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Hockey Nova Scotia bans peewee bodychecking
HALIFAX Hockey Nova Scotia overwhelmingly voted to ban bodychecking for some minor hockey players on Sunday following pleas from physicians that the body contact increases the risk of head injuries to children.
The board unanimously voted to eliminate bodychecking for all peewee players, who are typically between 11 and 12years old.
It was also removed for the B and C levels of the bantam and midget leagues (ages 13 through 18), with only one dissenting vote of the 21member board.
The decision capped off the association's annual general meeting in the Halifax area, where the issue was debated after presentations from industry experts, physicians and a young player.
Hockey Nova Scotia president Randy Pulsifer said following those presentations, the mood among board members shifted toward eliminating bodychecking.
He said members were particularly touched after hearing from a young boy who can no longer play hockey after suffering a concussion.
"Here we have a young kid that's 13 or 14 years old and his hockey career is over," said Pulsifer at a hotel in the suburb of Dartmouth. "You have to look in your heart and say, 'What's best?'"
Debate over when to allow players to start hitting has inflamed emotions on both sides of the argument for years. It gathered steam after research came out of Alberta last year showing there was a threefold increase in the risk of injuries for peewee players who check in Alberta, compared to those in Quebec where bodychecking is not allowed until bantam.
"Those are pretty staggering numbers," Hockey Nova Scotia executive director Darren Cossar said. "Removing checking will clearly eliminate the number of injuries at that level and for 11 and 12yearold players, and we think that's the absolute appropriate thing to do."
Debby HillLeBlanc, president of Clare Minor Hockey, said the move puts "the priority back in the sport."
"Safe hockey that's the priority for our players."
As he headed into the meeting on Sunday, Pulsifer said there was no shortage of negative feedback.
"There are a lot of hockey purists out there that believe hockey should always have the checking component," he said. "Let's move hockey to the 21st century. This is the direction we had to take."
The changes take effect in the 201314 hockey season, which begins in September.
Pulsifer said Hockey Nova Scotia will now reach out to associations across the province to retrain coaches on body contact and bodychecking techniques to prepare peewee players for higher levels of hockey.
The move by Nova Scotia comes after a recent decision by Hockey Alberta to ban bodychecking for its peewee players.
Paul Carson, vicepresident of development for Hockey Canada, said the issue will be front and centre when the organization meets in a few weeks in Charlottetown for its yearly meeting.
Pulsifer says he thinks Hockey Canada should follow suit.
"By us voting it in, by Alberta voting it in and Quebec already there, it just gives credence to the direction that we have to take as a nation."
This is probably a good move as the resulting injuries in minor hockey are solid proof body checking is causing concussions. Hockey was and is a dangerous game played at high speed with plenty of scheduled and unscheduled collisions that is why the praise "keep you head up" is so important. I say "pay attention" at all times when playing any contact sport. Hockey also has a culture of wanting the separate the head from the body instead of the body from the puck, which is the sole purpose of checking anyone. Intimidation is coached at every level and not for the faint of heart. I hope this move curbs serious injuries in the future.
"Heads up"
our kids are not going to the NHL!! If they do,[url=http://www.floware.fr]www.floware.fr[/url], I'll be the first in line to congratulate them. My son ( age 14) rec'd his first concussion this year and not from checking! But, I cringed every time he went near the boards for the last three years. . Hockey is for fun!