MICRO ICE ARTICLES

We're in the last week of October, and about 2 months into youth hockey seasons around the state. Some are super happy with their season so far, some are disappointed and some feel like everything is going just as expected.

About a month away is Thanksgiving, which for ‘normal',non-hockey people is associated with a big meal, football and good family times. For hockey families however, Thanksgiving is the dreaded time where your team loses most of their ice-time and may only be skating once per week. Reason is that high school season is getting started and they use most of the ice in their 3 month season, which bump youth hockey teams off the schedule in rinks everywhere.

Some people that are new to hockey do not know this, while others have planned ahead of time.

For us at Micro Ice these few weeks prior to thanksgiving and the 3 months after mark the busiest time of the year. All of a sudden everyone is e-mailing and calling to get some extra ice time and work on their game.

We urge everybody to map out a plan for the whole hockeyyear. Look at your existing schedule and what's coming up, this is how it's most likely to stay for however long you'll be involved in youth hockey. We believe doing something in small doses over a longer period of time is the way to go.

In the summer people line up to do weeklong camps, where they pay $400-$500 for one week's worth of cramming everything in. Spread your money out. Do something over a longer period of time and stick with it. Hockeyis an expensive sport, but don't make it worse than what it is by going to 3 tournaments, 2 weeklong camps in your off-season. Dropping the off-season games and the weeklong camps will free up enough money to skate once per week at MicroIce for a FULL YEAR. You don't have to be a genius to understand the concept of working on something consistently without cramming for a longer period of time. It makes sense. If you're a high school player, you should be consistently lifting and training your body to become an athlete. You don't need the weekend tournaments over the summer or that one weeklong camp to ‘get back into it'. You need to train and you need to do things consistently. It works.

If you have a younger son/daughter in youth hockey you need to take a step back and understand that whether his/her team won the Valley league championship or lost most of their games, it has nothing to do with his/her development. If you only play on a team and do team practices only, it's EXACTLY the same as playing baseball, but never taking batting practice. Or playing Golf, but never working on your swing.

Form a plan and stick with it. If he/she enjoys the game,the one thing that will bring more enjoyment is for him/her to improve his/hergame and becoming a better player. Try it.

Either way, we hope everybody is enjoying the hockey season and if you have ever have questions or concerns, e-mail us at any time.