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Aiming to Please
December 8, 2003
Story by: Suzannah
M. Archibald
Last week we looked at how recent incidents
in hockey, both on and off the ice, have
contributed to rink rage and how it is changing
the entire climate of the game and not necessarily
for the better. This leads to questions
about the psychology behind rink rage, and
the pressure a young athlete has to excel.
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview
Dr.Gordon Bloom of McGill University, a
well-known sport psychologist who has counselled
NHL players, as well as players from a variety
of different amateur sporting organizations
and leagues. After completing his PhD in
Sport Psychology from the University of
Ottawa in 1996, Dr. Bloom spent four years
as a faculty member at Fresno State University,
studying the implications of coaching and
sport psychology. Since 2000, Dr. Bloom
has worked at McGill focusing much of his
research on the psychosocial aspects of
talent development and sport participation,
including the impact of aggression and violence
in hockey.
Bloom says the biggest problem with youth
sport today including hockey is that many
coaches and parents have lost sight of why
kids participate in sport in the first place
- to have FUN! He believes many of us forget
that children are not participating in organized
sport to please a parent or win an award,
but for the simple pleasure of having fun,
while improving skills, exercising, socializing
and for the thrill of competing.
Too often, he continues, the focus is
on winning for the sake of winning, which
may end up pushing children past their natural
limits. Taking the fun out of playing and
the time spent with your child means not
only are you, the parent no longer having
fun, but may be contributing to such incredible
numbers as the 35% statistic. Which is?
Simply put, during the past dozen or so
years, an astonishing 35% of youth have
dropped out of organized sport every single
calendar year.
And while this might be attributed to our
children's increased obsession with sedentary
habits like playing Game Boy, instant messaging,
and downloading MP3s, if we follow Bloom's
reasoning, we owe a lot of the drop in hockey
participation to the simple fact that it's
not fun being badgered by a parent or coach
to win at all costs.
Think that your high-scoring teammate
when you were young was NHL-bound? Think
again. Most kids aren't destined to be the
next Gretzky, Kariya, or even Cujo the Toronto
traitor (sorry, to his fans). The actual
number of minor league hockey players who
make it into a professional league is significantly
lower then we're led to believe.
This is not to say that there's no hope
for our budding superstars but it does lead
to another interesting track in Dr. Bloom's
research. Kids that reach the highest level
of the game in the sport in which they excel
have always benefited from a varied childhood;
meaning they weren't just one-trick ponies.
Bloom cautions (hockey) parents and coaches
alike by discussing the dangers of enrolling
their 8 or 9 year old son or daughter in
power skating, figure skating, summer leagues
for most of the year. Not only can it be
unhealthy for a developing player, but research
shows that it may in fact be detrimental
to their psychosocial development in that
sport. So Gretzky played baseball and lacrosse
…why shouldn't your kids?
Bloom sees it in the following terms:
if you (as a parent, or coach), are focused
on your child having the top stats, and
being the best, and quickest player on the
ice, then this serves as a kind of trickle-down
effect on that child. What you're going
to see in the meantime is a player who patterns
himself on that behaviour, becoming unreasonably
fixated on winning and 'besting' other players,
and taking all of the negative behaviours
- an obsession with winning and maybe even
overly aggressive playing (hence the rink
rage tag) - to become the norm in hockey.
So you may think you're creating a hockey-playing
fiend, but you may also be creating a bit
of a monster in the process.
The best thing a parent or coach can do
to ensure this doesn't happen is to praise
your child when he/she does something good
or bad, be it for their effort, or their
social skills with other players. Above
all, talk to them about their experiences
on the ice and in the dressing room.
And if it's little Johnny's third summer
in a row at an eight-week hockey fantasy
camp, by all means, find out if that's what
he wants! Who knows, he may end up more
Bill Gates then Wayne Gretzky, but at least
he's earned the opportunity to figure that
out on his own.
Revised: Gordon Bloom,
PhD, specializes in sport psychology and
works in the Department of Kinesiology and
Physical Education at McGill University
in Montreal, Quebec. He has conducted research
on aggression and violence in women's and
men's hockey, as well as aspects of coaching
expertise, team building, and the psychological
aspects of concussions. He can be reached
at gordon.bloom@mcgill.ca.
To contact the author with your comments,
or future story ideas, she can be emailed
at: smarchibald@yahoo.ca, or sma@hockeylink.ca
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