Kudos to minor hockey volunteers in London, Ont., for relaunching the city's juvenile hockey program. In its second season after being resurrected, the recreational program for 18-, and 19-year-old players seems to be yielding spectacular results, at least within our home association of West London.
My son started in tyke when there were five house league teams in West London. This year, he's joined the juvenile program which is fielding three teams this season in the city-wide Community Hockey League.
Considering the players are at an age where many have left town for university or college, are working part-time or even full-time jobs, discovered other sports to spend money on, or dedicate all their spare time to their squeezes, having this number of teams from one city neighbourhood is impressive.
Years ago, juvenile hockey in London was organized in an interesting way, but it was ultimately unpopular with the people who mattered the most - the customers, aka the kids playing the game.
Under the old system, after spending years representing the neighbourhoods in which they lived, all juvenile-aged kids were placed in a draft. Kids found themselves in changerooms without friends and playing with people they had competed against for years. Interest faded, despite the convenience of a steady Sunday night schedule.
The program returned last season with neighbourhood associations organizing teams. In West London's case, there were enough kids last season to form two teams. The core for each focused on kids from each of two major high schools.
This year in West London, one team has clustered all players born in 1992 - guys who have played together, off and on, since they were six. The two other teams divvied up kids born in 1993 to form, hopefully, equally talented squads while trying to accommodate requests for groups of friends to play together.
My son, who's now in university but living at home, will be playing with at least one kid he hasn't been a teammate of since tyke, maybe one or two he played A-AA with, and some he played AE with.
It's a mixed bag and a specturm of talent. But they're all doing it for the right reasons - fun, friends and fitness - and just like in tyke, they hope to win a lot and be the champions, but if it doesn't happen the season will still be a success.
My son started in tyke when there were five house league teams in West London. This year, he's joined the juvenile program which is fielding three teams this season in the city-wide Community Hockey League.
Considering the players are at an age where many have left town for university or college, are working part-time or even full-time jobs, discovered other sports to spend money on, or dedicate all their spare time to their squeezes, having this number of teams from one city neighbourhood is impressive.
Years ago, juvenile hockey in London was organized in an interesting way, but it was ultimately unpopular with the people who mattered the most - the customers, aka the kids playing the game.
Under the old system, after spending years representing the neighbourhoods in which they lived, all juvenile-aged kids were placed in a draft. Kids found themselves in changerooms without friends and playing with people they had competed against for years. Interest faded, despite the convenience of a steady Sunday night schedule.
The program returned last season with neighbourhood associations organizing teams. In West London's case, there were enough kids last season to form two teams. The core for each focused on kids from each of two major high schools.
This year in West London, one team has clustered all players born in 1992 - guys who have played together, off and on, since they were six. The two other teams divvied up kids born in 1993 to form, hopefully, equally talented squads while trying to accommodate requests for groups of friends to play together.
My son, who's now in university but living at home, will be playing with at least one kid he hasn't been a teammate of since tyke, maybe one or two he played A-AA with, and some he played AE with.
It's a mixed bag and a specturm of talent. But they're all doing it for the right reasons - fun, friends and fitness - and just like in tyke, they hope to win a lot and be the champions, but if it doesn't happen the season will still be a success.
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