Ahhhh, the Season is here! Minor hockey might not hold the same prestige and pressure as the NHL but when you’re 10, it’s all consuming. As a parent, it’s natural to only want the best for your kids and when you see them putting everything into their hockey, it can be hard to not pick up on their stress and turn it into your own. The more you can avoid stress the more you can help your kids through the rough games and celebrate with them after the good ones… so here are a few tricks to keeping cool this hockey season.
Be organized
Have every game & practice on your calendar (work/home). Ensure all equipment is kept together in the same place. If you can, keep the kids accountable for taking care / putting away / preparing their own equipment and bag on practice/game day. Even have a check list at the door if it helps! If possible, also try and have phone numbers of other parents on the team to help with car pooling or for last minute emergency rides.
Don’t Compare
It seems that the world we live in means it’s natural for parents to compete over everything their children do. Unfortunately, when you start worrying about other kids instead of focusing on your own, the negativity can spiral to a point where you can’t even see when things are going well for your own. So if someone else’s kid gets more ice time a couple of weeks in a row… don’t stress about it, it usually all evens out in the end.
Don’t Get Caught Up In Politics
This one is often easier said than done but whether it’s office politics, actual politics or hockey politics, it often ends up with matters not getting resolved and sometimes stress passing down to the kids. In fact, the more you meddle with your kid’s life, the more coaches will see it and be put off. Support your child if they have a battle to fight (so to speak), but don’t do the fighting for them.
Take a Step Back
Something kicks in the moment your child is born that makes you more protective than you could have possibly imagined. This feeling isn’t something that lessens with time but it’s one of the biggest causes of stress for parents of kids and teenagers. If you feel that building up, then take a step back and consider how your actions might come back to hurt you, your kid and others in the long run. At the end of the day minor hockey is there to be enjoyed, so the best thing you can do is try your best to enjoy it.
Stay Positive
Kids don’t need to be told about everything that’s wrong. Whether it’s the way they’re playing, the coach, or other parents or players, concentrating on the negatives is just going to bring them down. Instead concentrate on the positive. A child that is enjoying minor hockey is more likely to put everything they have into it and get more out of it at the end of the day, so even if it’s been a terrible game, tell them all about the good you did see!
