The governing body for hockey in Alberta has decided to ban body checking in peewee hockey in the next hockey season, making it the second province to ban the practice for that age group.
Hockey Alberta said this decision, which affects players up to 11 and 12-years-old, is in response to ‘overwhelming’ evidence that body checking is a major risk factor for injuries and concussions in kids playing hockey.
“It’s very clear that the safety of our kids is paramount,” Rob Virgil, chairman of the board with Hockey Alberta said. “That’s we were focused on when we were making that decision.”
The decision was made after a committee formed to review body checking research, and collect feedback from other provincial hockey organizations, recommended the development of a player safety strategy, in an effort to reduce player injury.
It’s a move supported by those in the medical community.
“It’s a pretty conclusive study, showing overwhelming benefit of removing body checking, if we’re going to reduce injury risk,” Dr. Brian Benson with U of C Sport Medicine said.
Doctors said banning body checking could reduce the number of concussions per year by 400, and reduce the number of injuries annually by about 1,000.
Banning body checking for the peewee players was one of the recommendations the committee came up with.
Starting next season, the rules of play for the Atom age division will be applied to peewee – and players who body check will face a penalty.
The head referee with the organization said the change will only translate to a slight modification for refs, because they’re already used to calling body checking penalties for younger players, and women’s hockey.
With files from Brenna Rose
