Hey all. I do not post much & I have not posted in the Lavender Room but thought this may make an interesting topic to discuss…
My youngest boy (age 13) plays competitive hockey here in Canada. This is AAA level stuff - as high as you can go for kids that age. At a recent game they were getting their lunch handed to them by a weaker team. After 2 quick goals, the score was 3-0 for the other team in the 2nd period. As my fella was getting on the ice, the coach asked him to fake an injury when play resumed so that he could talk with the team - obviously a strategy tactic to delay game and try to regain composure. My boy said to coach that he did not feel comfortable doing this & the coach subsequently asked him to pass the message on to another line mate (which he did). They never needed to implement the “faked injury play” as the other team very quickly got 2 penalties.
I realize this is competitive sports and it puts some “demands” on the kids. FYI, both my boys have played at this level (hockey & basketball) so I’m not a newby at this. I also understand the tactics involved (at a pro level??) but am wondering about the overall message it sends. Interesting as both my wife & I did not know how to take this one when our boy told us about it. Thought it may be interesting to get some opinions…
Sounds like your boy’s got his head screwed on straight. You should encourage that, and ask the coach to avoid asking him to cheat, or to facilitate his cheating in the future.
Hey all. I do not post much & I have not posted in the Lavender Room but thought this may make an interesting topic to discuss…
My youngest boy (age 13) plays competitive hockey here in Canada. This is AAA level stuff - as high as you can go for kids that age. At a recent game they were getting their lunch handed to them by a weaker team. After 2 quick goals, the score was 3-0 for the other team in the 2nd period. As my fella was getting on the ice, the coach asked him to fake an injury when play resumed so that he could talk with the team - obviously a strategy tactic to delay game and try to regain composure. My boy said to coach that he did not feel comfortable doing this & the coach subsequently asked him to pass the message on to another line mate (which he did). They never needed to implement the “faked injury play” as the other team very quickly got 2 penalties.
I realize this is competitive sports and it puts some “demands” on the kids. FYI, both my boys have played at this level (hockey & basketball) so I’m not a newby at this. I also understand the tactics involved (at a pro level??) but am wondering about the overall message it sends. Interesting as both my wife & I did not know how to take this one when our boy told us about it. Thought it may be interesting to get some opinions…
In soccer, this is somewhat part of the game at higher levels. It’s called “selling” the foul. You’re more likely to get a call in your favor. So even though you might have the athletic ability to stay on your feet when tripped, if you have lost your advantage, a fall might be better. This is done some in the US, but is very common in Europe. My daughters team when visting Itally soon learned that good actng is rewarded and started hamming it up.
Is this good for the sport? Maybe not, but someplaces it is considered part of the game.
Welcome to youth sprots and sorry ass coaches. Praise your kid for knowing right from wrong and use this as an example of even grown-ups doing wrong. Make the coach the bad example and soldier on. No need to talk to the coach. He won’t ask your son to do this again already and he probably won’t “get” your problem with what he did.
I’m not involved enough with hockey to know what the culture is with regards to this but as a fan it looks like the ethos is more along the lines of suckingit up and continuing to play not faking injuries. I’d be a bit surprised if faking an injury was part of hockey culture. On the other hand, the pros do seem to push the goal off its mounts when things get hairy in front of the net so they are not above a little trickery to slow things down . . . .
In many sports, using little tricks like that to delay a game is part of the game, akin to an intentional foul in basketball to avoid a sure basket or a defensive back in football grabbing a receiver’s jersey as he is getting beat and seeing if the official catches him. Rules were made to be broken so the say. Milking or even faking an injury is common and many sports have rules to make sure an “injured” player sits out for a bit to punish a team if its a fake (e.g. football). If its part of hockey, your son has to follow orders. If its not, he’s right to take a stand.
I think that faking an injury is one of the worst things that a player in any sport at any level can do, regadless of the “culture” of the sport or locale. Your son was the better man for refusing and I would encourage him to maintain that stand throughout his sporting life.
When play is stopped to address a potential injury, accomodations are made for the benefit of the injured player such that a team is not penalized for the injury. It should be and often is designed so as to encourage an injured player to seek help while encouraging a hurt player to power through. Faking an injury takes the best we have to offer in the way of sportsmanship and turns it on its head to gain a competitive advantage. It is disgusting.
Faking an injury is in no way comparable to an intentional foul or penalty to prevent a team from scoring, etc. In those instances the foul or the penalty is committed with full knowledge of the potential resulting penalty and the penalty imposed is designed to address the infraction. With an injury, there is no similar consideration.
I had an assistant basketball coach try to teach the kids how to foul without getting caught and that they should intentionally hurt the other team (who, last I checked, happened to be TEENAGE BOYS) in order to intimidate them. Disgusting indeed.
It’s pretty sad when parents and other adults get soooo wrapped up in youth sports that they resort to such unethical lessons for the kids.
There comes a time at the professional, possibly even the college level (which is really professional) where some “cheating” may be necessary as part of your “job” as a professional, but they shouldn’t be taught that stuff until the time is ready. Learning it as a minor leads to so manny other problems outside of sports.