Mites to Squirts - Choosing Positions

[newhockeydad]

My son is a 2016 Birth Year who will be moving up to squirts next season. He is in his second full year of hockey and is currently playing at the red level in mites. This season he made a transition to goalie about 80% of the time between his two teams. One team he is the only goalie and the other team has a 2017 part time goalie as well as a couple other kids who will try it periodically. He enjoys playing both positions but he does not want to commit to being a full time goalie or full time skater. My question is at the PAHL Travel level, is it unheard of having a goalie skate out if there is two goalies? I am new to hockey in general and we got our feet wet this season with traveling to tournaments as well as some other local travel , so we would like to continue that route by traveling. My question is can he try out for both positions and play both? Or is that kind of taboo to ask when they go to a travel program outside of mites? 

My personal opinion is he is a better goalie than he is a skater. He is still an average to maybe slightly above average player when he is outside of the net. However, I don't want to force him to have to make a decision that he might regret at 8 and change his love for the game. 

[nemesis8679]

Find a coach that will be okay with him skating out when not playing goal. At that age it shouldn't be a problem, and should be encouraged. 

[Huskies_Director]

We encourage all of our goalies to skate out at the 8u/10u age when they are not in net.  It obviously keeps them engaged and on the ice and not to mention and that age they should always be working on skating, skating, skating! As long as he is having fun and wants to keep coming back to the rink! 

[aaaahockey]

4 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

Find a coach that will be okay with him skating out when not playing goal. At that age it shouldn't be a problem, and should be encouraged. 

Totally correct. Make sure you at an organization large enough to have more than one goalie and any decent coach/program will encourage them to skate out on their off games.

[aaaahockey]

All that being said if the kids is really really good at goalie there might be pressure for them to play a higher level at squirt as a goalie than they are skilled for skating. I would push back against this and play at a level they can do both.

[Duck Bill]

I think some organizations want goalies to be more full time if they are on the first team, AA, etc.  I don't necessarily agree with that at such a young age unless the kid is fully invested in the position, because there is a lot of benefit from the skating skills you gain as a player.  Outside of that, it can unfortunately be about how many goalies are available.  If you are on a team with two goalies, you could have one skate out when the other is in net.  Even then, the coach might want to split games where each goalie plays a half a game (which would require both be dressed as a goalie). If you are the only goalie available, it's really tough (both practically if you want to skate out, and mentally for being the only goalie).

Long winded way of saying discuss with the coaches/organization, but I've seen enough teams that have no issues with goalies skating out when they aren't in net.

Edited January 21, 2025 by Duck Bill

[aaaahockey]

Just a word of caution even if an organization agrees to let your kid skate out so they can get them half the time at a higher level, if they can't keep up on the skating side you may be choosing goalie for them anyway.  Depending on the team, they may get yelled at or blamed by coaches, parents, and other players when they are skating out. That will teach them to hate skating out in a hurry and make them think goaltending is much better. 

[newhockeydad]

Thanks Everyone. Our organization had a meeting with parents last season prior to tryouts, so hopefully they have it again this season and I can speak with them. I am glad to hear that it is still encouraged at that age group. He does play for our school district's co-op team, which ironically has a couple goalies, so i do know we would get some time there for him to skate out as well if he does end up being the only goalie. 

As far as if he makes a AA Team, I wouldn't want to put him in a position where he is over his head as a skater. That would be a decision we would have to make at that time. 

[twoboys]

5 hours ago, aaaahockey said:

Just a word of caution even if an organization agrees to let your kid skate out so they can get them half the time at a higher level, if they can't keep up on the skating side you may be choosing goalie for them anyway.  Depending on the team, they may get yelled at or blamed by coaches, parents, and other players when they are skating out. That will teach them to hate skating out in a hurry and make them think goaltending is much better. 

I think he will quickly fall behind if he isn’t skating as often as the other kids.   And I agree that the other parents will be judgmental if he can’t keep up as a skater.  

[Macky85]

I've witnessed the challenges of a goalie trying to skate and play goal on a higher level team first hand this year. I am going to echo what others have said.

It doesn't go over very well with teammates and parents when a coach has a goalie skate out and they are not at the level of the rest of the team. More times than not their goal tending got them on the team and they can compete at the higher level, but skating out they are the weakest player.

If you truly want him to do both, talk to organizations with multiple 10u teams. Most hold combined tryouts and they'll place him where he fits. They really need to place him based on his skating ability not just the goal tending.

Also ask the coaches what their plans are for goalie playing time. If your son would end up #2 goalie on the team he may not see much game time between the posts and end u skating out most of the time. 

[nemesis8679]

3 hours ago, Macky85 said:

I've witnessed the challenges of a goalie trying to skate and play goal on a higher level team first hand this year. I am going to echo what others have said.

It doesn't go over very well with teammates and parents when a coach has a goalie skate out and they are not at the level of the rest of the team. More times than not their goal tending got them on the team and they can compete at the higher level, but skating out they are the weakest player.

If you truly want him to do both, talk to organizations with multiple 10u teams. Most hold combined tryouts and they'll place him where he fits. They really need to place him based on his skating ability not just the goal tending.

Also ask the coaches what their plans are for goalie playing time. If your son would end up #2 goalie on the team he may not see much game time between the posts and end u skating out most of the time. 

 

If there's a 10u team with 2 committed goalies, and they're not getting equal time at that age, I'd find a different org.

Edited January 22, 2025 by nemesis8679

[James Gatz]

11 hours ago, Macky85 said:

Also ask the coaches what their plans are for goalie playing time. If your son would end up #2 goalie on the team he may not see much game time between the posts and end u skating out most of the time. 

 

 

8 hours ago, nemesis8679 said:

If there's a 10u team with 2 committed goalies, and they're not getting equal time at that age, I'd find a different org.

Nemesis8679 is 100% correct.  At the Squirt level, if a team has 2 goalies they should be very close to a 50/50 split.  Maybe one goalie gets more time in a tournament if the team is making a run at a championship, but otherwise, young goalies need playing time to develop.  The sport needs more goalies and there is a lot of growth to be had in the next few years.  The #2 now on a Squirt team may really bloom by high school and be an all star.  How you get the split varies from team to team.  USA hockey suggests splitting periods giving each goalie a 6-8 minute shift per period.  I don't know anyone that does this.  Some teams split games mid-way through the 2d.  Other teams (probably most) alternate games.  With this third scenario, it is realistic for a goalie to skate out when not in net.  I think it will make them a better goalie long run and keep them from falling too far behind as a skater should they decide playing goal is not for them.  

As for your case, if you kid is a Red Mite, he will likely place on one of your organizations' upper half teams.  Talk to the organizations and coaches in advance and let them guide you on whether they want him to split days at the tryouts, only tryout as a skater or goalie.  If they know what you all want to try in advance, it will help them help you.  Be ready to accept, however, some trade-offs.  Your kid may make a lower team than they otherwise would have.  For example, they may have made the #2 team as a pure skater, but to accommodate your development plan, the organization places him on the #3 team.  Don't let that bother you and it may be for the best.

There are a lot of spring and summer leagues that are especially popular for rising mites making the transition to full ice.  They mostly involve games with fewer practices, but they can be good.  I'd suggest considering that if you can make it fit your schedule and let your kid play some of both positions to see if that smaller sample of games tilts the scales one way or the other.  

Edited January 22, 2025 by James Gatz

[newhockeydad]

19 minutes ago, James Gatz said:

 

Nemesis8679 is 100% correct.  At the Squirt level, if a team has 2 goalies they should be very close to a 50/50 split.  Maybe one goalie gets more time in a tournament if the team is making a run at a championship, but otherwise, young goalies need playing time to develop.  The sport needs more goalies and there is a lot of growth to be had in the next few years.  The #2 now on a Squirt team may really bloom by high school and be an all star.  How you get the split varies from team to team.  USA hockey suggests splitting periods giving each goalie a 6-8 minute shift per period.  I don't know anyone that does this.  Some teams split games mid-way through the 2d.  Other teams (probably most) alternate games.  With this third scenario, it is realistic for a goalie to skate out when not in net.  I think it will make them a better goalie long run and keep them from falling too far behind as a skater should they decide playing goal is not for them.  

As for your case, if you kid is a Red Mite, he will likely place on one of your organizations' upper half teams.  Talk to the organizations and coaches in advance and let them guide you on whether they want him to split days at the tryouts, only tryout as a skater or goalie.  If they know what you all want to try in advance, it will help them help you.  Be ready to accept, however, some trade-offs.  Your kid may make a lower team than they otherwise would have.  For example, they may have made the #2 team as a pure skater, but to accommodate your development plan, the organization places him on the #3 team.  Don't let that bother you and it may be for the best.

There are a lot of spring and summer leagues that are especially popular for rising mites making the transition to full ice.  They mostly involve games with fewer practices, but they can be good.  I'd suggest considering that if you can make it fit your schedule and let your kid play some of both positions to see if that smaller sample of games tilts the scales one way or the other.  

 

Thank You. I am going to talk to the organization prior to try out's and discuss his intentions with them. We are going to do spring hockey again for this season. I actually signed him up as a skater but let them know he could play goalie as well. He hasn't played very much full ice hockey as a skater, so I want to get him some time doing so this spring. He is also going to play on a tournament team late spring/early summer but that will be as a goalie, so he will continue to get his time there. I am fine with him making whatever team he is chosen for. It also may come down to him having to choose between either skater or goalie. 

[Carl Racki]

Here is a thought, let him do what he prefers.  If he really wants to play both for a team, find a team that will let him.  If he really wants to play just goalie, let him do that.  At the end of the day neither will ruin his career.  PS he may change his mind and switch back and forth.  If he is really an athlete that has high level potential it won't matter at this age believe me.