The Ride to The Rink - Mistakes Not To Make This The Summer

Lee MJ Elias [0:08 - 0:50]: Skaters and goalies around the world. And welcome back to another edition of the Ride to the Rink. Got the full crew here today. Christie's here. Mike's here. I'm here. I'm Lee. Today we're talking about your summer. We're talking about mistakes that can happen in the summer. At least make you aware of potential mistakes that can happen in the summer if you are not paying attention. So we're going to go through a few of them today, gang. The first one is this is doing too many camps and clinics. Now, kids, listen, if you want to do 100 camps and clinics, that's up to you. But you got to make sure you have this conversation with your parents. And I do want you to think a little bit of maybe you should take a little bit of a break of hockey in the summertime. Give yourself some time to be a kid. Kristi, am I right on this one? 

Christie Casciano [0:50 - 1:41]: Absolutely. My kids always took a break during the summer, and it made them want to get back to the rink even more because it wasn't a job for them. You know, if you're 24, 7 with something, you're going to feel like it's not fun anymore, right? And hockey needs to be fun at your. Your age, at this stage of your life. So if you're doing it all the time, just think about it. When it comes the fall, when you're going to be back at the rink, you might be tired of it. And that's exactly what you don't want to happen. You want to have energy. You want to be excited about getting back on the ice. And one way to capture that is take a little break from it. Enjoy this time where you can ride your bikes, get out and do some swimming, have some fun with friends. Get the driveway net out and get the roller blades. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:41 - 1:42]: Get a Slurpee. 

Christie Casciano [1:43 - 1:44]: Get a Slurpee at the rink. 

Lee MJ Elias [1:45 - 2:24]: Yeah, we talked about that in the main episode. Now, Christie, I love what you're saying. I'm also, I'm going to talk directly to the kid right now who's obsessed with hockey. It's all you want to do all the time. It's easy to say that to yourself and go, I don't need to take a break. I love doing this. You need to take a break. There's a great saying that I heard from a friend about another friend was, I need to miss you right now. Right. Do not underestimate what taking off even just four or five days will do to recharge your motivation, your inspiration, your obsession for the Game. Everyone needs to take breaks. All right, kids, everyone. Mike, you have any thoughts on this one over scheduling? 

Mike Bonelli [2:24 - 3:11]: So if you're in the car right now going to hockey camp for the fourth week in a row, I would say think about this. Think about your internal roi, which is return on your investment. Like, make the best out of your over scheduled event. Make the best out of the multiple camps and clinics you're going to. Don't get crazy about, you know, all getting every skill all at once. Just think about, well, how can I turn this into a really good positive for me and make the effort that my parents already paid for camp? I'm already going. I'm in this. I'm in the. I'm in the thick of it. How do I break it down into little segments for myself over the summer so I can get better at individual things I want to get better at? Nobody's cutting you from anything from summer hockey school, so just enjoy it. Get the most out of it. Get the best return on the fact that you're going anyway. Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [3:11 - 4:31]: And if they are cutting you, don't ever go to that school or camp again. Mistake number two, my friends, is off ice skills. I'll say it like this to everybody. It's always fun to do the things that you're really good at. And I'm not telling you not to work on the things that you're really good at, but this is the time of year to definitely work on the stuff that you're not great at. Okay? Now, if you want to equate that to hockey, that's fine, but. But I can tell you right now that throwing a baseball, throwing a football, throwing a Frisbee, all right? Doing jump rope, anything that makes you run in the off season is a good alternative to hockey. And it's actually important that you do find other skill sets from other sports. So hopefully, look, you're playing baseball, soccer, you're playing another sport. But if you're not, think about the aspects of your game that you're not great at and find a way away from the rink to maybe work on those things. Like, my favorite example of this, kids, is passing. If you need to work on your passing, believe it or not, throwing a football or throwing a baseball is an exceptional way to learn on how to pass, how to lead a pass, how to time a pass, have the touch. Golf, believe it or not, another great sport, if you can do it, that will teach you things like that. Think outside the box a little bit. The summer's the time to do it. Right. Because when you're in season, you're on the ice all the time. Right. So don't ignore off ice skills, but find a different way to do it. 

Christie Casciano [4:31 - 5:33]: Right. And even think about swimming. I mean, it's such a great physical activity and you can help with your endurance and you're going to make new friends by doing these other activities and other sports too. Let's not discount the arts. If you want to do some crafts, you know, go to the local community center and they might have a whole program for kids where you're doing a lot of fun things, you know, even if it's just running around in the sprinklers and you're making new friends, you're learning how to build things, how to create things, painting, all those things are going to help you develop and just take, kind of just relax and enjoy the summer in different ways so it doesn't feel like it's the same thing over and over and over again. Make new friends, learn some new skills and just, it'll just give you a new outlook too, on life sometimes, you know, it's fun. 

Lee MJ Elias [5:33 - 5:36]: No, I, I love that one, Mike. Anything to add to that one? 

Mike Bonelli [5:36 - 6:40]: Yeah, just don't, you know, don't, don't ignore the off ice, you know, pieces of your game that you know, that you have deficiencies in. Now I, I work with a lot of lacrosse players and I know a lot of our hockey players play lacrosse. It's the same thing. If you're going to play wall ball and you're just going to play righty, you just, it's never going to, it's never going to turn into anything later on for you. So you have to force yourself to be uncomfortable passing and receiving lefty. Right. The same thing in hockey. Lee talked about if you have a, you, you can literally make a rebounder off of nothing, from nothing or get, you know, or get a, get an off ice puck that you can use, that you're passing, you know, using passing and over and over and over the correct way, getting in a rhythm, getting into some, you know, other pieces that you don't get to work on at home. But again, this is all self directed. You know, get comfortable being uncomfortable and just having some fun. Nobody's saying you have to do it for seven hours, you know, do some rebounding for 20 minutes, put the bathing suit on, jump in the pool, do some laps, go home. So I think it's all about, you know, just figuring out a way to improve those little bits and pieces of your game that you're not going to get to do during a structured, you know, practice environment. Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [6:42 - 7:59]: Kids, this next one for each and every one of you is going to look a little different. But your kids, right, kids, it's right to the rink. It's all for you, the kids. So don't forget to be a kid. Okay? That's the next mistake I think some people make. Now, what do I mean by that? If you want to be at the rink every day, I'm not. I'm honestly not telling you not to think that way. And if you want to break from the rank, I'm not telling you not to think that way. But do a little bit of a check of your kid. Do some kid things, have some fun. Right? The point I'm trying to make is this. The decision on how you spend your summer is somewhat up to your parents and their availability and what they can do. But you should have a bit of a say in what you want to do, or maybe more importantly, what you don't want to do. If you want to take a break, take a break. Don't forget to be a kid. We talked about it on the big episode this week about how summers, when Mike, Christy and I were growing up were these magical time periods where you weren't in school and you could do all these fun things and go outside. Make sure you find some of that wonder in the summer if you can. All right? However you want to do that again. For some kids, that might mean more hockey than others, but don't forget to be a kid. Because there's a saying I always say for people is don't grow up. It's a trap. All right? You can't forget to be a kid when you're actually a kid. Right. Make sure you're doing that, gang. Any thoughts on that one? 

Christie Casciano [7:59 - 8:18]: Yeah. And it goes fast. Kids, before you know it, you're going to be, you know, seniors in high school. So enjoy this time to just be a kid, make friends, enjoy the less pressured life that you have right now. You really need to just savor that because it goes by fast. 

Mike Bonelli [8:18 - 8:30]: Yeah. And you'll be reminded that the youth is wasted on the young. So just, just, just make sure you get in there, have some fun, enjoy yourself, tell mom and dad to cool it for a little bit and, you know, create your own summer. 

Lee MJ Elias [8:30 - 9:56]: Yeah, One of these days, I plan to grow up, but not anytime soon. Kids, just remember, explore, relax, reset. Those are the three words with that one. Explore, relax, and reset. Make sure you're doing those things. Okay? Mistake Number four. We could do a whole ride to the rink on this one alone. Do not. Kids, listen to me. Listen to me. Do not obsess over next season. Don't do it. We said it before on the big episode, you can look towards next season a little bit. You can think about it. Nothing wrong with that. If you're excited about. About your team or nervous, those are absolutely normal. But don't obsess over it. Don't sit in your room every night wondering what line you're going to be on or how you're going to play or what you're going to do, or are you the starting goaltender or not. The time to do that, that time will come on its own. Be where your feet are, be present. Be in the now. You're not going to do anything by obsessing. Now, I will say this, kids. If. If you are looking ahead and are nervous, are excited or whatever you're feeling, the work you need to do is in the now. So if you are worried about next season, don't obsess over it. Think about, what do I need to do today to get better for next season? That's the way the mind needs to work, okay? And also, don't obsess over the last season. If you had a bad season, a great season, a championship, you can't live there either. You got to live right now. So do not start thinking about next season too early or last season too late. Just be where you're at today. Right, guys? Don't obsess. 

Mike Bonelli [9:56 - 9:57]: Yeah. 

Christie Casciano [9:57 - 10:24]: And I think your friends might try to draw you into that, too. Just steer them away from that. It'd be very easy for your friends to get into that kind of conversation. Oh, are you going to be in my team? And who's. What's our coach going to be like? And, you know, am I going to be the starting goalie? All that. You can really easily get caught up, walk away from that. To say, hey, guys, I'm not. I'm not worried about next season. I'm gonna worry about right now and have fun. 

Mike Bonelli [10:24 - 10:25]: Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [10:25 - 10:37]: I'll tell you right now, next season will come on its own again. The summer will come and go real quick. If you're not in it, you gotta be in it. One of the worst feelings is get into August or late August and realizing I. I didn't enjoy my summer. 

Christie Casciano [10:37 - 10:38]: Didn't enjoy it. Yeah. 

Lee MJ Elias [10:38 - 10:58]: I was obsessed. Don't do that. You only, as Christy said, you only get so many summers as a kid. By the way, kids, just, just a Quick note. Remember, when you get to college, you get a little bit of summer vacation. When you get to be an adult, there's no summer vacation. That's it. It's done. So enjoy every single one of them while you can. Mike, do you enjoy your summer vacations? Do you have summer vacation? 

Mike Bonelli [10:59 - 11:29]: I'm gonna enjoy my summer week. Yes. I'm gonna enjoy it summer week. My summer vacation is living through my kids. So I think it's just for you guys as children, just. And young hockey players again, just. Just really enjoy the time you have. If you. If you love hockey, if you're obsessed with hockey, like I'm assuming you are, if you're listening to this, you're probably like, oh, man, I want to find out as much about hockey as I can. Go crazy. You know, you'll find ways every day to improve your game. But don't worry about August and September and November. Right now. This. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:29 - 11:29]: Right. 

Mike Bonelli [11:29 - 11:37]: You know, find little ways to tune to. To get it. Get a nibble on next season. But no, re. No, you don't have to sit down for the big meal yet. Just wait. 

Lee MJ Elias [11:38 - 13:09]: Well, that brings us to our last and final aspect. Last mistake kids make is that you're not taking a moment to look at your mental state. Okay? So, kids, when you're a kid, everything is going so fast. There's so many distractions. There's so many things to look at. Just make sure you take a minute. You can do it right now, okay? And just sit by yourself and do a little check of. Am I okay? Am I feeling okay? Am I feeling nervous? Am I feeling scared? Am I feeling upset about last season? If you're feeling great and everything's wonderful, that's awesome. That really is awesome. But if you're feeling something in your pit or stomach doesn't feel right, summer's the time to kind of sit and explore that a little bit. All right? May, talk to your parents, talk to a guardian, Talk to somebody. Talk to your favorite coach, but just explore those feelings, because I'll tell you right now, if you are doing mistake number four and obsessing over next season, talk to someone. You don't have to live in that pressure by yourself. You don't. You do not have to walk along with that. Talk to a friend. Talk to someone that you know will listen, that you trust. All right? Again, if you're listening to this with your parents, I. I promise you they'll be there to talk to you, okay? Talk to grandma, talk to grandpa, whoever you want, but do a mental Check in on yourself and make sure you're okay. It's okay to not be okay. That's another part of this, right? If you're not feeling okay, that's okay. But talk to someone, all right? It's a mistake when you don't. And you live in that all summer. And you go into the season with that big ball of anxiety. You don't need to do that. You don't deserve that, kids. Okay? You deserve to go. 

Christie Casciano [13:10 - 13:15]: You are not alone. There are a lot of people who care about you, want to help you out. 

Lee MJ Elias [13:15 - 13:50]: Yeah. That's a perfect way of saying it, Christie. Yeah. And a reminder to everybody. Kids, listen. And we said this on the big episode, too. This is all about balance. Every one of you is in a different situation with hockey, with life and your different ages. You're in different teams or different levels. It's all about finding balance for you. But find the balance. It shouldn't feel unbalanced. You shouldn't feel like you're being forced to play. All right? You also shouldn't feel like you got nothing to do. Right? Find the balance in your summer. That's the big tip for today. Any closing remarks, my friends, before we let the kids go? Because they're on the. 

Christie Casciano [13:50 - 13:51]: It was well said. 

Lee MJ Elias [13:51 - 13:54]: Thank you very much. All right, Mike, you good? 

Mike Bonelli [13:54 - 13:56]: Good. Have a great summer. 

Lee MJ Elias [13:56 - 14:26]: There you go. That's going to do it for this edition of the Ride to the Rink. Maybe you are on the way to the rink, maybe you're not, but we thank you for listening. Kids, again, if you have something you want Mike, Christie and I to talk about, you can text this. There's an episode description with this podcast. Click on the link to contact us and you can actually text us. Leave your name, where you're from in that topic. And if you want to, if you have email or your parents have email, email us team at our kids by hockey.com. but remember, wherever you're at on your hockey journey, we believe in you. You should, too. Have fun, skate hard, and skate on everybody. We'll see you next.