Until last week, Oakville, Ont. hockey player Stefan Legein was a poster boy for youth hockey. After star turns with the Canadian junior team and a stint with the Ontario Hockey League, he was drafted in the second round by the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets last year.
But last week, when the 19-year-old decided to call it quits on the eve of training camp, many observers wondered if youth hockey's gruelling expectations might be to blame.
"Not getting a break from that high-pressure environment can lead to burnout," says Scott Oakman, the executive director of the Greater Toronto Hockey League.
And if a successful player like Mr. Legein can lose his drive, what about the legions of kids who aspire to be him?
Fall used to be the season in which kids would choose one or more sports to play outside school. Today, though, Labour Day signals very little; many have been hitting the ice or kicking a soccer ball all summer long to prepare for fall tryouts. Then comes the onslaught of more games, practices, drills and tournaments.
Coaches and sports administrators admit that the relentless pace exacts a price. "There's been a big shift in philosophy. There's much more year-round hockey taking place," Mr. Oakman says. "That certainly lends itself to kids dropping out of the game earlier than historically they would have. They might be getting a lifetime's worth of hockey in a shorter period of time."
There's no research to suggest that young kids who love their sport will risk burnout, says Joe Baker, an associate professor of kinesiology and sports health at York University. But with so much at stake, it's no wonder some kids don't speak up about not enjoying it.
That may be the case for Mr. Legein, who hasn't spoken publicly yet about his decision to quit. It certainly looks to be the case for Brandon Regier, a 16-year-old hockey player who recently made news in Abbotsford, B.C., for his decision to give up his spot on the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings this fall.
"It's never been my favourite thing to do in the world," he told the Abbotsford News this month. "Everyone's telling me they hope I change my mind."
His dad, Jeff Regier, admits he probably made it hard for Brandon, the youngest of four hockey-playing boys, to quit.
"We're a hockey family, so it's definitely not a good thing to tell your dad you're quitting hockey," he says, adding that it's hard to stay balanced in a sport that demands a huge commitment but can, at elite levels, help pay for college. "The parents are the competitive part of it," he says. "It's not the kids."
Beyond the mental strain, there are also growing reports of injuries due to intense training in single sports in the past five years, according to Tony Reynolds of the U.S. International Youth Conditioning Association, which provides youth-specific training programs to coaches.
In sports such as hockey in which players are dominant on their left or right side, lower back and shoulder injuries are cropping up at younger ages. "It's going to get worse," he says. (Mr. Legein suffered a separated shoulder in a Christmas World Junior game last year.)
Still, the coaches and leagues keep upping their offerings. Parents, even as they bemoan the cost and time commitment, keep signing their kids up for $5,000 or $6,000 sports seasons and $7,000 summer training camps. Otherwise, they risk seeing their kids left out, says Vaughn Karpan, a former hockey Olympian who now works in scouting. But in the long run, he says, this may not benefit their kids much.
