effect. You use future punishment and penalty to shape your present behavior. You realize if I take Step A, not only will B happen but there is potential for C, D, E, and F to happen and a long shot risk that G could happen. Kids can’t get passed A and B (if B at all). With time their cognitive capacities mature and they fully or better understand cause and effect. I said punishment and penalty because this is hockey. At higher levels of cognitive maturity you can also recognize harm and pain you could cause others. Cause and effect is the same as action and consequence.


Kids often react and don’t think about consequences. They just act and do. They are often surprised by the outcome of their actions. Most kids, 99 out of 100, don’t plan to give someone a concussion and don’t realize the potential harm of hitting someone recklessly. The consequence of their act/behavior is not their intention. But they are still acting or hitting players. They aren’t really checking, they are hitting in a game and at practice. They learn to say, “It was a legal check." when someone gets hurt. We as adults teach them that. The key here is as adults we can teach them and shape their behavior. We can teach them how to hurt or harm or we can teach them how to properly check and protect themselves on the ice. It isn’t up to the kids. It is up to us as adults. We have to recognize the youth players vary in cognitive capacity as much as they vary in size.

The punishments of 2 minutes, 2 and10, 5 minutes or 5 and 10 carry little corrective value for 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 year olds. The penalties in youth ice hockey are made for the adult mind. We need to look at what type of penalties work for kids or youth hockey players. The penalty must be a penalty that is called every time. The punishment must be severe in a kid’s mind. If you give a kid a 2, 2 and 10 or a 5, all that is saying to them is they will be back in the game shortly. There is little corrective value in the penalty/punishment for these types of hits that we all want out of the game. Remove (greatly reduce) the hits and behavior that are the highest risk to harm the head and necks of the youth players. Give them a time out. Sit them and they can play the next day.

If you give them a 10 minute game misconduct/ejection, well typically someone already got hurt. And therefore that possible effect of getting a 10 minute game misconduct/ejection for hitting someone recklessly really did little to shape their behavior or prevent a player from being harmed. To be clear, I am talking about penalties for neck, head, and back hits. For things like tripping and hooking, the adult penalties are fine.


Remember Step A is the cause or the hit and kids are lucky if they get to B or the first possible effect of their action of hitting. A possible 10 minute game misconduct and ejection is like G in the above paragraph. It is not anywhere in their mind. It does little to teach them and prevent unwanted behavior. It does nothing to protect the kid that probably got hurt and got a concussion from the hit. The current youth ice hockey penalties are made for adults. That must be changed.


As adults we don’t want the kids to get harmed. We all agree on that. We know that hits to the head, neck, and back are what cause the most harm in youth ice hockey. We don’t want these hits in youth hockey and we have deemed them illegal. Yet, we do little to penalize 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 year olds in a manner that is effective for their current level of cognitive maturity. The punishment/penalty has to be at the kid’s level of understanding not an adult’s level. It has to be within their capacity of understanding for truly shaping their behavior.


There is a very simple solution that will reduce illegal hits and injuries. Change the penalties from adult penalties to kid penalties. If you hit in the neck, head, or back you are penalized every time. If you hit in the neck, head, or back you are suspended from playing immediately and can try again next game.

The two penalty principles for kids:

Consistent:  Always penalized for neck, head and back contact
Harsh in a kid’s mind:  You can’t play anymore that day

Checking is a skill and it must be taught in steps and if done improperly punished with immediate severe penalties. Anything less in youth ice hockey, is just prolonging and maintaining risk for improper hits and harm to our children.