Body checking, the great debate

Times Reporter

 

Allowing body checking at the peewee level has been the source of some debate for awhile now. Currently body checking is not introduced until a player reaches the peewee age group, 11 and 12 years old. Some groups want to see body checking banned altogether for all minor hockey players. 

Earlier this year Hockey Alberta offered a survey to people to find out how they feel about the topic. Out of 142 people, 85 per cent believe implementing changes should be done at a provincial level. Out of the same 142 people 81 per cent do not think body checking should be removed from all levels. 

“For somebody like myself that’s old school, I think that they went the wrong way when they took checking out of the game until peewee. I understand why they did it. They want to develop skills but now we’ve taught kids through half pint, novice and atom that it’s okay to skate with your head down,” said Wayne Hansen, Strathmore Minor Hockey (SMH) president. 

Hansen said when the players move into peewee for their first year they may be playing with some second-year kids who are bigger, stronger and faster. The first-year kids haven’t yet been broken of the skating-with-your-head-down practice or they haven’t been taught properly and that’s how they get hurt. Hansen feels the governing body, which in Strathmore’s case is Hockey Alberta, needs to do a better job of teaching body checking. 

“On the other end of it, I can see their concern but…concussions, everybody is all worried about concussions and I understand why they’re worried about them but there are not necessarily a lot of concussion from the actual body contact itself. Some of it is from improperly fitted equipment,” said Hansen.

“We all know that kids don’t wear their mouth guards properly. There’s some responsibility on their part. People buy equipment because it seems appropriate but they don’t have it fitted properly, to me that’s a big concern.”

Hansen said players and parents should go to a reputable sports store, or go on the Hockey Alberta website which talks about how to find and buy a properly fitted helmet. Helmets now also have concussion straps, and since switching to them a few years ago Hansen said there has only been one reported case of an SMH player with a concussion. 

“It’s an issue that is so divided down the middle with people who just believe one way or the other. One they don’t think that we need more legislation involved and others who fall on the other side who figure somebody should legislate for everything,” said Hansen. 

“Strathmore Minor Hockey’s position on this would be until Hockey Alberta or Hockey Canada legislates it, it won’t be coming to Strathmore. It’s not something we feel as a board is in our jurisdiction to be doing. We follow Hockey Alberta, Hockey Canada rules.”

On the Hockey Alberta website they state that they follow the national standard outlined in rule 6.2 in Hockey Canada’s playing rules which indicates body checking is permitted at the peewee level.  In June voters opposed a motion put forward by Hockey Calgary to remove body checking in all levels of peewee.  

In Quebec body checking is not allowed in all levels of peewee hockey. In Ontario the Ontario Hockey Federation does not allow it in the house league levels. 

The full results of the Hockey Alberta survey can be found at www.hockeyalberta.ca.