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How Camaraderie Builds Champions

By Jessi Pierce, Touchpoint Media, 03/24/15, 9:00AM CDT

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Parents sign their kids up for hockey each winter for a number of reasons – friendships, fun, athletic development, exercise and more. There’s no doubt sports provide an excellent opportunity for kids to grow physically, but one overlooked benefit is what sports provide socially.

“Sports have a tremendous impact on a child’s social growth,” said Diane Wiese-Bjornstal, associate kinesiology professor at the University of Minnesota. “If provided with the right climate, there are so many different areas where kids can grow.”

Here are six social benefits hockey – and most other sports - provide that help build champions on and off the ice.

Sport Friendships: Sports are an excellent place to meet friends. For most, it’s those lifelong friendships that keep them coming back each season.

“Companionship, loyalty and emotional support, those are dimensions of friendships that are really built on the ice or field,” explains Wiese-Bjornstal.

A team environment makes friendships easily accessible. Wiese-Bjornstal adds that sports can be a great way to get shy children to come out of their shell and form friendships that otherwise might not have been made.

Peer Motivation: Teammates push each other. They motivate one another to play the best they can for the good of the team.

“It’s very important that the peers on the team develop a climate fit for motivation and working together,” said Wiese-Bjornstal. “A sports environment teaches kids how to challenge one another.”

Cohesion: There can’t be a complete team without cohesion. Players must work together as one unit to push the puck up ice, create scoring opportunities, kill penalties, etc. Accomplishing these tasks together, not individually, helps form lasting bonds.

“The teams that kids are most satisfied playing on are the most cohesive,” said Wiese-Bjornstal. “It’s what being on a team is all about.”

The concept of teamwork is a valuable one. It will last well beyond their youth hockey days as they grow into adulthood, begin careers and start families.

Leadership: Some may be quick to assume that leadership comes from the designated captain. But that’s not necessarily the case.

“On a team, you will have so many different leaders emerge through each of their own strengths,” Wiese-Bjornstal said. “To have multiple leaders doesn’t discount the important role of the captain and the captain shouldn’t be threatened by that. It’s kids learning to use their strengths and find their place on the team.”

There’s always a teammate who’s quick to offer up a team carbo-feed or one who gets the warm-ups started. Just because a player’s not donning the ‘C’ doesn’t mean they’re not learning how to be a leader.

Team Identification: Players skate onto the ice proudly with their team logos on their chest. Off the ice, kids are decked out in community colors and carry their bags as one unit.

“You belong together in a group, that’s a pretty powerful feeling,” said Wiese-Bjornstal. “It’s a bonding identity. Plus consider the social commitment teams put forth into giving back to the community. It’s a positive way that people see you.”

She adds that there can be a negative impact if a player is excluded from the team. But if every player is connected, it’s a part of what makes a child’s sport experience great.

Free Play: Free play is hugely important to a player’s on-ice development. Skating out on the pond with friends allows them the opportunity to try new things and learn the game on their own. Similarly, the social benefit of unstructured hockey is valuable.

It’s where kids form their own leadership to create equal teams. They focus on the fun aspect and oftentimes will have to interact with younger and older kids. Without mom and dad around they can learn how to work together to play the game they love. Letting the kids figure it out on their own is often the most effective form of learning.

“A lot of times we as adults can take away those benefits when we structure the heck out of the game and make all the decisions,” said Wiese-Bjornstal. “One of the things I think would benefit coaches and parents is to understand the importance of free play and balance that with organized hockey. Let them make mistakes and let them have successes on their own.”

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