Safety in Youth Ice Hockey: Setting a Tone for Respect and Play, Culture Change

I have been taking the time to see what rules are out there regarding the safety of youth ice hockey players. While I think there need to be rule changes, I think USA Hockey has covered safety well but they need something else. They didn't forget it. They even have written it into their rule book. USA Hockey has covered most of the major bases when it comes to safety. Yes, rule changes are needed for clarity sake. But we also need to create and MAINTAIN a culture of respect in the youth ice hockey. That is... get the message out to everyone... often.

It is not enough to assume the referee will make the right calls. Heck, if you look at USA Hockey rules it states several mandatory penalties for behavior. Mandatory, not discretionary. I'll leave that for another blog entry. Coaches can go either way when it comes to disciplining their players. Some are great at it. Some want to win and too often the pain in the butowski kid is the coaches kid. So... somewhere from USA Hockey's rule book to the ice... safety and respect get a little lost. Maybe lost in the shuffling of lines. But I think it just stays on the pages of the rule book. We need to get the message out, in the open, on a game day basis.

What youth hockey needs and USA Hockey needs is a PR program to bring what they intended youth hockey to be like... directly to the game ice and to practices on a daily basis. Read their rule book and guidelines. It is there. My goal is to prevent kids and teens from getting harmed through bad hits and brutal hits. Head-hits and overly aggressive play have no place in youth sports. So how do you change the culture? How do you bring respect and safe play to the kids? You take what USA Hockey has outlined and bring it to the practices and games in the form of posters and ongoing mini-campaigns.

In short, you hang a sign saying RESPECT and you print the consequences in the form of penalties. USA Hockey did a great job with keeping things clear and concise in their rules. It is poster material.  It is more then hanging a sign. It is starting point. The signs will become reminders of what is taught and practiced. It is already there which makes the implementation of a PR program during games and practices that much easier. Remind the kids, the coaches, the parents and the referees what is in the Rule Book. Hang it in their face. Time to figure out how to move the idea along.

If this sounds funny... read the the opening of USA Hockey Rules. I bet you say... I didn't know that or that sounds great. It is already there. It has to be made relevant during games and practices on a daily basis.