After our first season on a true travel hockey team I remember being so relieved when the end of season came around. Even though it was March, it felt like the beginning of summer vacation. There are a lot of paralels between the two. Both school and a hockey regular season have long and intense length of time and end with a new freedom of time and energy. It’s enough to make a parent want to have a more relaxed summer away from the rink. Here’s how to have the BEST hockey summer!
Take time off from the rink
Chances are after regular season wraps up you will have the opportunity to enroll in spring hockey. If your hockey player is riding the high of a hockey season and feels up to it, that is a great way to keep those hockey skills sharp and keep playing in game scenarios.
It’s also more than ok to not sign up and decide to take a break from the rink.
Ice hockey is an intense sport physically, mentally, emotionally, and a real time commitment to boot.
Saying no to organized spring or summer hockey is a great way to rest and reboot and just enjoy the end of the school year and the summer months together.
Play other sports for fun
Other sports?? I know, hockey is where it’s at, but playing other sports is not only good it’s a lot of fun! Bonus: most sports can contribute as cross training to help develop your hockey player.
Pickle ball and tennis? Hand eye coordination.
Soccer? endurance and footwork.
Swimming? Just a great all around workout for growing bodies.
Enjoy some unstructured skate and shooting time at stick and pucks
Time off from the rink is great, but getting together with hockey friends for some unstructured ice time during a stick and puck is fun, too.
Text your old team mates and plan a couple of meetups at your local rink’s stick and pucks over the summer. We all know how important ice touches are to maintain skills can be, so why not just let the kids get out on the ice and mess around a little. If you are part of a club with multiple teams in each age group, this can be a great way to keep up with past team mates since there is no guarantee you’ll be on the same team next season.
My kids currently bug me to hit up a stick and puck about once a week during the off season.
Take a clinic or camp
This is one option we have not had an opportunity to take part of yet. We just live a little too far out to commit to a daily camp or clinic.
However, other parents have told me that taking part of a camp or clinic has been wonderful for their player, especially if they are needing to work on a specific skill or aspect of the game.
I definitely have my eye on a power skating clinic that I think my kids would both benefit from.
Off Season Domination by Hockey Training
Some players are ready for more over the summer. They are ready and asking for ice time, more screen time to search up stick handling videos, and more time with coaches. Mine are right here.
It’s currently the first week of June and my 14U player has been pestering me for access to more hockey resources during the off season. More resources to get faster, improve stickhandling, and pretty much be in tip top condition for evaluations at the end of summer.
So, I caved and subscribed to Hockey Training’s Hockey TV to get access to a whole library of stickhandling tutorials, at-home hockey specific workouts, and stretching. My daughter loved it! So much so that she was quickly able to convince her brother, a 12U player, to get going on his own off season training plan.
I really can’t say enough good things about what Coach Kevin has built over at Hockey Training. Aside from being a passionate hockey player himself, he is extremely motivating and relatable to youth hockey players.
And while he definitely encourages kids to be consistent and strive for more in their hockey training, he isn’t a zealot. He is very conscious that pushing for being ’the best’ isn’t the goal for every youth player. He knows that the drive has to come from the kid, not from the parent, which I truly appreciate.
So, after watching my two players studiously set up and execute their own schedules of stickhandling, workouts, and meticulously plan out how they would spend their stick and puck time I wondered if they might be ready for more. Perhaps a structured program that is built for the youth player looking to maintain and improve their skills and fitness over the off season.
Naturally, I looked to Coach Kevin at Hockey Training and was guided to the Youth Off Season Domination.
Over the course of the off season, my kids will be guided through a done-for-you full program of that will help them build speed, keep them conditioned, and establish good hockey training habits like focusing on stability and mobility.
If your hockey player is asking for more this summer, head on over to HockeyTraining.com and see if the Off Season Domination program could be right for them, too!
*This post DOES NOT contain affiliate links. My kids have had really great results with the Hockey Training programs and Hockey Training TV app subscription and my #1 goal is share helpful resources whether or not I make a commission if you choose to make a purchase.