Should USA Hockey move to weight classes?

[Guest]

Hockey players come in all shapes and sizes. More importantly, hockey players all develop at different rates and at different ages.

Each year, a player will compete against a wider range of skill and size. Here are some numbers: According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 12 year old boys have a 24 pound gap between the 25th and 75th percentiles for Weight-to-Age. It grows to 28lbs for 13 year olds and 30lbs for 14 year olds. Even if a 13 year old first year bantam is highly skilled, how can we expect them to fully perform and improve while playing against 14 year olds who have a 40 lb advantage? On the flip side, a player who is an early-bloomer, taller and heavier then every other player his own age also is short-changed. How can we expect them to be tested when they can simply push around the other players without relying on skill. Is it fair for a December-born player to be locked into a division where they will always be the youngest? It is fully documented that hockey's age-based divisions extremely favor early birthdays. USA Hockey has stated their focus is player safety and player development. I think great strides have been taken with the ADM program, but maybe more can be done?

I suggest that USA Hockey moves to a weight class system with more flexible age restrictions. Here's an example:
LEVEL  -  WEIGHT  -  MAX AGE
Atom  -  <50 lbs  -  7
Mite  -  <70 lbs  -  9
Squirt  -  <90 lbs - 11
Peewee  -  <110 lbs  -  13
Bantam  -  <130 lbs  -  15

Players would be organized by weight, but players over the MAX AGE would need to play in the next division.
Ex 1: An 85lb 12 year old would be placed in the peewee division. Even though they weigh in for the squirt division, the max age for squirts is 11.
Ex 2: A 95lb 10 year old would also be placed in the peewee division. The MAX weight for a squirt is 90lbs. There is no minimum age for divisions.

Weight classes don't make a perfect game. But if they can help prevent concussions and improve player development, USAH should do their due diligence and fully research moving to a weight class system.

What do you think?


Weight for Age Percentiles for Boys (2-20 years) Calculator

Study suggests NHL has bias in favour of players born earlier in the year |

ADMIN Edited: Image added by administrator 11:28am 10/9/2019

[Guest]

Terrible idea, and that's coming from with a son who is very small for his age.

It's also coming from someone that played at elite level when I was younger and played in college, and was just 5'5 125 lbs at 17 years old.

Hockey is a skill game. Does size help? Yes. Is it more important than skating and skill? No.

[Guest]

Terrible idea, and that's coming from with a son who is very small for his age.

It's also coming from someone that played at elite level when I was younger and played in college, and was just 5'5 125 lbs at 17 years old.

Hockey is a skill game. Does size help? Yes. Is it more important than skating and skill? No.

Why is it a terrible idea? Skill is obviously more important than size. That is exactly why this was posted. Players are handicapped because they are smaller and less developed.

[tree408]

Why is it a terrible idea? Skill is obviously more important than size. That is exactly why this was posted. Players are handicapped because they are smaller and less developed.

How about the 10 y/o who hits that early growth spurt and it much larger than his peers, suddenly he's playing at bantam with 14 y/o kids.

[bardown]

Wouldn't work because you'd have kids who are genetically different who grow or put on weight faster than others and vice versa. You could easily 12 yr olds playing with 15-16 yr olds. While the weight might match the skill level will be so erratic and out of synch that there wouldn't be an measurable learning curve.

[Guest]

How about the 10 y/o who hits that early growth spurt and it much larger than his peers, suddenly he's playing at bantam with 14 y/o kids.

In most, if not all cases, having a 10 y/o playing against 14 y/o isn't ideal. But there should be flexibility so kids are playing against other players closer to their size.

[Guest]

Had a player on our peewee team last season who was close to 6 ft with a body built of an adult man. The kid was 12. His shot was insane, but his skills were definitely fitting peewee level.

[Guest]

I posted a video on youtube in response to the question. Here is the link:


Thanks,

Jeff
Juniorhockeyadvisor.com

[Guest]

Strongly oppose this idea. Size is one thing, maturity is another. 

Attended a speaker session with a well known sports psychologist - works with professional athletes. He was there to share ideas around how to help your student athlete.

He had some messages and suggestions:
- the likelihood of your youth athlete playing D1 and professional is very low.

- let your youth athlete learn to be part of a team, and to love a sport for life

There were more, but one thing he stressed:

- do not let your kids play up

Again and again he said:
- do not let your kids play up

He talked a lot about maturity and emotional intelligence. About kids being kids. And not having them grow up too quickly.

Think about having a younger child playing with old kids. This would be rife with issues - learning about life well before they are intended too. (For example: How will a 10 year old bond with his 14 year old teammates? What will a 10 year see in a 14 year old locker room?)

I am opposed to this idea. 

[Guest]

I have a better idea. Get USA Hockey completely out of youth hockey. It collects millions in mandatory fees, passes idiotic rule changes (no icing on PK, no stick banging, etc) and contributes nothing positive to youth hockey.