The Ride to The Rink: Stay or Go? How to Decide If It’s Time to Play at a Higher Level

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Hello, hockey skaters and goalies around the world, and welcome to another edition of the Ride to the Rink at the full cast for you today. Christy, Mike, and Lee here. And kids, what we want to talk to you about today is maybe the pressure or the opportunity or the situation where you might be excelling in hockey and have an opportunity maybe to play it in an older age group or to play at a higher level team. And you're looking at that kids. And what I want to discuss with you, what we want to discuss with you, is to really take a moment as the player and think about this, right? I can tell you right now your parents want you to succeed, but know when you get into a situation where you're looking at other teams or other opportunities, really think about what you want. And for the parents listening, make sure you ask the kid that's in the car with you right now, what do you want to do? If you're ready and you feel like you're mature enough and you have the opportunity and it's something you want to jump on, I definitely, definitely look into it, right? But if it's if it's not something you're ready to do, that's okay too, right, Christy?

SPEAKER_02 2:38

It is okay. And remember, hockey is a game of confidence, kids. And if you feel confident right now out there and you're having a lot of fun with your buddies, that's a really good thing. And if you are showing some promises, maybe you're better than all the other kids, this is a great opportunity for you to learn some leadership skills, to be that great role model on your team to help other kids advance. Don't forget about those golden opportunities that you have right now to help your teammates.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Yeah. And if your parents are hounding you, kids, be respectful, but give them the old okay. So I think I think just communicate no matter how old you are. If you love your teammates, you like your coach, you're having fun, you hear you know, you hear mom and dad in the car, you know, talking on the phone with the the seven other parents that are leaving. Just be vocal. Say, yeah, I love it here. I like it here. And I and I'm I'm happy where I'm at. And if you're a parent listening to this or your kid, just ask that question. Hey, are you happy right now? I love it. And uh, and if you do, and both of you are equally happy about where you're at, stay there, enjoy that moment, enjoy that time in this year in the season, and then you can reevaluate it again next year.

SPEAKER_02 4:05

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Yeah, kids, long story short, you have you have the right to have a say in where you're playing. Okay. And and I think most of your parents, especially listening to this show, would agree with that. So make sure that you advocate for yourself, you speak for yourself. Also, if you're wondering about the ship it, uh you search Austin Powers on YouTube with uh sh and Zip It, you'll see that scene. Um, that's uh that's a very funny movie from uh 25 years ago, which is a little freaky to say right now. Yeah, um, but kids, like again, remember that. And the last thing I want to say, kids, too, is is if you do want to excel, don't forget you don't always have to move up another team or another level to do that. I always say on the show, what are you doing away from the ice? What are you doing away from practice and games to work on your game? Are you training off ice? Are you shooting pucks in your garage or at your front lawn, whatever? Do you have the the things at home uh that allow you to train outside, inside, whatever, to work on the game? Are you studying film? Are you looking at YouTube? If the answer to those questions is no, that's okay. I'm making you aware that that's being resourceful. That's how you grow your game. That's the character piece of when no one's watching, you're still getting better. You've got the hours in the day that you have. You are all very busy, kids. Very busy with school and things that are going on in your life. But if you can find that 20 or 30 minutes a day to work on the craft, to work on the game, and you have that desire, I promise you, promise you as a coach, that will pay off as you move forward in the game in a lot of different ways. All right, we're gonna say it again, kids. I want you to dream. We want you to dream. There are no guarantees that you will accomplish your dream, but you will get so much further down the line and find so much more enjoyment and prospereness, prospereness, success, excuse me, if you pursue that dream. Okay? And I'm gonna end it like I always do, a little more pointly today. No matter where you're at on your hockey journey, remember, we believe in you. You should too. That's gonna do it for this edition of the Ride to the Rink for Christy and Mike. I'm Lake Kids. We'll see you next time. Work hard, have fun, learn something today. Take care.