What does the age division name change mean for next season?
Changing the names and the age division to fit the LTAD model will be made official at the 2009 Ringette Canada AGM this coming June.
This means moving from Bunny, Novice, Petite, Tween, Junior, etc... to U7, U9, U10, U12, U14 etc...
This has brought up many questions as to the impact this will have on local associations and how they go about things.
In a nutshell – not much will be changing from a registration perspective. We have not eliminated any of the age divisions. We have simply switched to a more user friendly name.
We have also allowed for overlap in age at the younger and the older level. This was done to encourage the athletes to participate in the age division that is appropriate for their level of development.
The bigger changes will come in terms of programming and competition events (ie tournaments)
At the younger age divisions, be prepared to see more practice opportunities and more skill development. Tournaments will transition to festival type events where the focus will be on skill development rather than winning.
The impact will not be as a result of the changing of the names... but rather as a result of changing the way we do things to be in line with optimal athlete development.
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6 comments:
While you say in the blog "We have not eliminated any of the age divisions. We have simply switched to a more user friendly name." is it not true that in fact you have added an age division. Before Bunny, Novice, Petite has become U7,U9,U10,U12.
Where does this leave the girls that want to compete? While festivals sound great with participation badges etc. Asking an 11 yr old to play freeze tag or shinny with no officials or no ringette line or whatever for 6 or 7 years will be a tough sell.
I love the game so I hope it works but I'm afraid the other ice sport will see a huge increase in enrollment. As I understand its status quo for them and their current system.
I personally am not convinced this game is broken or that it needs to be fixed. Enrollment in many communities is up; adult leagues have waiting lists where the biggest issue seems to be the availability of ice and the cost of it once you find it.
To be fair to the parents of Novice and Petite age girls (or by their new less offensive? soccer style names) the new plan should be communicated to them sooner rather than later. So they can make the decision that is best suited for them which may unfortunately include switching sports.
Good luck and I hope I'm wrong and the game does grow.
I have the same impression as the previous poster. Why did all these changes need to be made? Who is trying to be a hero here?
What is next, are you going to change the name of the game too, so that the sport is completly un-recognizable? Way to go.
My daughter enjoys the "game of ringette". She enjoys the competition, the team building activities and everything about the game.
Children play games all of the time from x-box to table tennis to games on the street including organized sports. Why take the game away from them?
If someone wants to start a ringette skill association without games until you are 12 then start it- my daughter doesn't want that and based on the feedback I hear in my neck of the woods most of the kids don't want that. Yes she wants to go to practice and she loves the indoor ringette practices but she does this to get better for the games she is playing in.
As a parent I want my child to learn how to win and to lose with respect. I want her to learn to play competitively and respect her opponent at the same time. I want her to play a sport that will keep her interest for a lifetime. Ringette does that now.
If adults who are acting inappropriate are the reason we are making the change then get rid of those adults. There are plenty of adults who can teach the skills (ringette and life skills)in our rinks.
It is so unfortunate that the governing bodies that make these decisions are so far removed the actual pulse of the participants.
Is it "the game" that needs to be removed or is it the adults in our Associations that are over aggressive with our young participants.
I have read all the comments and must say that the need for change is not there. It frustrates me to see a need for change to be introduced because someone got paid to think change was essential. It is more essential to make the game great and getting coaches to volunteer and interact with the appropriate level they are coaching, rec or competitive and there is a difference!!
The girls, and at the start, the boys are playing as a team, this is a sport basic point to start at, but do not fool yourself, they play at either level to enjoy success in the sport. Take away the significance and you will kill the sport, any sport.
Why are we constantly trying to fix what is not broken, why can we not allow the sport to grow as a unique sport, enjoyed by many through their entire lives.
What comes next the O20, O25, O30 for all those Overage players that continue to play because they enjoy the sport, LTAD could do damage there as well, but that is probably still to come...
Last comment, what about the players that learn quicker and mature faster and play more passionately, do we stop them and tell them to slow down, they are too good and must play less vigorously, less committed or simply less....?????
Confused, even though I have read the LTAD junk.
I hope these festivals will be free, because I do not see anyone putting aside the money or time for that matter to go watch skill development. I always thought skill development came with the 1 to 2 practices a week and the games and tournaments were a place where players try to apply those skills. If they are never given an opportunity to apply these skills they will lose intrest. If the desired effect is to encourage multi sport it just may work at the expense of Ringette. Kids will gladly switch to Hockey or even Skiing something the family can do together. Parents put aside time and money for the sport.
If you go to a Ringette Practice who is there the palyers, the coaches and on a team of 12 girls maybe 2 or 3 parents. They skip out to do gorceries etc. But put a game in that same time slot you have parents, siblings Grand Parents friends from school who want to see what Ringette is. Not sure that there is a benefit to the girls by taking this expirience away from them. Many kids like to be challenged and like to compete. Taking away any chance to compete is not benefical to the development of young people who at some point in their life will have to face competition (for a job or to get into a school) and a protective bubble will not always be there.
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