Jim Brithén, Director of Development of the Hungarian Ice Hockey Federation observed a U8 5 vs 5 tournament this past weekend and he has shared his opinion on what he saw and experienced.
After watching the 5 vs 5 U8-tournament in Óbuda in the weekend I must say that it was a big success in the meaning that it is very good for the development of the kids.
First of all everyone can see that you need good technical skills in the matter of skating, stickhandling, passing and shooting, but also in the learning how to play the game of ice hockey. I mean the game sense, the hockey sense, talking about being active, reading the game, creating triangles, passing shadow/getting open, looking for the big ice, playing-width and -depth, the 4 roles, timing etc etc. It is a big challenge of course for the coaches to inform and teach the kids these basic concepts, in a positive way and with a lot of positive and constructive feedback.
The intensity is higher with more players on the ice - yes - and that gives more reasons and challenges for the players and coaches to practice the correct concepts in the right ages.
To play cross ice, on an approximate 30 x 20 meters surface (one zone), I definitely recommend that this should be played 5 vs 5. On smaller rinks it could be 4 vs 4 but to be adjusted so the kids are playing a lot of ice hockey. It is definitely important to be active and play, if not the most important aspect. Let’s avoid having the kids standing still too much - let them play!
This goes for both practices and games, this is the way to develop the individuals and the ice hockey. When we talk about 5 vs 5 that is always in games. In practices everyone should use all kind of small area games - on different surface sizes and with different number of players. 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, 4 vs 4, 5 vs 5 etc.
In the practices, in these age groups, minimum 85-90% should be technical work and maximum 10-15% should be game sense, hockey sense and individual tactical skills.
I´m looking forward to seeing how everyone takes these challenges and to use it in a positive way - for the kids.
We adults do it because we love our fantastic game and we do it to make the development and education as fun and as optimal as possible. It is for the kids!
I´m looking forward to see you out at the rinks!
Good luck!
Jim Brithén
Development Director HIHF
