Play hockey for fun

Every Thursday evening, around fifty young hockey players gather at the Raymond-Bourque arena, in the Saint-Laurent borough, in Montreal.

Nothing unusual here, other than they are part of the local Hockey program, which consists of offering training, but in a non-competitive setting.

This is a new offer that we are giving to young people who perhaps do not identify with the regular product, whether for financial reasons, or for a question of schedule management.explains Pierre-Luc Beauchamp, president of the Saint-Laurent Hockey Association.

It’s a fixed schedule. So, every Thursday evening, they meet here at the same time and in the same place. Parents really appreciate stability because it’s not easy to plan the week when schedules change at the last minuteadds the president.

Practice times and locations that vary from week to week, as well as weekend games and tournaments, are irritants raised by some families regarding competitive hockey.

Moreover, this is what pleased Caroline, the mother of one of the players in the local hockey program, whom she met during training.

This is my son’s second year in the program. We did it last year and he had never played hockey. So he didn’t skate very well, but he loved it. Since it’s not competitive, he has fun and it’s more relaxed. He can do other sports too, because competitive hockey is very demanding on the scheduleshe says.

Like the week, it’s an hour and we know what day. We can organize the homework accordingly, so it’s perfectspecifies the mother.

In 2022, when the Quebec Committee on the Development of Hockey released its report on the state of the sport in the province, it recommended, among other things, making the sport more accessible and giving greater priority to children’s enjoyment of the game. .

Two years later, recreational hockey programs remain rather rare.

Hockey Lac-Saint-Louis did not wait for the committee’s report to implement its first local hockey program in 2021. Of the organization’s 25 associations, only 3 are offering this program in 2024.

Hockey Quebec hopes to see more initiatives like this.

It’s part of our strategic plan, to organize hockey differently, explains the general director of Hockey Québec, Stéphane Auger. Hockey has been done the same way for years and the ecosystem is changing, whether it is the lives of parents or the cost related to hockey. So local hockey or recreational hockey is super interesting because it allows people to have fun, a bit like the principle of when we went to the park and put the sticks in the middle and ‘we separated that.

At the moment, it may be difficult for a parent to find a recreational hockey program. Not all associations offer it and the name may change depending on the region.

It’s an initiative that started a little embryonicly, recognizes Stéphane Auger. Hockey Quebec, we will support the associations in this process so that it can continue to grow.

The CEO also invites interested parents to contact their minor hockey association directly to request this type of recreational program.

As for Hockey Saint-Laurent, the association wants its recreational program not to be seen as second-rate hockey.

That’s the challenge, recognizes Pierre-Luc Beauchamp. At the beginning, it was very much associated with initiation, whereas what we try to do, and that’s why we divide the groups, is to make this program grow so that it really or tailor-made for the needs of the young person. We still want to have a level of challenge or skills that is interesting enough so that young people, even if they want to play just for fun, still have a little bit of combativeness within the matches.

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The association brought together the M11 and M13, while the M15 and M18 find themselves in a second group. Friendly matches are organized at the end of training.

We still want to provide the basics of skating, the basics of puck control, says the president of Hockey Saint-Laurent. Then, we will put them in situations to be able to learn.

These are young people that we will sometimes see on the outdoor ice rink and who will play in boots. They would like to skate, but they feel that their skating level is not yet good enough to be able to keep up with the others. It won’t necessarily become star players, but it will allow them to at least accumulate the minimum to be able to have fun on the ice and then follow their friends.

The passion of local hockey players is no less great than that of regular program players, as Jonathan attests. His son Adam, 8 years old almost 9, fell in love with the sport after doing the First Presence program.

From there he became a big fan hockey, Jonathan says as he watches his son get active on the ice. We did everything we could to include him in the local Hockey program, because the regular program was a little too busy for us.

I find thatfunhe adds. There are a lot of children on the ice. It’s run quite well and they learn and have fun at the same time. My son absolutely loves it. It’s his passion now.

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After training, Adam, wearing his toque in the colors of the Montreal Canadiens, does not hide the fact that he aspires to skate like his idol, Cole Caufield. Faced with his enthusiasm, his father believes that he will soon have to enroll his son in the normal program, with all that that entails.

Félix, one of Adam’s teammates, is playing his first full season in the local hockey program.

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At the age of 10, he recognizes, without even being asked, that sport can take a toll on family life.

Before, I had taekwondo and it was three training sessions a week, with the two kumo classes. I barely had a free evening all week. And what’s more, you have to do your homework…

The president of the Saint-Laurent Hockey Association hopes that the local hockey program will extend to other regions, for all the little Félix and Adam of Quebec.

Maybe a few years ago, these children asked to play hockey, then were told no because there wasn’t a program that reflected what parents could offer them. offer, affirms Pierre-Luc Beauchamp. These are children who are excited, who are happy and who experience it 100% even if it is not as structured a program as regular hockey. This is their opportunity to get on the ice. And for them, it’s their National League. It still allows them to compare themselves to their idols.