Blog: THN's Boylen on Overbearing Parents

Rory Boylen of The Hockey News posted this on his blog yesterday.  Titled Overbearing parents interfere with minor hockey experience, the blog post is a must read for all hockey parents in my opinion.  Since he is Canadian, some of Mr. Boylen's work needs a quick translation:  rep team = travel hockey team, tyke = minor mite, Tim Hortons = Dunkin Donouts.


Boylen's bottom line is this:

Minor sports are about kids and character development, not about parents controlling every outcome. If you can’t handle disappointment, don’t try out for the team. If you want guaranteed fair ice time, play house league. Understand where you’re at and teach the kids not only to have fun, but to improve their lot themselves if they’re not happy.

One of the reasons that I started this blog stems from an encounter with the crazy hockey parent phenomenon shortly after my son moved from Intro to his first hockey team.  We shall study, chastise, and yes, even mock this odius beastie throughout our blogging career.