After Shaun decided he didn't want to play ice hockey because he's not a strong enough skater yet, we agreed that ball hockey may be the best option. The games are on Saturday mornings usually and Shaun is on a team with his best school friend. So far they've played 3 games and Shaun is really starting to get the hang of the flow of the game. Each shift gets 2 minutes on the floor and then they sit on the bench while the next shift plays. Shaun's team has about 12 or 13 players on it so not quite enough for 3 complete shifts which means it's pretty much equal time playing/resting.
Shaun really loves the game and gets better each game he plays. So far no goals but I don't think he's aggressive enough to score any. We spend all this time teaching our kids to share and be nice and all of a sudden they're put into this ball hockey game with a bunch of strangers who are on their own team and a bunch of other strangers who they're supposed to poke-check and steal the ball from. Add in the confusion of playing an actual position like forward or defence and these poor 5 year olds are pretty wide-eyed when they first head on for their shift. By the time the second period arrives they've remembered their job but with a whole week between games, it's all but gone by the following game.
If Shaun really shows an interest in ball hockey it may become the new go-to sport for him. We certainly want our kids to be involved in one sport - and they can bounce from one to another if they choose - but it's important to us that they have a commitment to following something from start to finish through the season.
1 comment:
That's great. And ball hockey is good exercise...lots of running around. When Nolan first started soccer at around age 5 I remember thinking the same thing about sharing. We teach 'em to share, and then throw them into a game where they have to steal a ball from someone else. LOL. Poor confused kids.
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