Okay, he's 12 years old, in his first year of peewee hockey (first year of hitting allowed), and he's 6'5.5", 194 lbs. He's taller than any of us and probably close in weight to some of us. If we put him with the Oilers in a picture, he'd be second-tallest person (Devan Dubnyk is just a little taller and Andy Sutton isn't an Oiler anymore). AND HE'S 12!
http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2012/10/23/peewee_hockey_player_faces_challenges_being_taller_than_most_nhlers.html
He plays peewee AAA (supposedly the "elite" stream) and there's been talk of having him play in an older age group so his opponents are closer to his size, but the mom doesn't want that because she wants him to play with friends. Kudos to her for remembering that this is a kid playing a sport for fun and that much of that fun is derived from just being with friends.
I've had big kids on teams I've coached and I've always made sure to point out to the team that we are all responsible for how we treat our opponents on the ice. If we're going to hit someone, we must do our best not to injure them (hit from the front or side, line up shoulder-to-shoulder even if that means you have to crouch, have them falling away from the boards, etc). Reading the article, it sounds like his coach is teaching this exact same thing. Reading the article, it also sounds like the worst people in the rink are, once again, the parent spectators (booing at 12? cheering loudly when someone knocks him down?).
He would fit right in at http://www.reddit.com/r/tall
Quote from: Thorin on September 16, 2013, 12:23:51 PM
I've had big kids on teams I've coached and I've always made sure to point out to the team that we are all responsible for how we treat our opponents on the ice. If we're going to hit someone, we must do our best not to injure them (hit from the front or side, line up shoulder-to-shoulder even if that means you have to crouch, have them falling away from the boards, etc). Reading the article, it sounds like his coach is teaching this exact same thing.
How very Canadian, of both of you. 8)