What Should I Do If My Child Wants to Quit Hockey?

There are alarming statistics surrounding the number of children who permanently drop out of youth sports. The following article provides advice on how to handle this situation if your child wants to quit.

If your player has decided that other activities are more important than sports, his or her priorities should be respected. However, it is wise to provide a reminder that a commitment has been made to the program and to teammates: Athletes owe it to themselves and to others to honor commitments and to finish out the season.

If the decision to quit is based on negative factors such as:

• Not getting enough playing time.
• Poor relationships with coaches or teammates
• An overemphasis on winning that creates stress and reduces fun
• Over organization, excessive repetition, and regimentation leading to boredom
• Excessive fear of failure, including frustration or failure to achieve personal or team goals

Then the situation requires open discussion to probe some ways to resolve the difficulties being experienced.

As a last resort, you may wish to take some active steps to correct the difficulties. This may involve speaking to the coach or league administrators. In talking with your youngster, you should evaluate how intolerable the situation is to him or her and whether the problem can be worked out.

If the problems are sufficiently severe, the decision to drop out may be in the best interests of the child. In this case, you would want to communicate to your child that although it is important to live up to commitments, you understand that the principle is outweighed by the nature of the problems. If the child does drop out, there may be other opportunities to play in a sport program that doesn’t have the negative factors that prompted the decision to quit.

Editor’s Note: For more information please refer to the Minnesota Hockey Sports and Your Child booklet.