As the youth hockey season comes to a close, I am reminded almost every day that this is the most chaotic time of year for hockey parents.  It’s that crazy stretch where stress, anxiety, and the fear of unpredictability casts a dark shadow onto our sport at the youth levels.

So I got to thinking…really…

Why so much craziness? Why do people lose their minds at this time of year? Why do people get so invested into literally a youth sport?

And as I thought about it and then spoke to a lot of my friends and colleagues in the industry, the answers that kept coming up were these:

“Making it” and “Money”.

And too often, nowadays, people believe that the two are becoming intertwined.

The “Making It” piece is an interesting part to this crazy youth hockey equation.  First of all, “Making It” can mean a whole bunch of things to different people.  It could be junior hockey, college hockey, NHL…but that’s not the point.

Parents are being lead to believe that the process to “Making It” begins younger and younger by the year.  The professionalization of our sport has trickled down to even the youngest of levels, and parents are feeling the pressure to make the right decisions for their kids (where to play, who to play for, what level to play at) at way too young of an age.

And when we talk about parents and what they want for their son or daughter…wanting them to “Make It” usually comes with a severely negative connotation.  It’s almost like we talk about parents as being overbearing and doing whatever it takes, ethically or not, to make sure their kid gets to the next level.

But while there are certainly parents like that out there, I have a different take based on a lot of the conversations I’ve had with youth hockey parents as a whole.  Most just want to see their kid succeed because it’s their dream.  And they will go to the ends of the earth to help their kid achieve that dream because they love them and want to see them be happy.

And this, in my opinion, is where AAA hockey is failing them.