Are girls moving from figure skating to hockey?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean...are the figure skaters prepared to gain like at least 50 pounds and start getting smashed into the boards...and possibly fighting?

Just seems a little strange. Like saying that a downhill skier is now going to become a freestyle skier...both sports take place on skis, but require a different physique and mental approach.

Stupid.
Most of hockey is ice skating skills. Some of my son's ice hockey mates were getting figure skating coaching in order to develop control on the ice.

However, if your kid can't take a hit or has shitty hand-eye-coordination...then your kid isn't playing hockey anymore. I mean, football players take ballet and do all sorts of training that doesn't involve contact, but if they can't stand getting tackled and getting hit, then their football playing days are over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean...are the figure skaters prepared to gain like at least 50 pounds and start getting smashed into the boards...and possibly fighting?

Just seems a little strange. Like saying that a downhill skier is now going to become a freestyle skier...both sports take place on skis, but require a different physique and mental approach.

Stupid.
Most of hockey is ice skating skills. Some of my son's ice hockey mates were getting figure skating coaching in order to develop control on the ice.

However, if your kid can't take a hit or has shitty hand-eye-coordination...then your kid isn't playing hockey anymore. I mean, football players take ballet and do all sorts of training that doesn't involve contact, but if they can't stand getting tackled and getting hit, then their football playing days are over.

I chimed in earlier. People comparing figure skating to hockey are idiotic. They are two completely different sports. Both involve skating but even the skating is different. Yes, some hockey players can improve their skating skills and edges working with a figure skater but it’s just stupid to think figure skaters can easily pick up hockey. Doing an axel isn’t the same as shooting bar down and vice versa. Duh.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a figure skater with 2 hockey player kids, this is a stupid post. You are literally comparing apples to oranges. Other than the fact that you have blades on your feet ( which are completely different ) the two spirts are completely different and attract completely different athletes. It’s accurate to say that ice hockey now attracts more girls but little chance those athletes were ever going to figure skate.

I have a girl who does both. She's been far the best skater on her co-ed hockey team. She's still young and they keep trying to recruit her to tryout for a travel team - hard no. She's our baby and we’re done with that circus. Figure skating is nice because you can pick and choose competitions. Same with golf. I am done traveling for team sports.

Isn't it supposed to be about you daughter??? If she really wants to play travel hockey, or travel anything, shouldn't you support it. It's about your kid and not about you. Encouraging and supporting your child by spending your time and money is called parenting. It's nauseating hearing selfish parents bloviate on this message board endlessly about what they won't do for their DC even though they have the wherewithal to do so. Stop being so selfish, grow up, put your child's interest ahead of yours. They'll be out of the house and off to college before you know it.

Different poster

Hard no on the "if your kid wants to do travel sports you must just smile and write the checks"

Why feed the money grab?

So don't feed the "money grab" for something you can afford and YOUR CHILD wants to do and is committed to. Instead you will freely spend money on your [insert luxury brand car] because YOU want to, but sure overspending on something like that is certainly not a money grab. Right, ok, deprive your child of any personal interest they may desire UNLESS it aligns with YOUR interests. That works out well if your child loves skiing in Vail as much as you do, but if your kid dreams of being a ballet dancer at Juilliard and you just think ballet is so boring then you can enjoy your distant relationship with YOUR CHILD once they graduate and move out for the rest of YOUR LIFE.

The point is people like you seem to only do what they want and must run a household that is militant in THEIR beliefs only. Children sometimes have different personalities and interest than their parents. DC is generally an affluent area and most people can afford to support at least a couple if their children's interest$ whether it be travel sports, the arts, travel, culinary arts, etc. Of course you can't do everything, but instead of only doing what you want sometimes it's good parenting to spend your time investing in what they want regardless of your interest.

First, hockey is the worst money grab among youth sports, especially in non-traditional markets like the DMV. Not to mention, ice times can be as early as 6 am or as late as 11 pm. If you think it is going anywhere, it's not. No matter how much money you spend and how many weekends you travel all over the country and how many weeks you send your kid to summer camp at Shattuck St Mary's, they are not going to play D1 hockey coming from here, now more than ever, with rule changes allowing more Canadians to play NCAA hockey. If you are a young mom or dad just getting into the sport, you need to take a parent of an 18U or high school kid who played hockey at the highest level available here out to lunch to talk about their journey, and actually listen to them. No amount of time or money that you spend trying to make your kid a hockey star in the DMV is going to get them to the NHL or even NCAA hockey, and NCAA D3 hockey is like a 1% chance for a boy, and they will not start college anymore playing D3 hockey until they are 20 or 21 after maxing out their juniors years.

So, if your kid wants to play hockey, let them play rec hockey. It's fun. It leaves time for other sports. You'll have time and money for family vacations where you can all have fun together.

If you want to sign your kid up for AAA or some lower level of travel hockey (which is definitely a dead end), and then get on here and preach about how great it is, why don't you report back when your kid is 20 and let us know how that went for them?

Most parents I know realize their kid isn’t playing college. But, regardless, as a family they enjoy the travel hockey experience.

Siblings don't enjoy the travel hockey experience. What's to enjoy about staying in crappy pay-to-play hotels in crappy parts of town to go sit in an ice rink on the weekends? Or you can divide and conquer, which is what most people do, but that's a lot of family weekends out the window.

This is true for any travel sport. Soccer, lacrosse, volleyball etc. It’s all weekends away at stay to play crappy hotels. The kids love it though, and it’s a wonderful experience for them. We divide and conquer on that weekends even when we are home between three kids activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean...are the figure skaters prepared to gain like at least 50 pounds and start getting smashed into the boards...and possibly fighting?

Just seems a little strange. Like saying that a downhill skier is now going to become a freestyle skier...both sports take place on skis, but require a different physique and mental approach.

Stupid.
Most of hockey is ice skating skills. Some of my son's ice hockey mates were getting figure skating coaching in order to develop control on the ice.

However, if your kid can't take a hit or has shitty hand-eye-coordination...then your kid isn't playing hockey anymore. I mean, football players take ballet and do all sorts of training that doesn't involve contact, but if they can't stand getting tackled and getting hit, then their football playing days are over.

I chimed in earlier. People comparing figure skating to hockey are idiotic. They are two completely different sports. Both involve skating but even the skating is different. Yes, some hockey players can improve their skating skills and edges working with a figure skater but it’s just stupid to think figure skaters can easily pick up hockey. Doing an axel isn’t the same as shooting bar down and vice versa. Duh.

Actually, you are the idiot. It is light work to make the transition from competitive figure skating to hockey. If someone passed their gold-level figure skating skills test, it would take them 2 weeks to improve to the level of out hockey skating 90% of travel hockey players. All you have to do is learn how to skate in a squat position and keep your upper body down. Figure skaters do variations of tight turns in their daily warm-up routine. Where they really outskate hockey players is in backward skating, agility, and footwork. A typical figure skater who has their golds spent 7-10 years skating 10-20 hours a week, plus doing skating-specific off-ice training, which includes a ton of single-leg squats, explosive movements like box jumps, tons of core work, and other relevant training specifically for skating muscles and endurance. Put a figure skater with his or her golds who competed up to the senior level on defense, and they will disrupt almost any play. Don't expect them to be able to pass, shoot, stick handle, or initiate body contact - but they will outskate all the AA and lower hockey players. That's why you put them on defense, at least until they learn to use a stick, and to that, they may never catch up if they pick up hockey later.