Its silly season. Tryouts are coming up and people are evaluating programs to see what is the best program for your child.
I see posts like this on message boards frequently…
Using the number of games as a selling point for recruiting raises a question… would more games be a better recruiting point? or should less games be the recruiting point?
Lets dive into what USA Hockey and other governing bodies are recommending…
Experts generally agree that youth hockey seasons shouldn’t revolve around a very high number of games — especially for younger players — because over-scheduling can lead to burnout and less time for skill development.
Official development models like the ADM and coaches give guidelines rather than strict rules, and those vary by age group and level, but here’s a summary of what experts recommend:
🧒 Younger age groups (6U–10U)
- For the youngest players, associations recommend 20–30 games per season as a maximum, with a focus on practices and local play rather than lots of travel.
- Some coaches suggest a simple weekly guideline like two practices and one game per week for early youth players, which naturally keeps total games lower and protects motivation and well-being.
🏒 Middle youth age groups (10U–12U)
- Recommended games are around 20–25 for 10U and 30–35 for 12U each season, depending on level and league structure.
- These numbers help maintain a healthy practice-to-game ratio (often targeted at about 3:1 practices to games) so players get more skill work than just game play.
🧑🎓 Older youth (14U–18U)
- As players get older and more competitive, recommended games increase too: typically about 40–50 games for 14U and 50–60 games for 16U/18U in a season if the team is travel/competitive level.
As a Junior Coach for many years, I’ve never exceeded 60 games in a season for my team, and that includes playoffs. To think a 10 year old, who should be playing multiple sports and doing multiple activities playing 58+ games is absurd. It doesn’t fit the long term development for your child, and often will lead to burnout.
So as parents, although our kids might want to play more games, we should exert some discipline and recognize that it is in the long term best interests of our kids to focus on good practices and limit games. Avoid excessive travel and use the below info as a template:
📌 Overall expert principles
- Balanced schedule: Focus on skill-building practices over games, especially for younger players.
- Avoid burnout: Too many games — especially long travel and tournaments — can tire kids out and reduce enjoyment.
- Quality over quantity: Practices are often more valuable than games for developing skills early on.
By Andrew Trimble
Andrew is the GM/ Co- Owner of the New England Wolves- www.ne-wolveshockey.com
To Purchase his book- The Hockey Planner: A Year by Year Plan to Assist You on Your Hockey Coaching Journey: From Learn to Play to Junior Hockey: Trimble, Andrew: 9781963743395: Amazon.com: Books
