skip navigation

A Sport For Every Season

By Jessi Pierce, Touchpoint Media, 03/25/14, 11:00AM CDT

Share

Adam Wilcox was an all-state quarterback for South St. Paul. Now, the Gophers sophomore is a finalist for the 2014 Hobey Baker and Mike Richter Awards.

2013 Hobey Baker winner Drew LeBlanc was a three-sport athlete during his time at Hermantown High School.  LeBlanc played football in the fall, hockey in the winter and baseball in the spring.

Former Mr. Hockey and 2014 Olympian Ryan McDonagh starred in baseball and hockey for Cretin-Derham Hall, winning MSHSL State Championships in both sports.

Before they were all-stars on the ice, they were multi-sport athletes. Stepping away from the rink and onto the field or court is beneficial and important to a young player’s development.

Next Sport Up

Grant Potulny, leader of the back-to-back Gopher national championship teams in 2002 and 2003, relished the times when he could hang up the skates in favor of the ballpark or football field. The Grand Forks, N.D., native and current Gopher assistant coach said it was just part of what athletes did growing up.

“I think part of me wishes that there was less specialization today,” he said. “It wasn’t that long ago, when I was young, that you played different sports because it was that sport’s season.

“When it was soccer season, that’s what you played. It wasn’t that you were necessarily trying to develop as the best soccer player, but you were just having fun playing soccer. The same went for hockey. Switching sports depending on the season dramatically helps you grow as an overall athlete. It just makes sense.”

New Prague High School boys’ head coach Chris Lonke still sees some of that on his own team. Forward Augie Isaacson excels at baseball as well as hockey. Starting goaltender Conner Wagner is a track athlete when he’s not between the pipes.

And they aren’t the only ones.

“I’d say a high percentage of our players do at least two sports,” said Lonke, who guided the Trojans to their first-ever state tournament appearance this year. “You can see on the ice how those kids are just more athletic.”

In addition to avoiding burnout, playing other sports helps kid develop fundamental athletic skills as well as providing cross training benefits. Hand-eye coordination, the ability to read-and-react and several other skills can be learned and developed through other sports.

Training for a Lifetime of Hockey

There’s no need to quit on hockey. Continuing to hone and develop your hockey-specific skills in the offseason is a good thing, especially for older kids. But there’s a right and a wrong way to do it.

“It should be quality over quantity,” said Lonke. “If you’re going to do a little bit of training in the offseason, make sure you focus on the quality side of it. You don’t have to pick up a stick every day if you are getting the most out of your practice the one or two times a month that you do practice hockey.”

Whether it’s down at the rink with your friends, or at a summer camp, it’s OK to still play.

“I’m a firm believer you can’t train a hockey player in a month or a week to be better. It’s impossible,” said Potulny, who runs Potulny Camps in the summer. “But what you can do is turn a kid off on hockey in a month or a week, which can happen if you’re doing strictly hockey camps all summer long.

“I want every kid walking out with a smile and saying ‘I can’t wait to play hockey again.’ Getting them better is the easy part. Getting them to like hockey is the hard part and I think you can only do that as long as they’re having fun. If they leave a hockey camp excited, then you’ve accomplished that.”

If They Want To Play, Let Them

Potulny has three young kids of his own. An assistant coach in the Osseo-Maple Grove Hockey Association with sons Owen and Jack, he said there’s high potential that 2-year-old daughter Charolette will also be a hockey player – or maybe not. It’s not up to him.

“Two pieces that are absolutely crucial, especially in my own house, are that if the kid wants to play, let them play,” said Potulny. “If the kid doesn’t want to play, don’t push them into it.

“You’d be surprised how analytical these kids are on if they want to do something or not. If I ask them, ‘Do you want to play hockey this summer?’ and they tell me they’d rather go fishing, then great, that’s what we’re going to do.”

Giving kids a break from hockey in the season and not forcing them to play will maintain that passion. Like participating in hockey to begin with, what the kids choose to do in the offseason should be left up to them.

What do you look forward to doing when hockey season’s over? Tweet and tell us at @MinnHockey.

For more details on why it is important for hockey players to avoid early specialization, click here to learn more about Long Term Athlete Development.

Most Popular